Verzögerte Einnahmen durch langsame Lizenz- und Rechteabrechnung

Definition

Australian publishers often receive rights income from overseas publishers and then pay a contractual share (e.g. 50%) as royalties to Australian authors.[5] This creates a multi‑step flow: receipt of foreign royalty statements and payments, FX conversion, GST treatment where applicable, allocation per title and author, and then on‑payment to authors. Where these steps are manual, revenue is recognised late, authors are paid long after cash is received, and errors in GST treatment may arise, potentially triggering ATO queries or adjustments.[5] Logic evidence: if rights and export income equals even 5–10% of a publisher’s turnover and is paid quarterly or semi‑annually, manual reconciliation delays of 30–60 days can keep tens or hundreds of thousands of AUD in limbo. For example, with AUD 3m annual revenue and 10% from rights (AUD 300k), an average 45‑day delay in allocating and invoicing/payables can tie up roughly AUD 37,000 in working capital (300k × 45/365). Larger houses with AUD 20m+ turnover and substantial foreign rights could see AUD 200,000+ structurally delayed. Extended delays also risk breaching contractual payment terms to authors and may complicate GST/BAS reporting if royalty expenses and income are mis‑timed relative to lodgement.

Why This Matters

The Pitch: Australian 🇦🇺 publishers with significant rights and export income lock up AUD 30,000–200,000 in working capital each year due to slow, manual reconciliation of royalty statements. Automation of statement ingestion, allocation and GST/rightsholder splits shortens time-to-cash and reduces ATO query risk.

Affected Stakeholders

Finance Manager, Royalties/Contracts Manager, Accounts Receivable, Authors and Agents

Related Business Risks