Expenses
Create shared expenses that multiple rights holders repay through earned royalties from linked products.
Expenses in Royalties HQ are costs that can be shared between the publisher and multiple rights holders, repaid through earned royalties.
Unlike advances (which are for a single rights holder), expenses can be split across multiple rights holders based on customisable percentages.
Key features of expenses
- Shared costs — An expense can be split between the publisher and multiple rights holders
- Flexible allocation — Set the percentage of the expense that each rights holder should pay
- Linked to products — Choose which products the expense applies to, and the rights holders for those formats are automatically included
- Priority repayment — Expenses are repaid as a priority from earned royalties
- Statement visibility — Expenses and balances appear on royalty PDF statements
Common expense types
Expenses are useful for shared costs such as:
- Editing and proofreading
- Cover design
- Marketing and advertising
- Audio production costs
- Translation costs
- Indexing
- Print setup fees
How expenses work
- Create the expense with a type and amount
- Select products — Choose which products the expense applies to
- Rights holders are pulled in — The rights holders linked to those products are automatically included
- Set percentages — Specify what percentage of the expense each rights holder should pay
- Automatic repayment — The expense is repaid from each rights holder’s earned royalties from the linked products
How expenses are repaid
Expenses are repaid as a priority using each rights holder’s earned royalties from products linked to the expense.
- Each rights holder repays their allocated percentage of the expense
- Repayment happens before royalties become payable to the rights holder
- Only royalties earned from products explicitly linked to the expense are used for repayment
- Royalties from unlinked products are not affected
Create an expense
To create an expense:
- Go to Expenses (Main menu > Advances and Expenses > Expenses)
- Click the Create Expense button
- Enter the expense details:
- Type — Select or enter the expense type (e.g., “Cover design”, “Editing”)
- Amount — The total expense amount
- Description — Optional notes about the expense
- Select products — Choose one or more products this expense applies to
- Allocate percentages — The rights holders for the selected products will appear. Set the percentage of the expense each rights holder should pay
- Click Save
Tip: As you make changes to the percentages allocated, other allocations will auto-adjust to total 100%.
Viewing expenses on statements
Expenses appear on royalty PDF statements, showing:
- The expense name/type
- The rights holder’s allocated amount
- The current balance remaining
- Repayments made from earned royalties
This provides full transparency to rights holders about shared costs and how they are being repaid.
Expenses vs Advances
| Feature | Expenses | Advances |
|---|---|---|
| Rights holders | Multiple | Single |
| Cost sharing | Yes, with percentages | No |
| Linked to products | Yes | Yes |
| Priority repayment | Yes | Yes |
| Shown on statements | Yes | Yes |
Use expenses when costs need to be shared between multiple parties. Use advances for payments made to a single rights holder.
Recurring Expenses
Recurring expenses automate regular deductions from a rights holder’s royalties.
Unlike standard expenses (which are linked to products), recurring expenses are linked directly to rights holders. This makes them ideal for ongoing costs that should be deducted from all of a rights holder’s earnings, regardless of which products generate the income.
How recurring expenses work
- Create a recurring expense for a specific rights holder with a type, amount, and frequency
- Processing creates records — When processed, the system creates both an Expense record and an Advance record
- Repaid from all royalties — The advance is repaid from any royalties the rights holder earns across all their products
Key differences from standard expenses
| Feature | Standard Expenses | Recurring Expenses |
|---|---|---|
| Linked to | Products | Rights holders |
| Repaid from | Linked products only | All products |
| Created | Once | Automatically on schedule |
| Rights holders | Multiple | Single |
Common use cases
Recurring expenses are useful for:
- Monthly retainer fees
- Ongoing marketing contributions
- Regular administrative charges
- Subscription-based services
- Instalment repayments
Create a recurring expense
To create a recurring expense:
- Go to Adjustments (Main menu > Adjustments > Expenses)
- Click the Create Recurring Expense button
- Select the rights holder the expense applies to
- Enter the expense details:
- Type — Select or enter the expense type
- Amount — The amount to deduct each period
- Frequency — How often the expense should be created
- Description — Optional notes about the expense
- Click Save
Processing recurring expenses
Recurring expenses are processed when you run them from the Adjustments page. When processed:
- A new Expense record is created for the current period
- An Advance record is created and linked to the rights holder
- The advance will be repaid from the rights holder’s future royalties
Note: Unlike product-linked expenses, recurring expense advances are repaid from any royalties the rights holder earns — not just from specific products. This provides flexibility for general deductions that shouldn’t be tied to individual titles.