The Royalty & Marketing Fund page is the home screen for royalty in HQ. It shows your running totals, every royalty period, a summary of your formula and a planning projection. It's part of the +HQ add-on. For how royalty is calculated, see How royalty calculation and collection work in HQ tier.
Getting there
In your HQ dashboard, open Royalty. If your organization doesn't have the +HQ add-on, the page shows an upgrade message instead.
The buttons at the top
- Credits, Audit Log and ACH Setup open those pages. See Issuing royalty credits and extra charges to a shop, Reading the royalty and marketing fund audit log and Setting up ACH bank accounts for royalty collection.
- Edit formula opens the royalty rule. It shows only for people with permission to correct the royalty ledger.
- Generate week… and the month button (for example Generate Sep 2026) show only for people with permission to record royalty payments.
Org owners and admins have both permissions by default.
Generating a month or a week
The month and year pickers in the Periods card start on last month. The generate button at the top follows them. Click it to roll that month's sales up into one statement per shop.
A month or a week that hasn't ended yet can't be generated. SalesThumb asks you to wait until it's complete. If a shop is on a billing cadence the monthly run doesn't cover, a message names that shop and says it was skipped.
Generate week… opens a small box. Pick the date the week starts on, then click Generate. That date becomes the period's exact start date, and only shops billed weekly whose collection week starts on that day are included. Use it to backfill a missed week or regenerate after a late credit.
The four totals
- Latest period due: the total due on the newest period, with its name underneath.
- Outstanding balance: what is still owed, with the number of open statements.
- Lifetime royalty: all royalty billed so far, with the marketing fund total underneath.
- Collected to date: all money collected, with your collection rate underneath.
A restricted franchise viewer sees Not shown for small networks in place of a total when the network has 4 or fewer locations, and the page adds a note saying so. Their outstanding balance reads Not shown for your role.
Warnings above the periods
If a royalty rule is set to collect by ACH but you have no destination bank account on file, a banner says so. Statements still generate, but they can't be paid by ACH until you add the account. Click Set up ACH to open ACH Setup.
A card titled "N past-due statements never sent" appears only when there are some. It lists each statement that never reached the franchisee, with the shop, the period, the balance and the due date. Those statements get no late fee or reminder until they're sent. A No email on file tag usually explains why.
The Periods list
Periods are listed newest first. Each row shows the period name, a Now badge on the current one, and a status badge: Draft, Generated, Sent, Collecting or Closed.
Under the name you see the date range, the shop count and the gross. Royalty and marketing fund amounts follow. Local mkt, Tech and Other fees appear only when something was billed. Each row also shows Due or Past due with a date, and a bar of collected against due.
Click a row to open the period. See Working a royalty period: send, collect and close.
The Current formula card
This card summarizes your default rule: a flat percentage with its basis, a fixed amount per period, or tiered brackets. It also shows the minimum floor, the marketing fund percentage and the technology fee when they're set, plus the collection method and collection day.
With no rule, the card says "No royalty rule configured yet." People who can correct the ledger see Create first rule. Everyone else sees that an org owner or admin needs to set up the formula.
The Projection card
The projection is an estimate from your own billed history, for internal planning. It needs at least two completed royalty periods from the last 12 months. Until then it says "Not enough history yet."
Two sliders let you test a scenario:
- Additional shops: new shops are assumed to bill like your current average shop.
- Royalty rate: from 50% to 150% of your current formula. It scales the rate and re-applies your minimum and maximum.
The table compares your Trailing average with the Scenario for shops billed, royalty and total billed per month and per year, and the effective royalty rate. Total billed adds the marketing fund, local marketing fund and technology and other fees, before credits and adjustments. Reset appears once you move a slider.
It's a simple trailing average with no growth trend or seasonality. The card warns that it isn't a forecast or a guarantee, and that revenue projections shared with prospective franchisees can fall under franchise financial-performance rules, so check with counsel first.
Frequently asked questions
Q: Why can't I generate this month yet?
A: A month can only be generated after it has ended. SalesThumb asks you to wait until the month is complete. The same goes for a week.
Q: Why don't I see the Generate buttons?
A: They need permission to record royalty payments. Org owners and admins have it by default.
Q: Why does a total say Not shown for small networks?
A: Restricted franchise viewers don't see network totals when the network has 4 or fewer locations.
Q: Is the projection a forecast?
A: No. It's an estimate from your own billed history for internal planning. Check with counsel before showing anything like it to a prospective franchisee.