At a Glance
- Every approved cannabis consignment settlement resolves through one of two buttons: Approve & Pay or Mark as paid externally.
- Approve & Pay — the platform moves the money for you: a Check 21 drawn from your bank by default, or an ACH bank transfer to the vendor's linked bank when they've opted into ACH. Either way it syncs the bill and payment to QuickBooks and emails the vendor their settlement report.
- Mark as paid externally — you paid the vendor your own way (own check, ACH from your bank, or cash). No Check 21 is cut, but the platform still syncs the payment to QuickBooks and stamps the vendor's settlement report "PAID EXTERNALLY".
- The decision is per-settlement, not per-vendor. You can use Approve & Pay one week and Mark as paid externally the next on the same vendor.
- Both paths produce the same first five pages of settlement context for the vendor (Sales Detail, Margin Analysis, Waste & Credits, Remaining Inventory). Only the final page differs.
Resolving a cannabis consignment settlement on ShelfSpace is the last step in the weekly cycle. The platform has already pulled your POS sales, reconciled inventory against Metrc, applied profit splits and aging-discount tiers, and netted any returns or waste credits. The settlement is sitting in your Payments → Consignment Payments tab with a calculated net payout amount and a ready-to-send PDF report. The only thing left is your call on how the money moves.
Two buttons present that choice. Both are equally valid; the right one for any given settlement depends on your accounting workflow, your banking setup, and your relationship with the vendor.
Side-by-side comparison
The mechanics differ across five dimensions worth knowing before you decide.
| Approve & Pay | Mark as paid externally | |
|---|---|---|
| How the payment moves | The platform pays — a Check 21 drawn from your bank by default (mailed or emailed, valid for mobile deposit or any U.S. bank app), or an ACH bank transfer to the vendor's linked bank when they've opted into ACH | You pay — you handled the payment off-platform; the platform just records that it happened |
| QuickBooks sync | Yes — the bill posts and the check posts automatically through your QBO connection, ready for bank reconciliation | Yes — the platform still posts the bill and payment through your QBO connection, so your bookkeeper should not also enter it manually (that would double-book it) |
| Per-check platform fee | Applies — a flat $20 per consignment payment, in line with the per-artifact pricing model | Does not apply — no check was cut, no fee charged |
| What the vendor receives | Settlement report PDF, six pages. On a check payout the final page is a printable Check 21 (see the demo at SR-464); on an ACH payout it's a bank-transfer remittance page confirming the payment instead. | Settlement report PDF, six pages, ending with a "PAID EXTERNALLY" stamp page instead of a check. Vendor sees the same payout math; the resolution is just stamped as off-platform. |
| Reversibility | The Check 21 has a 90-day void window; you can void and reissue if it was cut in error, and the QuickBooks entries reverse with it. An ACH bank transfer can't be reversed from this screen once it's initiated — an admin voids the settlement to reverse it. | Self-serve — an Undo — mark as unpaid action returns the settlement to Payments Due, so you can re-record it or run Approve & Pay instead. |
When to pick Approve & Pay
This is the default path and the one the platform was designed around. Pick it when any of these are true:
When you click Approve & Pay, the dialog lets you choose how the money moves. The default is a ShelfSpace Check 21 — a digital check to the vendor's portal, or a printed check we mail. If the vendor has opted into ACH and linked a bank account, a Pay by ACH bank transfer option also appears, sending the funds straight to their bank (typically 1–3 business days) with no check cut. The flat $20 per-payment fee is the same either way.
- You want the QuickBooks entries handled for you. Approve & Pay posts both the bill and the payment automatically through your QBO connection. Your bookkeeper opens QBO and sees a clean, reconciled entry — no manual data entry, no missing memo lines.
- You want one place that knows what was paid. The Check 21 ID, the settlement ID, the package-level sell-through data, the vendor's portal record — all tied to one resolution. Two months later, when a vendor asks "why was the check for $557.27?", the answer is one click away in their portal.
