What the figures in your accounts mean
Creator platform reports show several different totals. To reconcile them, you need to distinguish what fans paid from what your business earned and what was withdrawn. These distinctions also matter when comparing platforms or deciding how much you can afford to withdraw.
| Figure | What it tells you |
|---|---|
| Fan spend | What the audience paid at checkout. It may include consumer taxes and amounts that never belong to you. |
| Contractual income | The amount your business earns under the actual agreement, with any separate fees identified. |
| Withdrawals | Money moved from a platform or wallet to your bank. It may settle several periods. |
| Profit | Income less the relevant business costs. Taxable profit also depends on the applicable tax rules. |
Check the agreement before calculating income
Dividing an £800 payout by 80% to infer £1,000 of income is not a reliable accounting method. It assumes the withdrawal contains one period’s sales, a fixed fee and no refunds, old balances or other deductions. More fundamentally, it assumes the underlying contract makes the larger amount your income.
An arrangement where a platform collects your sales and charges a separate commission differs from one where it buys a supply from you for an agreed net price. Obtain the accepted creator agreement, invoices or self-bills and transaction reports. Confirm whether the contracting business is you personally or your company.
LoyalFans’ published Creator Supplement describes a platform fee and money held as the creator’s agent. It also says successful refunds and chargebacks reduce creator earnings without reducing platform fees. That is a useful reason to inspect actual deductions rather than assume every reversal follows the headline percentage.
Worked example: reconciling the platform balance
This fictional example assumes a collection arrangement with separately identified fees. All figures are in one currency, presented as pounds for simplicity, and exclude consumer taxes. It illustrates a monthly balance movement, not a tax calculation or any particular platform’s contract.
- The month added £7,700 after these fees and reversals; £7,500 reached the bank.
- The closing £1,400 must agree to a supported platform balance, including any pending or held components.
- A later withdrawal clears the relevant existing balance. It must not create the same income a second time.
| Movement | Amount |
|---|---|
| Opening amount held by the platform | £1,200 |
| Add: new sales credited before separate fees | + £10,000 |
| Less: actual platform fees charged | − £2,000 |
| Less: refund and chargeback debits shown on the statement | − £300 |
| Less: payouts matched to the bank | − £7,500 |
| Closing amount still held | £1,400 |
Pending balances and foreign currencies
Fansly distinguishes total, pending and available balances, with earnings moving through a seven-day pending period. Those figures answer different questions. Available cash helps you plan the next withdrawal; the total balance helps explain what the platform holds. A delayed payout should remain traceable through its request, processing and bank stages.
Reconcile in the platform’s original currency first. Then connect the payout to the sterling receipt, keeping the conversion statement and any separately charged transfer fee. Record the exchange-rate method used in the accounts and distinguish exchange differences from platform fees.
Keep ordinary pending amounts, disputed chargebacks and restricted balances identifiable. An amount subject to a dispute may need a different assessment from money simply waiting for its scheduled release.
Income Tax timing and VAT
Cash basis and accrual accounting recognise income differently. Under cash basis, actual receipt matters; limited companies cannot use that Income Tax cash basis. Whether receipt by a platform or agent already counts as receipt by your business needs the agreement and facts. Do not assume leaving money in a wallet postpones tax until withdrawal.
VAT has its own supply rules. A digital platform can be treated as the supplier to the fan even where the commercial wording describes an intermediary. That VAT treatment does not, by itself, decide your income-accounting presentation. Map each stream: your supplier and customer, what is supplied, where each belongs and what the platform does.
Consumer VAT handled by a platform does not settle every obligation of your business. Relevant services bought from an overseas supplier can require a reverse-charge review and can affect the VAT registration test. A deduction described as a platform fee is not automatically an imported service: establish the actual supply first.
Records to keep each month
For each platform, keep a complete period rather than a screenshot of the headline total. Preserve the original download, date range, currency and account identifier so another person can follow the figures.
- Opening and closing balances, with pending and restricted amounts identified.
- Sales, subscriptions, tips, fees, refunds and adjustments, with transaction references.
- Payout history and matching bank or payment-wallet statements.
- Invoices, self-bills and the relevant creator agreement.
- A short list of missing records, unexplained differences and unresolved disputes.
NDA and contact arrangements
We can agree an NDA before sensitive records are shared, alongside the engagement’s confidentiality arrangements and lawful disclosure requirements. Tell us your preferred contact name and channel. Start with the platforms, currencies and periods involved; we can then agree the financial records and access needed for the work.
Common questions
Is my OnlyFans bank payout my taxable income?
It is evidence of money received, but it does not establish the full taxable figure. The contract, platform activity, fees, accounting basis and receipt timing need to be considered together.
Can you reconcile more than one creator platform?
We can assess the exports and agreements for your platforms and agree a scope. Each balance is checked separately before the results are combined, including transfers between wallets and banks.