Open ledger and payout slips on a playtest bench beside a phone

27 Bookkeeping & Tax Services Inc.

Every payout reconciled. Every close you can trust.

Platform fee reconciliation for game studios selling on more than one storefront — gross sales, fees, taxes and refunds matched to the deposit that actually landed.

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Gross sales

By title

Matched to the sales report for each game, not blended across the catalogue.

Fees & taxes

Separate

Platform fee and collected tax kept apart from revenue so the net ties out.

Net settlement

To deposit

Compared line by line with the bank deposit before the month is closed.

Platform revenue & reconciliation

Platform fee reconciliation for every storefront payout

Name: 27 Bookkeeping & Tax Services Inc.
Address: 2424 W Florence Ave, Los Angeles, 90043, US
Telephone: (213) 504-8792

Platform fee reconciliation is the work of matching what a storefront says a title sold, what the storefront charged in fees, and what actually reached the bank. For a studio selling on several platforms at once, that match is where revenue recognition and cash flow either make sense or do not. This page explains how we reconcile developer payouts across major storefronts.

In practice the check has three legs: the platform statement, the sales report for the title, and the bank deposit. When all three agree, the month can close. When they do not, the difference is the work — and it is much easier to resolve in the month it appears, while the platform can still explain it and the studio still remembers the transaction.

Payout slips being ticked beside a phone on the bench — Slips ticked against the deposit, title by title

Each platform, on its own terms

Developer payouts, line by line

Each platform issues a statement with gross sales, fees, taxes collected, refunds, and the net settlement. We match each line to the sales report for the title and to the bank deposit. A difference is investigated in the month it appears, while the platform can still explain it and the studio still remembers the transaction.

Google Play and mobile in-app purchases

Google Play payouts reflect in-app purchase settlements, refunds, and chargebacks that can arrive after the original sale. Mobile studios also face multi-jurisdiction tax collection on the storefront, which the platform may handle on the sale but the studio still needs to record correctly. We separate the in-app purchase revenue, the platform fee, and the tax amount so the net settlement ties to the deposit.

That separation matters for in-app purchase revenue recognition: a refund that lands two months later should adjust the month it relates to, not quietly shrink the current month.

In-app purchase revenue separated from the platform fee
Refunds and chargebacks traced to the original sale
Multi-jurisdiction tax recorded as collected, not as income

Epic Games Store and revenue sharing

Epic Games operates a marketplace alongside its games and the Unreal Engine, and store fee discussions affect every studio selling through that store. The reconciliation for Epic follows the same discipline as any other platform: gross sales, the stated fee, and the net payout, matched by title. Where a studio also uses Unreal-based tools, development costs are tracked separately from storefront revenue, so the payout is never read as profit before the costs it carries are counted.

Gross sales, stated fee and net payout matched by title
Storefront revenue kept apart from Unreal development costs

Console platforms and subscriptions

Console storefronts combine unit sales, downloadable content, and subscription revenue that platforms such as PlayStation report through their own settlement cycles. Sony Interactive Entertainment runs PlayStation operations that combine platform fees, subscriptions, and first-party publishing — a useful reminder that a platform settlement is not a single simple sale. We record subscription amounts over the service period and reconcile the platform share to the settlement report.

Unit sales and downloadable content reconciled separately
Subscription revenue spread across the service period

What sits underneath the payout

Hardware, subscriptions and royalties

Hardware and software together

Nintendo combines hardware and software operations, including Switch hardware and first-party franchises. A studio that also handles physical or hardware-adjacent revenue faces inventory and cost questions that a pure digital studio does not. Our reconciliation work covers the digital statements, and where a client has physical stock, we flag the separate inventory records that the books will need — so hardware cost is never buried inside a software payout.

Subscription revenue and deferred balances

Subscription revenue is earned over time, so the platform payout in a given month may include amounts for service not yet delivered. We record the deferred balance and release it as the period passes. That treatment keeps a strong sign-up month from looking like a windfall and a quiet month from looking like a collapse — the books show when the money was earned, not only when it arrived.

Royalty income from publishers and licensors

Royalty statements from a publisher or licensor follow contract terms, not platform calendars. We track advances, recoupments, and earned royalties in separate accounts and reconcile each statement to the contract rate. When a publisher reports a lower balance than the studio expected, the contract schedule shows where the difference came from.

Ledger sheets fanned in rows on the bench

The monthly tie-out

Statement, sales report and bank deposit compared each month
Differences investigated while the platform can still explain them
Deferred subscription balances released as the period passes

What a clean reconciliation produces

A monthly pack that ties gross sales to net cash

A completed reconciliation gives the studio a monthly pack that ties gross sales to net cash by platform and by title. It also gives the tax preparer a revenue schedule that matches the bank record. That pack is the document a publisher, lender, or investor will ask for first, and it should be ready without a special project.

Inside the monthly pack

Gross sales by platform and by title
Platform fees and collected taxes shown separately
Refunds, chargebacks and deferred balances explained
Net settlement tied to the bank deposit, ready for tax preparation

Common question

Fees, timing and recognition

How do platform fees and payout delays affect revenue recognition?

Fees are recorded separately from gross sales, and revenue is recognized when the studio's obligation is met, which may differ from the payout date. The reconciliation ties the statement, the sales report, and the bank deposit so the timing difference is visible and documented.

If a payout has been sitting unreconciled for more than a month, bring the statement and the bank record and we will work through the difference line by line. That is the fastest way to find whether the gap is a fee timing issue, a refund that arrived late, or a balance that was deferred.

Developer reviewing documents beside a console on the finance desk

27 Bookkeeping & Tax Services Inc.

2424 W Florence Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90043

(213) 504-8792

[email protected]

Monday to Friday, 9:00 AM to 6:00 PM