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Reading a creator settlement

The business ledger and the creator ledger, what "released" actually records on this build, and why a dispute pauses only the amount it names.

Updated

A creator settlement keeps two ledgers and never adds them together. The business ledger records what the business was charged and what it was charged for: the charge, the platform fee, the payment-provider fee, tax and any refund. The creator ledger records what the creator is entitled to, what has been released and what has been reversed. The business was charged fees the creator never sees, so a single combined figure would mean nothing.

Releasing does not send money. Social Studio holds no creator transfer rail on this build: a release records an entitlement movement on the creator ledger and names the reference of whatever actually paid it. Money is moved outside Social Studio and recorded here.

BEFORE YOU START

  • The "view" permission for a workspace with a collaboration in it.
  • A settlement booking on that collaboration. A booking is created when a collaboration is set up for funded work; without one there is nothing to report.
  • Nothing else. This is a reading page and offers no release control.

STEPS

  1. Open Creator settlement from the sidebar, under Engage.
  2. Read the table. Each booking shows what is outstanding to the creator, what is paused by a dispute, and what could be released now. Those are three different numbers and the page never nets them into one.
  3. Open a booking's detail card beneath the table.
  4. Read the movement statement first. It says what the released figure on that booking actually records.
  5. Read the acceptance statement. It says when the acceptance period closes and what happens if the business says nothing.
  6. Read the business ledger and the creator ledger as two separate lists. Nothing on the page adds a figure from one to a figure from the other.
  7. Read the reconciliation line at the foot of the card. It reports refunds to the business with no matching reversal of a creator transfer.

WHAT YOU SHOULD SEE

An orange band at the top saying that releasing does not send money, and the same statement repeated on every booking row. It is repeated on purpose: the top of a page is where a reader stops looking, and a released figure with no adjacent sentence is read as money that reached somebody.

Every amount is shown as a formatted string with its currency. The page performs no arithmetic of its own; every figure is calculated on the server.

WHAT THIS WILL NOT DO

  • It will not transfer money to a creator. No transfer rail exists on this build. Nothing on this page means a payment has reached anybody.
  • It will not let a business hold a creator payment indefinitely by staying silent. The acceptance period closes on its deadline whether or not the business responds, and the uncontested amount releases automatically when it does.
  • It will not pause more than the contested amount. A dispute pauses only the amount it names; anything else outstanding on the booking can still be released.
  • It will not reverse a creator entitlement because a customer was refunded. A refund to the business and a reversal of a creator transfer are separate decisions with separate records, and the reconciliation line reports the difference rather than closing it automatically.
  • It will not offer a release control. A release is taken through the marketplace API, needs the "administer" permission, and takes a governed decision as well.

IF IT DOES NOT WORK

  • "No booking recorded" means no collaboration you can reach has a settlement booking.
  • A releasable figure of zero on a booking with an outstanding amount usually means every outstanding penny is contested. The contested statement on that booking says so.
  • A reconciliation line reporting a difference is not automatically an error. A platform may absorb a refund deliberately; the line exists so somebody decides rather than so the system corrects it silently.
  • A booking stuck at "funded" after acceptance has passed means the release found nothing releasable. Check the contested amount on the Dispute Centre.

COMMON QUESTIONS

Has the creator been paid when a booking says "released"?

No. Releasing records an entitlement movement on the creator ledger and names the reference of whatever actually paid it. There is no creator transfer rail on this build, so no figure on the page means money reached anybody.

Why can I not see one total for a booking?

Because the business ledger and the creator ledger are not comparable. The business was charged a platform fee and a payment-provider fee the creator never sees, so a combined figure would describe nothing.

  • Raising and following a creator dispute

    What the Dispute Centre shows, which grounds each party may raise, why performance is not one of them, and why the content of dispute evidence is never displayed.

  • Reading delivery evidence

    What the evidence record for a published deliverable holds, how the acceptance verdict is derived, and why no post on this build has ever been confirmed as still live.

  • Running a creator collaboration

    Recording a piece of work a creator has been engaged for, moving it through its lifecycle, tracking deliverables and reviewing what they submit.