💰 Fixing Publication Media Pending Payment Discrepancies

📌 Overview

If your Publication Media pending payment does not match what you expected, the cause is usually the price recorded on one or more individual orders. This article explains how the pending balance is built, how to find a price mismatch, and how to ask our team to review it.

🧮 How Your Pending Balance Is Calculated

Publication Media orders are not added to a publisher pending-payment balance. For other publishers, the unpaid remittance is the sum of each payable posted article, using the checkout snapshot when one exists and otherwise the publication’s current cost. It is not a flat rate, so one article with a different amount changes the total.

• For publishers other than Publication Media, a posted article counts toward the unpaid remittance only when its status is Posted-Follow and the publication cost is greater than zero. There is no separate approval step that adds it.
• Posted-article API records include the publication’s current cost and cost_at_purchase when a matching stored snapshot exists. The published-article card displays one amount labelled Offer Price, using cost_at_purchase when available and otherwise the current cost. Remittance calculation similarly prefers a stored payout snapshot. Evidence: linkgraph/app/publisher/articles/api/serializers.py:129–193; publisher-frontend/components/Articles/PublishedArticle.js:51–53.
• Automatic remittance creation attaches eligible Posted-Follow articles that have no remittance, have a positive publication cost, and do not belong to the in-house Publication Media publisher. Remittance statuses are Unpaid, Hold, Pay Manually, Paid, and legacy Pending. Pay Manually can indicate a payout requiring manual handling and should not be treated as proof of payment. Evidence: linkgraph/app/core/publisher/celery\_tasks.py:203–239; linkgraph/app/core/publisher/models.py:1276–1287,1782–1793.

🔍 Common Reasons for a Balance Mismatch

• Different price on one order: One order may show a lower offer price than the others, such as $10 instead of $60.
• An article you consider complete is not in the unpaid remittance unless its posted status is Posted-Follow. Publication Media articles are excluded even then.
• An article already attached to a remittance is not automatically added to another remittance. Paid indicates payment was recorded; Pay Manually may require manual payment or investigation and does not by itself confirm that the publisher received payment. Evidence: linkgraph/app/core/content/models.py:7956–7957; linkgraph/app/core/publisher/models.py:1782–1793.
• Publishers cannot directly edit an existing order’s payout price. They can propose a listing Counter Offer for acceptance, subject to pricing restrictions, or reject an article using Price on publication incorrect. Existing stored payout snapshots are used instead of subsequent listing prices; older placements without snapshots can use the publication’s effective current cost. Evidence: linkgraph/app/publisher/publications/api/serializers.py:52–55,224–262; linkgraph/app/core/publisher/models.py:1394–1423; publisher-frontend/components/Articles/RejectArticleModel.js:39–67.

For example, suppose you completed five orders at $60 each and expect $300. If four orders show $60 and one shows $10, your pending balance will be $250. The $50 difference comes from that single order price, not from a missing order.

🛠️ Step-by-Step: Check Your Orders

1. Open the publisher portal and use Articles to see work awaiting publication and articles already posted. Remittances are listed separately. Publication Media orders do not appear in a pending-payment total.
2. Filter or look for the orders you believe are complete and unpaid.
3. For each posted article, record the article id, title, publication URL, live cost, cost_at_purchase when shown, and the posted-article status. Those are the fields the publisher API returns, not an order number with one offer price.
4. Add up the prices of the completed, unpaid orders and compare the total with your pending payment.
5. Look for any order whose price is different from the others, or whose status is not completed.

This tells you whether the issue is one order's price, an order's status, or something else.

💡 Checking the Originally Agreed Price

If an order shows a price you do not recognize, confirm what was agreed when you accepted it. Look at these places:

• The article detail page displays the publication’s current Cost. The published-article card displays Offer Price, using cost_at_purchase when available and otherwise current cost. The posted-articles API exposes current cost and cost_at_purchase separately. Evidence: publisher-frontend/pages/articles/[id]/index.js:133–135; publisher-frontend/components/Articles/PublishedArticle.js:51–53; linkgraph/app/publisher/articles/api/serializers.py:158–193.
• Remittance calculation uses a stored placement cost_at_purchase when available; otherwise it uses the publication’s effective current cost. Snapshots can come from checkout or managed-placement adjustments. A separate article-publication-offer workflow also records publication_offer_price, counteroffer_price, and final_price; these are distinct from the placement payout snapshot. Evidence: linkgraph/app/core/publisher/models.py:1394–1423; linkgraph/app/publisher/publications/api/serializers.py:266–275,326–364.
• Publishers can reject an article with a comment, select Price on publication incorrect, and choose My price has changed for all posts on this website where appropriate. They can also submit a listing Counter Offer. Accepted listing-price changes are recorded in a pricing audit log, rather than a dedicated order-price-change note. Evidence: publisher-frontend/components/Articles/RejectArticleModel.js:39–70; linkgraph/app/publisher/publications/api/serializers.py:235–238.

If the displayed price differs from what you agreed, our team can review the order history and confirm which price applies. Only the team can adjust a recorded price, so you will need to ask for a review rather than change it yourself.

📋 What to Prepare Before Asking for a Review

A complete request lets our team resolve the issue much faster. Please gather:

• The order or article numbers in question.
• The price you expected and the price currently shown for each.
• Your current pending payment and the total you expected.
• A screenshot of the orders list or order details showing the price.
• Any confirmation or message that shows the agreed price.

💬 How to Request a Balance Correction

1. Open the chat widget in the bottom-right corner of the platform.
2. Type human teammate to be connected with a member of our team.
3. Share your order numbers, the expected and displayed prices, and your screenshots in a single message.
4. Clearly state the correction you want, for example: "Please review order X, which shows $10 but was agreed at $60, so my pending balance reflects the correct total."

⏱️ What Happens Next

• Our team reviews the order history and the price originally agreed.
• If the recorded price is incorrect, it is corrected and your pending balance updates to match.
• If the recorded price is correct, we will explain how the price was set so you can see how the total was calculated.

Your pending balance should refresh once any correction is applied. If it does not update right away, refresh the page and check again shortly after.

✅ Tips to Avoid Future Discrepancies

• Check the price before accepting each order, especially if you have a standard rate.
• Review your orders list regularly so you can spot a price mismatch early.
• Save confirmations of agreed prices for your records.
• Report issues promptly, while the order details are still fresh.

🙋 Need More Help?

If you need further assistance, open the chat widget in the bottom-right corner of the platform and type human teammate to be instantly connected with a member of our team.