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Processing Wholesale Orders

When processing wholesale orders, you act as both publisher and retailer. Unlike standard distributor sales where Amazon, LSI, and other distributors automatically deduct their commissions before sending you the remainder (the aggregate net royalty), you must manually calculate the net royalty amount by deducting your costs from the wholesale income you received.

Note the key difference when you are the retailer/seller: Wholesale orders require manual calculation since no net royalty income payment exists — you receive the gross amount directly, before costs are deducted.

Before You Begin #

Required Information #

  • Sales data from your accounting system (e.g., QuickBooks, Xero)
  • Print costs per unit
  • Other costs (e.g. shipping costs and payment processing fees)
  • Discount rates applied (if applicable)
  • Average exchange rates for the period (if dealing with sales in foreign currencies)

Important Notes #

  • If you have ‘Automatic payment creation’ enabled (in Settings), when you import sales in your publisher currency, Royalties HQ automatically creates matching income payments and links these to the sales batch.
  • Foreign currency sales require manual conversion.
  • Always work with net amounts (after deducting discounts and costs).

Step-by-Step Process #

Step 1: Prepare Your Sales Data #

  1. Export wholesale sales data from your accounting system, or wherever you record your wholesale sales
  2. Organize by currency and time period — split the data into separate tabs/sheets by sale currency
  3. Calculate the net royalty amount for each sale:

Net Royalty = Gross Sale - Discount - Print Costs - Other Costs

Step 2: Process Sales in Publisher Currency #

For wholesale sales that are in your publisher currency, there is no currency conversion.

  • You simply import the sales using the custom sales import, and set the sales channel column to “Wholesale”.
  • The system automatically creates income payments, and links them to the sales batch (if you have this enabled in Settings ).
  • Verify the amounts are correct.

Step 3: Process Foreign Currency Sales #

Note: If you only have wholesale sales in your own publisher currency — i.e. customers always purchase in your publisher currency — then skip this step.

For sales in a foreign currency (any currency other than your publisher currency), do the following:

  1. Sum the net royalty amounts (see step 1)
    • Group all sales in that sale currency, for the royalty period.
    • Total (sum) the net royalty column.
  2. Find the exchange rate
    • You now need to convert the net royalties from the sale currency to your publisher currency. To do this you need the exchange rate. You may choose to find exchange rates every month, or you could obtain the average exchange rate for the entire period (this tool is useful – remember to set the currencies and date period).
    • Example: GBP to USD average for Jan-Dec 2024.
  3. Calculate the income payment
    • Convert net sales to your publisher currency, using this simple formula. Do this per sales currency:

Income in publisher currency = Total {Foreign Currency} Sales × Average Exchange Rate

  1. Create the income payment in Royalties HQ
    • Enter the converted amount as a single income payment in Royalties HQ, with the sales channel set to “Wholesale”.
    • If the income payment covers sales across multiple months, leave the sales month value empty.
  2. Link the income payment
    • Connect this single income payment to ALL wholesale sales batches for that currency and period.

Step 4: Verify and Complete #

  1. Repeat for all wholesale sales currencies
  2. Check all foreign currency sales batches have linked income payments
  3. Confirm income payment amounts match your calculations
  4. Review for any missing or duplicate entries

Example Workflow #

Scenario: Publisher with USD as base currency, processing GBP wholesale sales (data is illustrative only).

  1. January-June 2024 GBP Sales
    • Total net royalty (after commission and costs are deducted): £10,000
    • Average 2024 GBP→USD rate: 1.25
    • Payment to create: $12,500
  2. In Royalties HQ:
    • Create income payment: $12,500
    • Link to: All GBP sales batches Jan-June 2024

Tips for Efficiency #

  • Batch by period: Process 6-month or yearly batches to reduce entries
  • Consistent formatting: Maintain standard formats for easier processing
  • Document rates: Keep records of exchange rates used for each period
  • Regular processing: Don’t let wholesale orders accumulate

Common Issues and Solutions #

Missing cost data

  • Ensure all print costs and discounts are recorded before processing
  • Check your accounting system for complete cost breakdowns

Exchange rate variations

  • Use official average rates for the period
  • Be consistent with your rate source

Payment linking errors

  • Verify that all sales batches for the currency/period are selected
  • Check for duplicate sales batches before linking

Best Practices #

  1. Always deduct all costs before calculating royalties
  2. Process regularly to avoid backlogs
  3. Keep detailed records of conversions and calculations
  4. Verify totals match your accounting records

Remember: Wholesale order processing is the only scenario in Royalties HQ requiring manual currency conversion. Take extra care with these calculations to ensure accurate royalty distributions.

When your wholesale data is calculated and ready to import into Royalties HQ, use the custom sales import, and set the sales channel column to “Wholesale”.