Apple updating finance reports and payments

JCFord

just had this email from apple:

We are excited to announce that all financial reports and future payments will be presented on iTunes Connect in the new Payments and Financial Reports module. This new module replaces the Financial Reports module and features new ways to view your financial information, including:
A consolidated single monthly payment for all your proceeds worldwide, reducing bank fees and costs*.
Clearer presentation of amounts earned, amounts owed, and a reconciliation between the reported sales and the amounts paid.
A Dashboard view of financial information including last payment, amount owed, and latest monthly earnings.
Rolling transaction history showing the cumulative balance of amounts earned, taxes, and payments by reporting currency.
Graphical views of unit sales and payment trends.
Consistent scheduling and timing of reports and payments each month.
Improved messaging if your bank returns payments we've issued.
*This assumes you have a single bank account setup for all payments worldwide.

In addition, we've reduced the thresholds required for you to be paid, increasing the likelihood you'll receive proceeds each month.

You can find more detail on all the new features and changes in the user guide, which is available within the new Payments and Financial Reports module, or visit the Frequently Asked Questions section of ITunes Connect for more information.

Best Regards,
The iTunes Connect Team

jonmulcahy

Cool, thanks for the heads up. I saw this email and just deleted it
The interface is much easier to read.

Photics

Wow, that's awesome.

UtopianGames

Yeah looks nice BUT it's saying reported earning in June...will it change to July when we get payments this month?

I still prefer Appviz tbh.

Not had a mail from apple yet.

Darren.

butterbean

Yeah, I contacted itunes connect banking and they said payments for July will be given at the end of this month.

So perhaps now that they're consolidating the payments into one lump sum, they will probably be handed out at the end of August for July.

I also noticed that they said the minimum amount required for payment has been lowered, so instead of $150, it's a lower threshold amount required in order to be paid.

Wonder what that is? I tried reading their manual on it but skimmed through and couldn't find it?

Crazybreadman

So is it still a minimum for each region or just a minimum for all regions put together? Could I actually get paid for the Japan sales finally?! lol

BarkBarkCo

A game about ninjas didn't sell well in Japan?

*I re-read what I typed and realized that I am a stereotyping jerk!

chosenonestudios

Crazybreadman said:
So is it still a minimum for each region or just a minimum for all regions put together? Could I actually get paid for the Japan sales finally?! lol

Ha, I'm still waiting for my Russian sales :P

chosenonestudios

BarkBarkCo said:
A game about ninjas didn't sell well in Japan?

*I re-read what I typed and realized that I am a stereotyping jerk!

HAHAHHAAHA

Crazybreadman

BarkBarkCo said:
A game about ninjas didn't sell well in Japan?

*I re-read what I typed and realized that I am a stereotyping jerk!

Yeah it sold a few in Japan but not many. Maybe if the ninja had big anime eyes...

*I re-read what I typed and realized that I am a stereotyping jerk!

BarkBarkCo

I ask because US and Japan are the only regions I broke $150 in for July. It must be so dark in Japan. To see, you either need big anime eyes, or a crappy flashlight app...!

butterbean

BarkBarkCo said:
I ask because US and Japan are the only regions I broke $150 in for July. It must be so dark in Japan. To see, you either need big anime eyes, or a crappy flashlight app...!

LOL I guess we'll have to wait and see! IF anyone can see what it is that you need to meet now, let us know, I'll see if I can read through that document a bit later, but it's a biggee and I don't feel like reading through it right now

BarkBarkCo

I just got an email saying my July reports are available! yay!

Edit: US only so far, so I'm short $150 at present (for Japan)...

butterbean

I just got mine too, so is this U.S only or are they separating other countries financial reports?

BarkBarkCo

Is it common for these reports not to match "Sales and Trends"?

My US report is for sales in US, Mexico, Honduras and the Dominican Republic, so I'm short $105.7 total...

Could that just be credit transactions that didn't clear in the July period?

butterbean

@BarkBark: Yes I contacted apple's banking to ask that same question, and it is very common for sales reports to not match.

Sales reports are generally an "Estimate" but "Financial reports" are all finalized transactions.

I guess it means some numbers that they received may not have gone through (in sales reports) if someone's credit card perhaps expired, or whatever it may be, but "Financial reports" are the final numbers.

