Showing a venue the takings for a revenue split
How an organiser shows a venue or promoter the takings per till and per day from frozen Z reports, then pays the venue's share through a supplier bill.
By Achekam · · 4 min read · For Events businesses in South Africa, Nigeria, Kenya
"We take a share of the bar." It sounds simple when the venue manager says it over coffee. Three months later, after a sold-out run of shows, the same manager is asking why the figure on your settlement is lower than the one their staff remember, and your bar team is asking why the venue gets a cut of drinks sold from your own fridges.
Revenue splits break down over evidence, not arithmetic. The party that runs the tills has to show the other party figures it can trust, in a form that cannot be massaged after the fact. Achekam's till gives you that evidence if you set the event up for it.
Z reports frozen at cash-up
Every till session ends with a cash-up. The cashier counts the drawer by notes and coins, and the server works out the expected cash, records the difference and posts it to cash over and short. At that moment the till's Z report is frozen and can be opened as a PDF.
A frozen Z report is the right document to show a venue, because it is not a spreadsheet someone typed up afterwards. It is what the till recorded for that session, and it does not change once the session is cashed up. While the bar is still trading, a live X report of the open till can also be opened as a PDF, which is useful when a venue manager wants a look at the halfway mark.
Several tills can run at once, and the server hands out receipt numbers so two tills never share one. If the venue queries a particular sale, the receipt number leads straight to it.
The closed business day
The Z reports become firmer still when the business day is closed. A branch's day is closed by a supervisor or manager who was not a cashier that day, and closing it freezes the day's Z reports, payments, VAT by rate and differences.
For a revenue split that matters in two ways. The person closing the day was not selling, so there is a second pair of eyes on the figures. And once closed, the day's numbers are fixed: the settlement you show the venue on Monday will still be the same settlement if their auditor asks about it next year.
Agree with the venue who will close each day. Some venues like their own duty manager present when it happens, or want a copy of the Z reports that same night.
Sales by VAT rate for the period
A split is usually worked out on sales excluding VAT, since the VAT is not anyone's to share. Posted till sales can be listed by VAT rate and tax code for any period you choose, so for a run of shows you can produce one listing that covers the whole run and shows the VAT separately.
Before you calculate the share, settle three details with the venue:
- Which tills count. Only the tills in the venue's space, or every till you run at the event, including the merch tent?
- Which figure. Sales including or excluding VAT, before or after discounts and comps.
- Which period. Each show night, each calendar day, or the whole run.
Then the calculation is mechanical: the agreed tills, the agreed figure, the agreed period, multiplied by the agreed percentage.
Every till sale that reaches the server has already posted to your ledger, with each payment method to its own account, revenue and output VAT. You can choose whether the till posts one journal per sale or one summary journal per till session per day; the summary option keeps the ledger tidy for a long run of shows without changing what the Z reports show.
Paying the venue's share through a supplier bill
Record the venue's share as a supplier bill from the venue, line by line, with VAT if the venue charges it. Attach or reference the Z reports and the VAT-rate listing the figure came from. A bill entered without a purchase order waits for approval before it posts, so a second person checks the share before it lands in your books. Bills can be paid in full or in parts, which suits venues that settle after each weekend.
Whether your books should show the full bar takings as your income with the venue's share as a cost, or only your share as income, depends on who is really selling the drinks. The IFRS Foundation's summary of IFRS 15 Revenue from Contracts with Customers sets out the principles for reporting revenue from contracts with customers; ask your accountant to apply them to your contract once, at the start, rather than after the first argument.
What to agree in the contract about reporting
Most disputes are avoided by a short reporting clause. It should cover:
- The evidence. Z reports per till per session, the closed-day figures and the VAT-rate listing for the period.
- The timing. When you will send them, for example the morning after each show or within a week of the last one.
- Access. Whether the venue may have someone present at cash-up and day close.
- Comps and stock. Who carries the cost of complimentary drinks, and whether stock you supply is treated differently from stock the venue supplies.
- Payment. When the share is paid, and against what document.
Write the clause before the first show, attach a sample Z report so both sides know what the evidence looks like, and stick to it. To see what the event earned you once the share is paid, read seeing the profit on each event, and for running several tills and floats in one venue, see pop-up tills and floats.
General guidance only, not advice on your own circumstances. Tax and payroll rules change: check the current position with the authority or your adviser.
