Owners → Disbursements → /owner-disbursements Beta
A disbursement is money leaving your account for an owner. It settles the net payable their statement shows.
The disbursement record
| Field | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Owner | Who is being paid. |
| Amount | The payout value. |
| Method | How it is paid — bank transfer, mobile money. |
| Account | The owner's payout account. Defaults to their default account. |
| Reference | The outbound transaction reference, for reconciliation. |
| Paid at | When the money actually left. |
| Status | Where the payout is in its lifecycle. |
| Notes | Anything the next person needs to know. |
| Linked statement | The statement this settles. |
| Timeline | The audit trail of the payout. |
Running a payout
Generate and review statements first
A disbursement without a reviewed statement behind it is a payment nobody can explain. See Owner statements.
Check the owner overview
/owner-overviewshows who is due what across the portfolio, before you start.Check the thresholds
Amounts below the contract's minimum disbursement carry forward rather than being paid. Negative balances follow the contract's negative-balance handling.
Confirm the payout account
The owner's default account, unless there is a documented reason to override it.
Create the disbursement
Amount, method, account, reference and date.
Pay, then record the reference
The bank or mobile-money reference is what makes the payout reconcilable. A disbursement without one is very hard to match later.
Settlement lag
The contract's settlement lag exists so that receipts have cleared before you pay them out. Paying ahead of the lag means paying out money you have recorded but not yet actually received — particularly risky where a large receipt later bounces or is reversed.
Reconciling
Filter disbursements by date and account
One bank account, one statement period.
Match on reference
Every disbursement should have a corresponding bank debit.
Investigate both directions
A disbursement with no bank debit was never paid. A bank debit with no disbursement is an unrecorded payout — the more serious of the two.
Confirm the owner ledger
After reconciliation, the owner's ledger balance should equal what their latest statement carried forward, less anything paid since.
Common problems
| Symptom | Cause and fix |
|---|---|
| Disbursement cannot be created | No default payout account on the owner. |
| Amount differs from the statement's net payable | Carried-forward balance, a threshold, or a partial payout. Check the linked statement. |
| Owner says they were not paid | Check the reference against the bank; then check whether the recorded payout was ever executed. |
| Duplicate payout | Recorded twice, or recorded and also paid manually outside the system. Reconcile before creating anything new. |