This guide provides an overview of how payments are processed, how you receive your funds, and how to handle administrative tasks such as reconciling your monthly balance.
The payment process
When selling tickets through Stager, all payments are handled by our payment service provider, Adyen. Think of your Adyen account as a bank account that is linked to your Stager Backstage.
As soon as a ticket is sold, the order amount is automatically split. The Stager ticketing fee (including VAT) is transferred to Stager, while the remaining turnover is directly deposited into your Adyen account. These funds remain yours and will be paid out to your own bank account on a regular basis. Because it never passes through Stager, we can't invoice for it with VAT.
In the case of a refund, this will be taken out from your Account balance in Adyen and paid back to used bank account of the ticket buyer.
Payouts to your bank account
A payout is a transfer of funds from your Adyen merchant account to your own business bank account. You can find the overview of all payment statements in Settings - Account - Payout. On these page you can also decide on its settings.
Payout modes
You can choose between a weekly (Monday) or monthly (last day of the month) payout schedule. Manual payouts (upper right corner) can also be initiated if you need funds sooner.
Once a payout is processed, a payout statement is generated for your administration, and a confirmation email is sent to your billing address.
Note that for each payout a fee is charged of €0,50 (excl. VAT), this is the payout fee.
Reserves and pending funds
The total balance in your Adyen account may not always be available for immediate payout due to the following factors:
Chargeback Reserve: For events that have not yet taken place, revenue from credit card payments is temporarily held to cover potential chargebacks. These funds are released exactly one weeks after the 'Program end' date/time of the event. This amount will be paid out with the following payout after this moment.
Refund reserve: An optional amount you can set aside to ensure you always have enough balance to process immediate refunds.
Pending balance: Some payment methods take a few business days to settle. While these sales appear in your reports and the money is sent on its way, these funds are only available for payout once Adyen has received the transfer. Each month the Pending balance is measured, you can find this via Reports - Accounting - Balance.
Financial administration and reconciliation
We advise that you let the payouts enter a suspense account (a separate general ledger account for this purpose) in your own administration. You debit the VAT and the costs directly from this account in the same month. The payout includes VAT and you declare VAT in the month of the sale, not in the month in which the event takes place. You book the turnover from the suspense account to the final record location after the event has taken place.
At Reports - Accounting - Accounting by sales date you can download a monthly overview. This data comes directly from Adyen and shows the turnover, VAT and costs of that month on the Adyen account. This overview does not include the payout. The payout is an interim transfer of money that is available at that time to pay out.
At Settings - Account - Billing you download the monthly receipt. The Stager costs are shown here and you can use it to book the costs in your own administration. The Stager costs are inclusive of VAT withheld. With this receipt you can reclaim the VAT from the tax authorities if applicable.
Monthly financial connection
To match your payouts with your reports, check the overview in Reports - Accounting - Balance. This page shows your confirmed balances and pending balances, which are affected by ticket sales, payouts, refunds, and fund transfers.
To reconcile your administration:
Download the Accounting by date report for the specific month to see turnover, VAT, and costs.
Use the Monthly Receipt (found in Settings - Account - Billing) to book Stager costs and reclaim VAT.
Compare your starting balance + revenue (minus Stager fees) against your ending balance + payouts.
In practice
Every administration is different and it is best to contact an accountant for advice on how to set this up. We make the financial connection in the following way.
Download the Accounting by date report (e.g. March 2026).
Check the balance at the beginning of the period (28-02-2026 23:59).
Check the balance at the end of the period (31-03-2026 23:59).
Write down all the payouts for that month (often on the first of the month).
The balance (beginning of the period) + the pending balance (beginning of the period) + the revenue minus Stager fees (incl. VAT) (column E in the Accounting by date report) = Subtotal A
The balance (end of the period) + The pending balance (end of the period) + all payouts March 2026 = Subtotal B
Subtotal A and subtotal B almost match. You have a difference of payout fee or a multiple thereof. That's because each payout has a transaction fee you can see in the accounting report.
Linking payments to orders
Depending on the bank and the payment method, information is shown with the payment. In most cases there is also a payment reference that looks like: ORD-123-1234567-1234567-etc.
The first number after 'ORD' is a fixed code that is unique for each organizer. The second number is the most important, because this is the order number.
You can search for this number in Ticketing - Orders to verify which tickets were purchased and check the Transactions in order tab to confirm the status of the payment or any refunds.
Why is my payout blocked?
If your payout status is 'Blocked', Adyen likely requires additional KYC (Know Your Customer) information. Verification is an ongoing process due to financial regulations, so checks are continuously done.
You will have received an email about the situation, that notified you of what needs to happen. Via Settings - Account - KYC you can find the portal to Adyen where you can add or update the requested information.
If you need to change your registered IBAN, please contact Stager support (support@stager.co).
How are chargebacks handled?
A chargeback occurs when a ticket buyer reverses a credit card or Paypal payment. If this happens, Stager automatically notifies you. You will be charged an administration fee off €7,50 per chargeback, which will be collected via your regular monthly invoice.
When you receive a notification of a chargeback, we recommend checking if the event has already taken place.
If the event has already taken place, there's nothing to do.
If the event is in the future, you can block the ticket in Ticketing - Ticket management to prevent entry.
The chargeback is not included in the accounting report. You will need to process it manually in your bookkeeping.