When a show comes down you have two jobs: get unsold work back to its artists, and pay the artists whose work sold. Exhibition Closeout walks each piece through both, and lets you pay the sold pieces together as a batch instead of one at a time.
Open the exhibition and go to Closeout. The header tells you where you stand at a glance, for example "38 works, 9 sold, 26 returns, 3 unresolved".
Note: Paying out is a finance action. You need Owner or Admin access, or the Finance role, to create and process payout batches.
When closeout opens
Closeout is not available while a show is still running. It opens once the exhibition moves to closing, and stays open through deinstalled and archived. Before that the page says so: "Closeout opens once the exhibition begins closing." Move the exhibition to closing from its own page when the doors shut.
The lifecycle is guarded at the other end too. An exhibition will not move to Installed while pieces have not been received, and the refusal names them. See Condition Reports for the intake sequence.
Step 1: Initialize closeout
The first time you open the tab, choose Initialize Closeout. This sets every piece to its starting status so nothing is left unaccounted for.
Each artwork then follows one of two paths.
Sold pieces:
Sold - Pending Payout, meaning sold and the artist is owed money.
Payout Batched, meaning it is in a batch awaiting processing.
Payout Processing, meaning the money is in flight.
Payout Completed.
Unsold pieces:
Awaiting Return.
In Return Transit.
Returned, confirmed received by the artist.
Two more statuses cover the messy reality: On Hold while you wait on a decision, and Unresolved for an open issue such as damage or a dispute. Clear both before you call the show closed.
Step 2: Check what is owed
Look at the pieces sitting at Sold - Pending Payout. Each shows the artwork, the artist and the sale amount. Before you move money, confirm the sale amounts are right, especially any you recorded by hand, that the right artist is attached to each piece, and that nothing that should be on hold is in the pile.
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Commission and processing fees come out of the sale, so the artist receives the sale amount less the gallery's share and fees. See Understanding Platform & Processing Fees.
Step 3: Generate a payout batch
In the Payout Batches card, choose Generate Payout Batch. A batch sweeps in the sold pieces that are pending payout and groups them by artist. Pieces already in an active batch are left out, so you cannot pay twice. If nothing is pending, the button explains why it is unavailable.
A new batch starts as a draft. Nothing has moved yet, and this is the moment to read the line items.
Step 4: Confirm, then process
A batch runs Confirm, then Process Payouts, and ends at Completed.
Confirm locks the batch as ready. Process Payouts asks you to agree first, and says exactly what it is about to do: how much, to how many artists, and that it sends real funds and cannot be undone. If any artist in the batch has no tax form on file, it tells you before you commit, and asks you to acknowledge backup withholding.
Once processed, the sold pieces move to Payout Completed on the dashboard. View Full Payout Details and View Payouts open the exhibition's payout view for the line-by-line record.
Step 5: Handle what did not go through
A batch stuck at Processing. Use Recover batch next to the progress indicator. It reconciles who was actually paid against who was not, and moves the batch to its final state. It is safe to use even if a genuine process is still finishing.
A failed payout. The piece goes back to Sold - Pending Payout so it is never lost. Fix the cause, usually the artist's payout details or a Stripe issue, then use Retry. A batch is only marked failed when every payout in it failed; if some succeeded, those stand and you retry the rest.
A payout made outside Crafted Call. If you paid by cheque, bank transfer or cash, mark the payout as paid manually. That keeps the dashboard and your reports truthful even though the money moved elsewhere.
Step 6: Keep the record
The Closeout Overview card produces the two documents you will want afterwards:
Download record (PDF) is the closeout record itself, rendered with your organization's branding and paper size. This is what you file, and what you send a lender or a board that wants the show accounted for.
Export manifest (CSV) is the same return-and-sale list as a spreadsheet, for your accounting system.
Both are built from the same reading of the show, so the export cannot drift from what the screen says.
If your exhibition used agreements, the Agreement Progress card on the exhibition shows how many are signed.
Step 7: Reconcile
The show is closed out when:
Every sold piece is at Payout Completed, or correctly marked as paid manually.
Every unsold piece has reached Returned.
Nothing is left at On Hold or Unresolved.
Your financial reports show the payouts you just processed.
Once the exhibition is archived or cancelled, its public page stops saying the show is on view and reads as closed, whatever its dates say.
How this differs from day-to-day payout tracking
This article covers closing one show and paying its sold pieces together. For ongoing payout tracking, recording a cheque you posted, or chasing a single urgent payment across the whole gallery, see Tracking Artist Payouts. The closeout flow creates the payouts, and the payout tools are where you watch them.
Troubleshooting
Closeout says it is not available yet. The exhibition is not closing. Move it on from the exhibition page.
A piece will not go into a batch. It is already in an active batch, or it is not at Sold - Pending Payout. Check its status on the dashboard.
I cannot process a batch. Confirm it first. Only a confirmed batch can be processed.
The artist on a piece looks wrong. For work added by hand, the artist comes from the sale record. Correct the underlying artwork or submission before paying out.
