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Understanding payouts: documents, IDs, and money transfers

This article answers frequently asked questions about payout documents, the Payout ID & the Payout Number, and how payouts work. This is especially useful if you want to understand payouts in more detail. The article also provides helpful information for your accounting/tax purposes.

Note

Terms: In this article, we use “payout” as an umbrella term. We distinguish between:

  • Payout documents: Documents/records related to a payout (credit note and invoice). They are grouped under a Payout ID.
  • Money transfer: The point in time when the money is actually paid out. The money transfer is assigned a Payout Number. In addition, a payment overview is created.

How do payouts work in Digistore24?

If you earn income through Digistore24 (e.g., by selling or promoting products), Digistore24 pays out this income to you. This is often simply referred to as a “payout”.

In Digistore24, however, two different things happen technically - and they are important to understand:

  • Payout documents are created and grouped under a Payout ID.
  • A money transfer is triggered if the requirements are met - and this money transfer is assigned a Payout Number.

Rule of thumb: Payout ID = payout documents; Payout Number = money transfer.

This is how a payout works:

  1. When you set up your payout account, you activate one or more payout dates.
  2. Your income accumulates until the next activated date.
  3. On the payout date, Digistore24 creates payout documents for this period (credit note and invoice) and groups the income under a Payout ID.
  4. Digistore24 then checks whether a money transfer can be triggered (the requirements for payouts):
    1. Is your Digistore24 account fully set up?
    2. Has the payout threshold been reached?
  5. If the requirements are met, the money transfer takes place. Digistore24 assigns a Payout Number and creates a payment overview.
  6. If the requirements are not met, no money transfer takes place and the payment overview is not created. The income remains on hold and will be checked again on the next activated date. New income is grouped under a new Payout ID from the next period onward.
  7. After the money transfer, it may take up to 10 business days for the money to arrive (depending on payout method, bank, and country).

What is the difference between the Payout ID and the Payout Number?

In your Digistore24 account reports (e.g., Reports > Commissions), you can see the columns Payout ID and Payout Number.

Payout ID (for payout documents)

When you set up your payout account, you activate one or more payout dates. Between the activated dates, your income accumulates.

Digistore24 creates payout documents for this income (credit note and invoice). This makes it transparent which income belongs to which period - for you, your accounting/tax advisor, and Digistore24. To make this possible, Digistore24 assigns a Payout ID to the income.

Example:
If you have activated two payout dates per month, all income between those two dates is grouped under one Payout ID - and the next period is grouped the same way.

Conclusion: The Payout ID belongs to the payout documents. It ensures that income from a specific period is documented together.

Payout Number (for the money transfer)

On the payout dates you have activated, Digistore24 checks whether the requirements for payouts are met - so that a money transfer is possible:

  1. Your Digistore24 account must be fully set up.
  2. Your income must have reached the payout threshold on the payout date.

Only if these requirements are met can Digistore24 pay out your income. If this is the case, Digistore24 assigns a Payout Number and groups the income from one or more Payout IDs into one money transfer. In addition, Digistore24 creates a payment overview that summarizes the line items from all credit notes and invoices included in the money transfer for a quick overview.

Conclusion: The Payout Number is created only when the actual money transfer is triggered.


Rule of thumb: Payout ID = payout documents; Payout Number = money transfer.

Which payout documents exist?

For each payout date you have activated, Digistore24 automatically creates the following payout documents:

  1. Credit note

    Lists your income for the period since the last payout date as individual line items.

  2. Invoice

    Lists possible costs/deductions/fees for the period since the last payout date, e.g., for refunds or chargebacks.

If all payout requirements are met, the money transfer takes place automatically. Digistore24 then also creates a payment overview that summarizes the line items from all credit notes and invoices included in the money transfer for a quick overview.

These documents contain all important information for you and your accounting/tax advisor so the records can be posted correctly.

Why do I receive multiple credit notes on one payout date?

In some cases, multiple credit notes are created for a payout date.

This can happen in the following cases, for example:

  • Multiple calendar years: Income that belongs to different calendar years (e.g., because the service date falls in different years) is split into separate credit notes.
  • Multiple VAT recipients (countries): Income from multiple countries may be split into separate credit notes, because only one VAT recipient (country) can be shown on a single credit note for tax reasons.

Do I receive multiple money transfers if I have multiple credit notes on one payout date?

No. Even if there are multiple credit notes for one payout date, the income is bundled into a single money transfer.