- You have bank info on file in ShelfSpace. Approve & Pay requires a connected bank account so the platform can draw the Check 21. Most retailers connect during onboarding; if yours isn't connected yet, this path waits for that step.
- The vendor prefers a mailed/emailed printable check. Many cannabis vendors specifically request Check 21 because their own bank treats it cleaner than an ACH from a dispensary's account. The vendor mobile-deposits or prints and takes it to a teller.
When to pick Mark as paid externally
This is the alternate path for retailers who'd rather route the payment themselves. Pick it when any of these are true:
- You already paid the vendor off-platform before approving. A vendor called Friday and asked for the check early; you cut a paper check Friday night; the settlement only ran Monday. Mark as paid externally records the resolution so the platform doesn't double-pay.
- You prefer to pay via your bank's bill-pay or ACH. Some retailers route all vendor payments through their primary bank's bill-pay system for reconciliation reasons. The platform doesn't object — pay your way, record the resolution.
- The vendor wants a payment method you'd rather route yourself. If a vendor asks for ACH and has opted into ShelfSpace ACH, the cleaner path is Approve & Pay's Pay by ACH option. But if you'd rather send it through your own bank, pay off-platform and mark externally so the settlement record stays accurate.
- The settlement was small enough to settle in cash on the spot, or you want to keep a particular vendor's payments out of the platform's check pipeline for any other operational reason.
How to mark a settlement paid externally
- Go to Payments → Consignment Payments and open the settlement from the Payments Due queue.
- Click Mark as Paid (External). The "Mark settlement as paid externally" dialog opens.
- Set Payment Method — Check, ACH, Cash, or Other. Enter a Reference (for a check the field labels itself Reference (check #), e.g.
1234). - Click Mark as Paid. The settlement flips to Paid, no Check 21 is cut, no check fee applies, and the vendor's report ends with a "PAID EXTERNALLY" stamp.
- Changed your mind? On an externally-paid settlement, Undo — mark as unpaid returns it to Payments Due so you can record it again or run Approve & Pay instead.
What the vendor sees, either way
Vendor transparency is the same on both paths. The vendor receives an email notification within minutes of your approval, with the full multi-page Settlement Report PDF attached. The first five pages are identical regardless of which path you picked — they cover the period's settlement summary, the line-by-line sales detail, the margin analysis (showing any discount-budget true-up), the waste and credits reconciliation against Metrc, and the remaining inventory on shelf at period end.
The difference is only on page six. Approve & Pay ends with a Check 21 compliant printable check ready for mobile deposit. Mark as paid externally ends with a "PAID EXTERNALLY" stamp page that confirms the settlement is resolved without surfacing a check. The vendor sees the same payout math, the same package-level sell-through data, and the same authorized discount budget in either case — the resolution method is the only thing that changes.
For the page-by-page walkthrough of what's on the report, see Anatomy of a Consignment Settlement Report or download the demo PDF above.
Switching back and forth
The choice is per-settlement, not per-vendor. You can run a vendor on Approve & Pay all year, then mark one settlement externally if you happened to pay it early, then go back to Approve & Pay the following week. The platform doesn't lock you in. The vendor record stays the same; only the resolution-method history accumulates over time. If you're trying to standardize across all vendors, you can — but the system doesn't require it.
QuickBooks implications worth flagging
The gotcha that catches bookkeepers off-guard if it isn't called out: both paths sync to QuickBooks. Approve & Pay posts the bill and payment through your QBO connection, and so does Mark as paid externally — the platform records the vendor Invoice and PaymentReceived (and, on the retailer side, the Bill and BillPayment) either way. The only difference is that Approve & Pay also cuts a Check 21, while Mark as paid externally records a payment you made yourself.
Because the platform already books it, your bookkeeper should not also enter an externally-paid settlement manually in QBO — that would double-book the bill and the payment. If your accounting firm is on the For Bookkeepers partnership track, let them know ShelfSpace posts these automatically so nobody re-keys an entry that's already there.