So are these U.S, and those other countries listed?

I thought I had read that they will be sending payment in one lump sum after all reports are in

BarkBarkCo

This is not directed at you BB. (meaning I'm not angry at you, but \Apple...)

My question is this, how can Apple stay in business if 1/10 of the credit transactions "Don't clear"??? I call BS on Apple!

butterbean

Here's what I was told in response to the issue you're having now, that I was also having back then....

"Another area to consider is the differences between the sales and finance reports. The daily and weekly reports are based on customer interaction (click-to-purchase) and are coming from real-time systems while the monthly reports are based on financial transactions that have processed through our financial systems.

It is not recommended to reconcile the two reports, since they are so different. The sales reports are good for getting a real time feel for sales. The financial reports reflect the end result of transactions processed and billed to the end customers."

So I gathered from this that financial reports are the exact amount that was billed, whereas sales reports are more real time, so even though someone "clicked" on a game to purchase it, if something happened in the interim such as an expired credit card I'm guessing, or other things, it doesn't necessarily count as a final sale.

It seems like a hefty amount at times, 10% is huge discrepancy, but I would contact them for anything more than a 5% discrepancy.

BarkBarkCo

Do you happen to have the address? Their contact page is a dead-end...

Thank you!

butterbean

iTSBanking@apple.com

Yeah let me know what they say

expired_012

For some reason I feel as if my financial report is way off...by hundreds of dollars. UGH I'm so confused!

butterbean

Yeah, happens every month, it's usually off. But if you subscribe to App Viz or some other program, usually it makes more sense, and I think it's a great program to keep track of your financials rather than sifting through sales reports

expired_012

Yea I use appfigures, and what it shows me there is much more than what's displayed in iTunesconnect. But I feel as if itunesconnect is more reliable because it's coming directly from apple. But then again appfigures, appviz, etc are taking in all of the sales data from iTunesconnect so I don't understand why they would show different amounts. I guess I'll just have to wait and see

BarkBarkCo

@BB, I got a canned response saying I need to email iTunesAppReporting@apple.com instead...

We'll see what happens...

On another note, does appannie.com track financial reports or just sales reports?

butterbean

@BarkBark: Oh I guess they're directing people over to that email instead.

I haven't used AppAnnie, but AppViz is IMO one of the best programs for sales reports. It breaks them down into daily, weekly, monthly reports, by region, and also sales per app. It has graphics and all kinds of stuff so you can see your trends, per app, or total sales. It really is great! I think its $29 up front and no other additional costs.

I know QS uses it as well and likes it

MagoNicolas

I Recieved a Payment of ALL THE MONEY I HAVE EARNED IN ALL COUNTRIES SINCE 2008.
(Except 3 paymens payed before becouse I Reached the 250 limit per region long time ago).
They Make My Balance in 0, Im happy, I recieve a lot of money and from Some Regions I really have LITTLE amount

BarkBarkCo

I got an answer back from Apple. They are basically saying that purchases made toward the end of the payment period may not have cleared by the end of that period, so they will be payed out in the next cycle (if the region is over $150). So it isn't that the transactions definitively failed, it's just that they may not have cleared yet.

I guess I overreacted a little... ;-)

I also didn't mention that all of my sales for the month of July happened starting on the 24th of the month, so that percentage I quoted earlier was skewed by the fact that a good percentage of the sales may not have cleared yet.

butterbean

Thanks BarkBark, so that makes more sense then

MagoNicolas

I Recieved This Today:
A consolidated single monthly payment for all your proceeds worldwide, reducing bank fees and costs*.
That Means that They will Pay us monthly all our earnings?

Koda89

MagoNicolas said:
I Recieved This Today:
A consolidated single monthly payment for all your proceeds worldwide, reducing bank fees and costs*.
That Means that They will Pay us monthly all our earnings?

Either that, or it just means if you make over $150 worldwide a month, you'll get paid. At least, that's what I'm thinking.

If that's the case, I'm set to make a lot of bank, cause it'll give me around $225, which I REALLY need.

JCFord

If you guys want some great stats for your app sales I have tried all the main stream sites already mentioned but you should have a look at www.appannie.com its
Currently in beta and free, but IMO it's the best out there!

JCFord