When a third party takes a cut before the money reaches you, you still want the full deal value on the record, with the cut shown as a deduction. In Gigwell that's a negative buyout — a negative artist expense — named for the third party taking the commission.
Enter the deduction
Open the booking and go to the Terms tab.
Open Artist Expenses.
Add a buyout row and name it for the third party taking the cut.
Enter the amount as a negative value. This is the step people get wrong — entering it as a positive buyout adds the commission to the invoice instead of deducting it.
Save the booking.
A worked example: on a deal worth 5,000 where the sub-agency keeps 1,000, you enter the deal at 5,000 and add a negative buyout of 1,000. You invoice and collect 4,000, and the full 5,000 deal value still shows on the booking.
Then check your settlement
Go to the Payments tab and open Settlement.
Check what it shows as owed to the artist. It should reflect the deduction.
If settlement still shows the full amount owed to the artist after you've entered the negative buyout, start a chat from the messenger with the booking details — the recorded settlement needs correcting and we'll do that for you.
Good to know
Enter the negative buyout before you create the invoice. Expenses lock once an invoice is recorded.
A negative buyout is the right tool for any deduction taken before you get paid, not just sub-agency splits.
Don't handle this by lowering the guarantee. Keeping the full deal value on the booking with an explicit deduction is what keeps your reporting and settlement accurate.