Scoop tracks every payment owed to every creator across every deal in every project, surfaces what's due and overdue, and gives you one place to mark payments as paid. Scoop doesn't process the actual money transfer, you pay creators through your usual payout method, but Scoop is the system of record so nothing slips.
Payment milestones
When you build a cash deal, you define payment milestones. A milestone is one slice of the total deal value with its own trigger and due date. Common milestone setups include:
Upfront on agreement. The creator gets a portion the moment the deal is signed, often used to lock in availability.
After draft approval. Payment unlocks the moment you approve the creator's draft.
After publish. Payment unlocks once Scoop verifies the post is live and tagged correctly.
Custom. Pick any combination, like 30% upfront, 30% on draft approval, 40% on publish.
You set milestones at the deal level when you're negotiating, so each creator can have a different schedule. Once the deal is agreed, milestones lock in.
Marking a payment as paid
Scoop doesn't run the payment itself. You pay the creator through your usual payout method (bank transfer, payment platform, etc.) and then come back to Scoop to mark the milestone as paid.
When you mark a payment as paid, you can attach proof:
The transaction ID from your bank or payment service
A screenshot of the confirmation
A short note for your own records
This proof is visible inside the deal thread, so the creator can see exactly when and how they were paid.
Due dates and overdue alerts
Every milestone has a due date based on when its trigger fired. For example, an "after publish" milestone might be due seven days after the post is verified.
When a payment is approaching its due date, Scoop nudges you with a reminder. If a payment goes overdue, it surfaces in the deal thread as a flag and in the Payments tab as an overdue row. Creators see overdue payments on their side too, so the system creates real accountability for your team.
The Payments tab
Each project has a dedicated Payments tab that gives you a single view of every payment across every deal in the project. You'll see:
Total committed to the project
Total paid so far
Total upcoming (not yet due)
Total overdue
A row per milestone with creator, amount, due date, and status
This is the screen you'll live in around payroll time. You can filter by status (overdue, upcoming, paid) and export the list if your finance team needs it.
Barter deals and payments
For barter deals, the "payment" is the coupon that's generated when the deal is agreed. There's no cash milestone to mark as paid. The coupon and any resulting Shopify order are tracked inside the deal thread, so you still get a record of the value exchanged.
50/50 cash-and-coupon hybrid deals
Some deals combine a partial coupon with a partial cash payment. In those cases:
The coupon is issued at deal agreement
The cash milestones are tracked separately just like a standard cash deal
If the creator doesn't fulfil deliverables after receiving product, refund logic kicks in for the customer-paid portion of the order
Tips for clean payment hygiene
Mark payments paid the same day you send them. Otherwise the data drifts and creators get nervous.
Use the same proof format every time so your finance team has a clean audit trail.
Check the Payments tab weekly for upcoming due dates rather than waiting for overdue alerts.