How to pay a nightclub's promoters

Per ticket or per person

There are two usual ways: a percentage of what each promoter sells, or a fixed amount per person who comes in through them. The percentage rewards selling higher; the per-person amount rewards filling the room. Many venues use both: a percentage on tickets and a fixed amount on the guest list.

What matters is that it's counted by who actually comes in, not by what the promoter says they brought.

Separate link sales from cash sales

What the promoter sells through their link is already in your account; what they collect in cash they're carrying. They're two different accounts: in the first you owe them their commission, in the second they owe you the cash. Mixing them is how the arguments start.

You can set a different percentage for each: less on cash sales, for example, because there you carry the cash risk.

Settle every week, in writing

Once a week: what you owe them in commission, minus what they owe you in cash. If they hand over only part of it, the balance carries over to the next week, on record. And let the promoter see their own balance: that way nobody argues from memory.

The terms, in writing

Percentage, what counts as their sale, when it's paid and what happens with the cash. How you engage a promoter (self-employed or otherwise) depends on your situation: check with your accountant.

How Servomo does it

Each promoter has their own link and every ticket is credited to them. It keeps two separate accounts (what they owe you from the cash and what you owe them in commission), with a different percentage for link and cash sales if you like, the outstanding balance carries over and the payout is broken down by ticket type.

Frequently asked questions