Licence Income, Invoicing & Royalty Integration

Details Team
Follow

This article explains how licence income is recorded, invoiced, and included in Royalty Accounting in details.

Important:
Licence income only becomes relevant for royalty statements once the related invoice is marked as PAID.
The Payment Date determines the royalty period.
Licence income will be included in the royalty statement for the period in which the Payment Date falls.
► RECORDING LICENCE INCOME

Open the relevant Licence and go to the INCOME tab.

Click [+] to add a new income entry.

You can record:

  • Advances
  • Flat fees
  • Periodic income
  • Royalty-based settlements

Each income entry can later be linked to an invoice.

► CREATING AN INVOICE

From within the Licence, click [INVOICE].

Select the desired invoice layout and confirm with [OK].

The system creates an invoice in ACCOUNTING and links it directly to the Licence.

The invoice will appear:

  • In the Licence’s INCOME tab
  • Under the Licence Account’s INVOICES tab

At this stage, the income is still not part of royalty calculations.

► IMPORTANT: DO NOT CREATE LICENCE INVOICES DIRECTLY IN ACCOUNTING

In fast-moving sync or advertising deals, there may be pressure to issue an invoice quickly.

While it is technically possible to create a free invoice directly in ACCOUNTING / INVOICES, this is not recommended for licence income.

Common mistake:
Creating an invoice directly in Accounting does not create a connection to a Licence.
It may not create a Licence at all.

If you create an unrelated invoice:

  • There will be no link to a Licence Account
  • The income will not be visible in the Licence workspace
  • The payment will not be automatically distributed to Royalty Accounts
  • The income will not appear in royalty accounting

To maintain a structured and traceable database, always follow the correct workflow:

  1. Start from the Licence Account
  2. Create the Licence
  3. Add Income
  4. Create the Invoice from within the Licence
  5. Mark the invoice as PAID

This ensures that you can always see:

  • Who you licensed music to
  • How many and which licences you made with that partner
  • Which licences were paid
  • How income was distributed to royalty contracts
If you have already created a free invoice directly in Accounting and need to relate it back to a Licence and Licence Account, please contact label_team@details.eu for assistance.

The structured workflow may feel slightly longer, but it guarantees full transparency, automatic royalty integration, and reliable reporting.

► PAYMENT STATUS & ROYALTY PERIOD

An invoice must be marked as PAID to become royalty-relevant.

If you are unsure how to do this, please refer to: How to set an invoice to paid .

The Payment Date determines:

  • The accounting recognition date
  • The royalty period
  • The royalty statement in which the income appears
Common mistake:
The invoice date does not control royalty allocation.
Only the Payment Date determines in which royalty period the licence income is included.

Example:
If an invoice is dated March but paid in April, the income will be included in the royalty period covering April.

Unpaid invoices are not included in royalty calculations.

► HOW LICENCE INCOME FLOWS INTO ROYALTY ACCOUNTING

Once the invoice is marked as PAID:

  1. The income is recognized based on the Payment Date.
  2. The system distributes the amount to the linked Royalty Accounts.
  3. The distribution follows the existing royalty configuration of the licensed assets.
  4. The income appears in the corresponding royalty statement period.

The allocation is automatic and based on the assets assigned in the Licence.

► REPORTING & EXPORTS

Licence income and invoice data can be analyzed using:

  • Standard Excel exports
  • Custom Plugins (SQL-based reports on request)

Reporting allows you to review turnover per licence, account, asset, or period.

Related articles