Store and commission — 2026
Developer-program fees and recorded app-store commission, with payout notes per period.
Indie app dev · Finance organizing
A finance workspace for indie app developers
As an indie developer your money flows in odd shapes: monthly cloud bills, a once-a-year developer-program fee, App Store payouts that arrive net of commission, and the occasional client contract on the side. When App Store commission, infrastructure spend, and contractor fees all sit in one undifferentiated pile, year-end becomes archaeology. Cash Workspace gives you one place to categorize every developer cost, record store and subscription revenue with payout notes, and attach the contracts and license receipts behind each line.
The problem
Why app-dev finances are hard to untangle
App income arrives net of commission and on a payout schedule, while costs are a mix of recurring infrastructure and lumpy annual fees — so a flat list hides the real shape of your year.
- App Store payouts arrive net of commission, so the gross and the cut aren't recorded anywhere.
- Annual developer-program fees from Apple and Google Play get lost among monthly cloud bills.
- Third-party API and SDK charges show up across several vendors with no shared category.
- Paid user-acquisition spend isn't separated from infrastructure, so your cost picture is muddy.
- A contractor's signed agreement is in chat while their invoice is in email.
The workflow
Separate store costs from infrastructure
Give each kind of cost a category and record revenue with payout notes so your fiscal year reads clearly.
- 1
Set up cost categories
Create categories for developer-program fees, cloud/backend bills, third-party APIs and SDKs, app-store commission, design and contractor fees, and paid user acquisition.
- 2
Record revenue by fiscal year
Record subscription and app revenue with a payout note capturing the gross, the store's cut, and the net you received.
- 3
Record client invoices separately
If you also do contract work, record those invoices by client, amount, and status alongside your product revenue.
- 4
Attach the paperwork
Attach contractor agreements and software-license receipts to the records they belong to.
- 5
File store vs infrastructure apart
Use fiscal-year folders that keep store-commission costs separate from infrastructure spend.
- 6
Review monthly
Once a month, reconcile cloud bills and payouts and confirm every recurring charge is categorized.
Record structure
What to record for each cost and payout
A consistent field set keeps commission, infrastructure, and revenue clearly separated.
- Category
- Developer-program fee, cloud/backend, API/SDK, app-store commission, contractor, design, or paid UA.
- Vendor
- Apple, Google Play, your cloud provider, an API vendor, or a contractor.
- Date
- When the charge or payout landed, so it falls in the right month and fiscal year.
- Amount
- The charge or, for revenue, the gross amount before any store cut.
- Payout note
- For app revenue: gross, store commission, and the net you actually received.
- Receipt or invoice
- The license receipt or vendor invoice attached to its record.
- Contractor agreement
- The signed agreement attached to a contractor's record.
- Client and status
- For contract work, who it's for and whether the invoice is sent, paid, or overdue.
Example setup
An example folder setup
One way to keep store costs and infrastructure clearly apart inside your workspace.
Infrastructure
Cloud/backend bills and third-party API and SDK receipts, categorized and dated.
Contractors and design
Contractor and design invoices with their signed agreements attached.
User acquisition
Paid UA receipts kept separate from infrastructure so your cost picture stays clean.
Common mistakes
Mistakes to avoid
- Recording only the net payout and losing the gross-and-commission split.
- Mixing the annual developer-program fee in with monthly cloud bills.
- Lumping paid user acquisition into infrastructure so costs look fuzzy.
- Leaving contractor agreements in chat instead of attached to the invoice.
- Letting API and SDK charges scatter across vendors with no shared category.
How it helps
How Cash Workspace helps
Categories for every dev cost
Categorize developer-program fees, cloud bills, APIs, commission, contractors, and UA by category and date.
Revenue with payout notes
Record app and subscription revenue by fiscal year with a note for the gross, store cut, and net.
Agreements and licenses attached
Attach contractor agreements and license receipts to the exact records they support.
Store vs infrastructure folders
Keep store-commission costs in their own fiscal-year area, separate from infrastructure spend.
Related
Related workflows for software and dev work
Software receipt folder
Keep every subscription and license receipt in one place.
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FAQ
App developer finance FAQ
- How do I record an App Store payout that arrives net of commission?
- Record the revenue with a payout note capturing the gross, the store's commission, and the net you received, so both the cut and the take-home are visible later.
- Should developer-program fees go in their own category?
- Yes. Keeping annual Apple and Google Play fees in their own category stops them from disappearing into monthly cloud bills.
- Can I separate store costs from infrastructure spend?
- You can file store-commission costs in their own fiscal-year folder, separate from cloud and API spend, so each side of your costs stays clear.
- Does Cash Workspace connect to my App Store or cloud account?
- No. You record charges and payouts yourself. Cash Workspace does not sync with any bank or store account and does not read or extract data from your statements.
Organizing help — not tax, accounting, or legal guidance
Cash Workspace is a free workspace for organizing invoices, expenses, receipts, clients, and documents. This page is organizing guidance only — not tax, accounting, legal, or bookkeeping guidance. Cash Workspace does not connect to your bank, does not scan or read your receipts for you, and does not move or collect payments. Whether an expense is deductible depends on your situation, so confirm it with a qualified accountant or tax professional.
Organize store costs, infrastructure, and revenue
Start a free workspace and categorize every developer cost, record revenue with payout notes, and attach the agreements behind each line so your fiscal year reads clearly.