Every royalty period has its own page with one statement per shop. It's where you send statements, record payments and close the period. It's part of the +HQ add-on. For how statements are calculated, see How royalty calculation and collection work in HQ tier.
Getting there
On the Royalty page, click a period. A breadcrumb (your HQ name, Royalty, the period) and a back arrow lead back. The header shows the period name, a status badge, its date range and the shop count.
The header buttons
Regenerate, Queue emails (next daily send), Send now and Close period need permission to record royalty payments. Org owners and admins have it by default. None of them show once the period is Closed.
- Regenerate rebuilds the period's statements, for example after a late credit.
- Queue emails (next daily send) adds the statements to the next daily send, around 2pm UTC. It doesn't change the period's status.
- Send now emails the statements immediately and marks the period Sent.
- Close period appears once the period is Sent or Collecting and every statement is settled.
Queue emails and Send now show only while the period is Generated. The ACH button is covered in Generating the ACH file for a royalty period.
If Hold statements for review is on, a banner explains that nothing is emailed until you click Send now or Queue emails. See Royalty options: billed elsewhere, hold, mark paid.
Totals and collection progress
Five cards sit at the top:
- Gross basis, across the number of shops
- Royalty owed
- Marketing fund, with the technology and other fees underneath
- Local marketing fund
- Total due, with the amount collected underneath
The Collection progress bar shows how much of the total due is collected, and counts how many statements are paid, partial, pending or disputed.
Checking for outliers
Outlier flags is a data-quality check, not an accusation. Click Check for outliers and each shop's gross is compared with its own trailing average. It only runs when you click, and the button then reads Re-check.
Each flag has a label, Zero gross reported, Off trend or Statistical outlier, a short observation and the figures for this period against the trailing average. Click the shop name to open its statement. If nothing stands out, the card says every shop is within its normal trend. See Understanding AI royalty outlier flags.
The statements table
The table has a row per shop with Gross, Royalty, Marketing, Local mkt, Tech, Credits, Due, Paid, Method and Status. An Other fees column appears when any statement has one. A Period total row closes the table. Export CSV downloads it.
Method reads ACH, Card, Invoice, QuickBooks or Manual. Status can read Pending, Generated, Sent, Partial, Paid, Overdue, Held, Not sent, Disputed, Waived or Written off. Due is the fees shown minus credits, plus any adjustments. An early-payment discount or late fee is folded in once a payment is recorded.
Click a row to open the statement. See Reading a royalty statement.
Recording a payment
Each unpaid row has Record payment and Mark paid.
- Click Record payment. The dialog shows Total due, Already paid and Open balance.
- Check the Amount. It starts as the open balance. Lower it for a part payment.
- Set the Payment date. It can't be before the period started or in the future.
- Pick the Payment method: ACH, WIRE, CHECK, CASH or OTHER. It starts on ACH for ACH statements and OTHER otherwise.
- Optionally add Notes, such as a check number.
- Click Record payment.
Mark paid records the whole open balance on a date you choose. See Royalty options: billed elsewhere, hold, mark paid.
Working on several statements
Tick the boxes next to statements. A bar appears with Mark selected as paid, Resend selected and Clear. Each resend is a real email, so a batch is limited to 40. If more are selected, the bar asks you to select 40 or fewer.
If some selected statements have no open balance, the bar says they'll be skipped for Mark paid. The checkboxes are hidden once the period is closed.
The period lifecycle
The Period lifecycle card shows when the period was Generated, Sent, had its Collection run date, and Closed.
Closing the period
A statement counts as settled when it's paid with nothing owing, waived or written off. A statement with a balance or an open dispute isn't. Close period asks you to confirm first. After that, statements can no longer be regenerated or collected against the period.
If SalesThumb refuses, the message names the statements and tells you what to do: record the remaining payments, or waive them, and resolve or waive any disputes.
A Paid statement can later total more than was collected. It stays Paid, a message tells you how far short it is, and the period can't be closed until that's settled.
Frequently asked questions
Q: What's the difference between Queue emails and Send now?
A: Send now emails the statements immediately and marks the period Sent. Queue emails adds them to the next daily send, around 2pm UTC, and doesn't change the status.
Q: Why is there no Close period button?
A: It shows once the period is Sent or Collecting and every statement is paid, waived or written off. A statement with a balance or an open dispute keeps it hidden.
Q: Can I record a part payment?
A: Yes. Click Record payment and lower the Amount. Mark paid always records the full open balance.
Q: Why can't I resend more than 40 statements at once?
A: Each resend is a real email, so a batch is limited to 40. Select fewer and run it again.