A payout run touches every consignor relationship at once, which makes it the worst place in your operation to make a mistake. Working through the same checklist every cycle is the simplest way to keep it error-free.
1. Reconcile the sales period first
Before calculating anything, confirm that every sale from the payout period has been recorded — including anything rung up manually that might not have synced from your point of sale. A payout run is only as accurate as the sales data underneath it.
2. Check for pending returns or price adjustments
Returns and markdowns that happened after a sale but before the payout run can change what a consignor is actually owed. Confirm there's nothing still pending before you finalize numbers.
3. Apply recurring fees
If your shop charges recurring fees — booth rent, processing fees, or similar — confirm they're applied to the correct consignors for the correct period before the run, not after.
4. Confirm each consignor's payout method
Check, cash, and ACH all move differently. ACH in particular needs enough lead time to actually land before the consignor expects it, so confirm bank details are current for anyone paid that way.
5. Generate and review itemized statements
Before sending anything out, scan the itemized statements for outliers — a payout that's unusually high or low compared to a consignor's typical pattern is worth a second look before it goes out the door.
6. Run the batch and file the records
Once everything checks out, run the full batch and keep the statements on file. If a consignor has a question next month, you want the record on hand, not reconstructed from memory.
Doing this by hand across dozens of consignors is where most shops lose an afternoon every month. A payout tool built for consignment — like Consign Sprocket's payout runs — handles steps 1 through 6 as a single batch, with the itemized statements generated automatically.