Platform bookkeeping: identify the seller before booking the payout

Two models, the same €1,071 bank receipt

Both examples below concern completed domestic German transactions at 19% VAT. The businesses are fully entitled to input VAT deduction and hold proper invoices. There are no returns, reserves or cross-border transactions. The contracts and actual transactions establish the stated roles; the platform's label alone would not.

Model A: the client sells to the customer

The client sells goods for €1,000 net plus €190 VAT. The platform collects the €1,190 on the client's behalf. It invoices the client a service fee of €100 net plus €19 VAT and deducts €119 before paying out.

Record the sale and fee from their respective evidence. The payout settles the provider balance. Booking only €900 net sales would hide both €100 of revenue and the separate €100 service expense.

Model B: a reseller buys from the client

A reseller buys the same goods from the client for €900 net plus €171 VAT. It then resells them in its own name and for its own account. The client has no separate platform-fee obligation.

In both models, cash received is €1,071. The client's revenue and tax entries differ. These examples exclude the cost of the goods, so the revenue less platform fee is not the client's final profit.

Cross-border supplies, marketplace deemed-supplier rules and other contractual models require their own assessment. Do not transfer these domestic examples to every marketplace account.

Build a source list around the business model

A settlement report can explain the cash movement without replacing the sales and fee evidence. Preserve the connections through order, invoice and payout references.

Avoid booking the same sale through two channels

A webshop exports an invoice for €238. Its payment processor also reports the €238 customer collection, followed later by a payout. These are stages of one sale.

Choose the authoritative sales source. Use processor and bank records to explain settlement, including fees and timing. If both the webshop export and the processor collection are independently booked as sales, revenue is doubled before the bank receipt arrives.

For a multi-channel client, list each sales channel and its corresponding payment route. Include cash and direct transfers, which may never appear in a provider payout.

Reconcile the balance that stays with the provider

Consider a separate gross settlement example:

The closing €800 consists of a documented €500 reserve and €300 awaiting the next payout. That explanation completes the reconciliation: €700 + €12,000 − €600 − €500 − €10,800 = €800.

A reserve withheld from payout remains part of the provider claim where the contractual right supports it. Its later release does not create another sale. These gross cash figures explain the balance; the associated revenue and VAT entries follow the underlying documents.

The settlement guide follows a complete payout file to its final balances.

Apply automation to the established model

DeinHans processes supported platform reports, separates settlement components, links the bank receipt and posts according to the client's configured treatment. The document and bank agents help investigate source details and payment references; missing business facts can be requested through the client workflow.

Set up a new provider using an actual report, fee document, customer evidence and bank receipt. Confirm the seller role and tax treatment before reusing the pattern. The industry automation guide explains how to reuse source structures across clients while keeping their accounting setup separate.