Migrating from Spreadsheets to Royalty Accounting Software
Most labels and publishers start managing royalties in spreadsheets. Excel or Google Sheets works for one or two artists — but as your roster grows, the manual process becomes a liability: formula errors, version control problems, hours lost reformatting DSP data, and an audit trail that lives in someone's laptop.
This guide explains when and how to migrate from spreadsheets to purpose-built royalty accounting software, and what the process looks like in RosterRoyalties.
Why spreadsheets fail at scale
Spreadsheets are flexible but they carry compounding operational risks as royalty volume grows:
- Formula errors compound silently. A broken cell reference in a split calculator can pay artists the wrong amount for months before anyone notices.
- No version control.Editing last quarter's statements to fix an error means there is no record of what changed, when, or why — a serious problem if an artist requests an audit.
- DSP data requires manual transformation. Every DSP exports a slightly different CSV format. Reformatting, deduplicating, and aggregating that data before you can even start calculating takes hours each month.
- No artist-facing layer. Artists cannot self-serve their statements, so every request for a PDF or historical statement requires manual work from the label.
- No recoupment tracking. Maintaining running recoupment balances across multiple artists and multiple accounting periods in a spreadsheet is error-prone and difficult to audit.
⚠ The hidden cost
A mid-size label managing 20 artists in spreadsheets typically spends 8–15 hours per accounting period on data cleaning, calculation, and PDF generation. That time compounds every month.Signs you need dedicated software
Consider migrating when any of the following apply:
- You have more than 5 artists to account for
- You are receiving income from more than 2–3 DSPs or distributors
- You have artists with advances or recoupment balances to track
- An artist has questioned a statement and you could not easily explain the calculation
- You are spending more than 3 hours per accounting period on statement preparation
- You have had a formula error cause an incorrect payment
- You want to give artists self-service access to their own statements
What to migrate
Before starting the migration, gather the following from your existing spreadsheets:
- Artist list — names, contact emails, and any existing portal access
- Split percentages — the contractual split for each artist, ideally per-track
- Recoupment balances — the current unrecouped advance balance for each artist, as of the most recent closed accounting period
- Label deduction rates — any standard packaging or distribution deductions defined in your contracts
- Historical statements — PDFs or spreadsheets for at least the last 2–3 years, for audit purposes
You do not need to re-enter historical transaction data. RosterRoyalties can start from the current recoupment balance; prior history is covered by your existing PDFs.
Migration steps
Recommended monthly workflow
- 1
Add your label name, logo, currency, and address. This branding appears on all statements, artist portals, and invoices.
- 2
Create an artist record for each artist on your roster and invite them to their portal. You can do this before uploading any data.
- 3
Enter the split percentage for each artist. For per-track splits, use the CSV bulk upload to import all splits at once.
- 4
Enter opening recoupment balances
Add the current unrecouped advance balance for each artist as a starting point. RosterRoyalties will track movements from here.
- 5
Download this month's income data from your distributor and upload it. RosterRoyalties auto-matches columns to the right fields.
- 6
Use Fast Approval to generate your first batch of statements
Review every artist's net figure simultaneously, then approve your full roster in one click. Statements are immediately published to artist portals.
Handling historical data
You do not need to import historical statement data into RosterRoyalties to start using it. The recommended approach:
- Export final PDFs of all historical statements from your spreadsheet system before switching
- Store them in a shared drive or attach them to artist records for reference
- Enter the current recoupment balance for each artist as an opening balance in RosterRoyalties
- From that point, all new statements and recoupment tracking happen in the platform
If an artist requests an audit of pre-migration periods, provide the historical PDFs directly. RosterRoyalties handles all periods from your go-live date forward.
What changes day-to-day
After migrating, the monthly accounting workflow changes significantly:
| Before (spreadsheets) | After (RosterRoyalties) |
|---|---|
| Download CSVs from 3–5 DSPs, reformat each one manually | Upload CSV — columns auto-matched, data imported in seconds |
| Apply split formulas per-artist, check for errors | Splits applied automatically based on stored configuration |
| Manually calculate recoupment deductions per artist | Recoupment calculated and deducted automatically |
| Export individual PDFs, email each artist separately | Approve all statements in one click; artists notified automatically |
| Artists email asking for statement copies | Artists self-serve from their portal; no label involvement needed |
| No audit trail; no record of changes | Full activity log; approved statements are locked and cannot be altered |
→ Start mid-cycle if needed
You do not need to wait for the start of a new accounting period to migrate. Enter the current recoupment balances, upload this month's CSV when it arrives, and you're running live from that point.Ready to leave the spreadsheets behind?
Set up your label, add your artists, and generate your first batch of statements in under an hour. 7-day free trial, cancel at any time.