🏦 Settlements & Payouts
Understand how Africa Conglomerate calculates your earnings from marketplace sales, how settlement batches are created, how payouts are initiated and tracked, and how to manage refunds — all from the Settlements section.
- Your company must be approved and operational (see Account Setup)
- For commission-model sellers: Stripe Connect onboarding must be completed (see Billing & Plans)
- At least one completed, paid order must exist before settlement lines are generated
- You must have a Finance or Admin role to view and manage settlements
Part 1 — How Settlements Work
When a buyer pays for an order, the platform records a Settlement Line for that payment. Lines are held for a configurable number of days (the hold period) to allow time for disputes or refunds. Once the hold period passes, the line becomes eligible and can be included in a settlement batch. Settlement batches are then approved and paid out to your bank account.
Open the Settlements Dashboard
Go to Finance → Settlements. The dashboard shows:
- Pending Balance — total of eligible lines not yet in a settlement batch
- On-Hold Balance — earnings still within the hold period (not yet eligible)
- Recent Settlements — last few batches and their statuses
- Recent Payouts — recent payout disbursements to your bank
Understand Settlement Line States
Each sale recorded by the platform moves through these states:
- On Hold — hold period not yet expired; funds are protected
- Eligible — hold period passed; line can be batched into a settlement
- Settled — included in an approved settlement batch
- Paid — payout disbursed to your bank
Part 2 — Settlement Batches
Settlement batches group eligible lines together into a single payout unit. Batches can be generated manually or automatically by the platform on a schedule.
View Your Settlement List
Go to Finance → Settlements → All Settlements. Use the status filter to view settlements by:
- Pending — batch created, awaiting approval
- Approved — approved, ready for payout
- Paid — payout successfully sent to bank
- Failed — payout attempt failed (requires action)
View a Settlement Detail
Click any settlement reference to open the detail page. The page shows:
- Header — reference number, period, status, and totals
- Gross Amount — sum of all payment amounts included
- Platform Commission — the commission deducted by Africa Conglomerate
- Settlement Amount — gross minus commission — what you receive
- Line Items — table of individual orders included in this batch
Approve a Settlement (Admin)
If your organisation has the settlement approval step enabled, a settlement in Pending status requires an Admin to approve it before payout. On the settlement detail page, click Approve Settlement. The status moves to Approved and the payout is queued.
Part 3 — Payouts
A payout is the actual disbursement of an approved settlement to your bank account or mobile money wallet.
Trigger a Payout
On an Approved settlement, click Payout. The platform initiates a transfer to the bank account or mobile money number configured in your Vendor Account Settings. The payout status changes to Processing and then updates to Paid or Failed once the payment provider responds.
Monitor Payout Status
Go to Finance → Settlements → Payouts to see all payout records. Each row shows the reference, destination account, amount, status, and date. Payout statuses are:
- Pending — queued for processing
- Processing — submitted to the payment provider
- Paid — funds transferred successfully
- Failed — transfer failed; check destination details
Part 4 — Vendor Account Settings
Your vendor account holds the payout destination details and controls the minimum balance before a payout is triggered.
Configure Your Payout Account
Go to Finance → Settlements → Account Settings. Set up:
- Payout Currency — the currency your bank account accepts
- Payout Method — Bank Transfer or Mobile Money
- Bank/Mobile Money Details — account number, routing code, or mobile number depending on method
- Payout Threshold — minimum pending balance (default $10) before a payout is triggered automatically
- Hold Days — the number of days earnings are held before becoming eligible (set by the platform, visible here for reference)
Part 5 — Managing Refunds
When a buyer requests a refund, you can initiate it directly from the Finance section. Refunds deduct from the associated settlement line, reducing your net settlement amount for that period.
Initiate a Refund
Go to Finance → Settlements → Refunds and click Initiate Refund, or navigate to the payment you want to refund from Finance → Payments and click the Refund button on that payment's detail page.
- Amount — partial or full refund amount
- Reason — e.g. "Damaged goods", "Wrong item sent", "Buyer request"
The refund is submitted to the payment provider. The buyer typically receives their funds within 5–10 business days depending on their bank.
Track Refund Status
All refunds appear in the Refunds list (Finance → Settlements → Refunds). Each refund shows:
- Reference — the original payment it was raised against
- Amount — the refunded value
- Status — Pending, Succeeded, or Failed
- Reason — the reason recorded at the time of initiation
