Expenses

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 title formats — Choose which title formats 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 #

1. Create the expense with a type and amount
2. Select title formats — Choose which title formats the expense applies to
3. Rights holders are pulled in — The rights holders linked to those title formats are automatically included
4. Set percentages — Specify what percentage of the expense each rights holder should pay
5. Automatic repayment — The expense is repaid from each rights holder’s earned royalties from the linked title formats

How expenses are repaid #

Expenses are repaid as a priority using each rights holder’s earned royalties from title formats 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 title formats explicitly linked to the expense are used for repayment
• Royalties from unlinked title formats are not affected

Create an expense #

To create an expense:

1. Go to Expenses (Main menu > Advances and Expenses > Expenses)
2. Click the Create Expense button
3. 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
4. Select title formats — Choose one or more title formats this expense applies to
5. Allocate percentages — The rights holders for the selected title formats will appear. Set the percentage of the expense each rights holder should pay
6. 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 #

Use expenses when costs need to be shared between multiple parties. Use advances for payments made to a single rights holder.