Commodity Sales & Revenue Tracking · $350/month
Every bushel accounted for, across every channel
When you sell through cooperatives, elevators, and direct buyers simultaneously — with contracts, spot sales, and deferred payments all running at once — the revenue picture can get complicated fast. This service keeps it clear.
What this delivers
Revenue records you can actually read and rely on
A commodity operation moving grain or other products through multiple channels accumulates a lot of paper — settlement sheets, scale tickets, contract confirmations, storage statements. This service turns that paper into organized, reconciled financial records with clear revenue recognition by commodity type.
Reconciled across all buyers
Every sale — contracted or spot, cooperative or elevator or direct — reconciled to source documents so the total revenue picture is accurate and verifiable.
Revenue by commodity type
Income broken down by crop or commodity — corn, soybeans, wheat, or others — so you can see what each contributed and compare across years and markets.
Documentation for tax preparation
Supporting documentation organized for deferred income recognition, storage cost allocation, and Schedule F — complete before tax season arrives rather than assembled under pressure.
What gets complicated
Commodity sales don't fit a standard revenue model
A single harvest might result in grain going three directions at once — some delivered on a contract signed six months ago at a fixed price, some sold spot at the elevator that week, and some stored with deferred payment into the following tax year. Each of those transactions has different income timing, different documentation, and different implications for your financial picture.
Without a system that tracks each channel separately and reconciles them to a clear total, it's easy to lose confidence in the numbers. Settlement sheets accumulate in a folder, payments arrive weeks or months after delivery, and by the time tax preparation comes around, reconstructing what happened when becomes a significant effort.
The problem isn't complexity — that's just how commodity operations work. The problem is when the accounting doesn't keep up with it.
Deferred payments that cross tax years
Grain stored into January and sold in February belongs to a different tax year than the crop it came from. Without careful tracking, the income attribution can cause problems that are difficult to unwind later.
Contracted vs. spot pricing creating reconciliation gaps
A contract price set at planting and the final settlement price at delivery can differ due to basis adjustments, quality discounts, or other factors. Tracking the difference matters for accurate revenue recording.
Storage costs buried in the revenue number
Elevator storage fees, shrinkage, and handling charges reduce net revenue but are sometimes recorded inconsistently — overstating gross income or losing the cost detail that matters for analysis.
The approach
A recording system designed for commodity operations
Each transaction type is handled according to its specific characteristics — not forced into a generic sales entry that loses the detail.
Multi-channel
Sales recorded by buyer and channel
Each sale is recorded to the specific buyer — cooperative, grain elevator, processor, or direct buyer — with the channel identified. This makes it straightforward to see where volume and net revenue are coming from across a marketing season.
Pricing
Contracted vs. spot price tracking
Pre-harvest contracts, basis contracts, and spot sales recorded distinctly. Basis adjustments and final settlement prices reconciled to the original contract amounts — with the difference documented where it's relevant to income timing.
Deferred income
Deferred payment arrangement tracking
Grain or commodity delivered in one tax year and paid in another tracked with the documentation needed to recognize income in the correct period — including the storage costs that accrue during that time.
Storage
Storage cost allocation
Elevator storage fees, on-farm storage costs, shrinkage, and handling charges recorded separately from gross sales revenue — so net commodity revenue is accurately stated and costs are available for tax purposes.
Working together
How the ongoing work is structured
Commodity sales activity tends to cluster around delivery windows — harvest, spring forward contracts, deferred settlements. The service is responsive to that rhythm rather than forcing artificial monthly cadences.
Setup: mapping your marketing channels
We start by understanding where and how you sell — which cooperatives, elevators, or direct buyers you work with, what contract types you use, and how you currently document sales. From there, we set up a recording structure that fits your specific channels.
Ongoing: recording sales as they settle
Settlement sheets, scale tickets, contract confirmations, and payment records sent to us as they arrive. Each is recorded to the appropriate channel and commodity, with storage costs and adjustments tracked alongside the gross revenue.
Post-harvest reconciliation
After each major delivery window, we produce a reconciliation of all sales for that period — volume by commodity, revenue by channel, net after storage costs, and any deferred amounts still outstanding. A clear point-in-time picture of where the marketing season stands.
Year-end: tax documentation complete
A full year-end summary of commodity revenue by type, with deferred income clearly identified and supporting documentation organized for Schedule F preparation. The information your tax preparer needs, assembled before they need it.
Pricing
What the service costs and what it covers
Commodity Sales & Revenue Tracking
For operations selling through cooperatives, elevators, or direct market channels
What's included each month:
Sales recording by buyer and delivery point
Contracted vs. spot pricing reconciliation
Deferred payment arrangement tracking
Storage cost and shrinkage tracking
Revenue recognition by crop or commodity type
Post-harvest period reconciliation summaries
Year-end Schedule F documentation organized and complete
Available for questions through the marketing season
Billed monthly. This service can be added alongside the Agricultural & Farming Accounting service, or engaged separately if commodity revenue tracking is the primary need.
The methodology
How the recording and reconciliation works
Commodity revenue recording follows GAAP principles applied to the specific characteristics of agricultural sales — with particular attention to timing, documentation, and the difference between gross and net revenue.
Source document reconciliation
Every recorded sale ties back to a source document — settlement sheet, scale ticket, contract confirmation. If a number can't be tied to paper, it's flagged before it goes into the record. This makes the accounts auditable and supportable.
Income timing documentation
The tax timing of deferred grain contracts is documented explicitly — when the commodity was delivered, when payment was received or available, and how that maps to cash-basis income recognition. No ambiguity at year-end about what belongs where.
Year-over-year comparison
Revenue summaries are structured for meaningful year-over-year comparison by commodity type and channel. Volume and price changes can be seen separately — useful for understanding whether a revenue shift came from the market or from a change in your marketing approach.
Realistic expectations on scope
This service covers revenue recording and reconciliation — it doesn't include production cost tracking or enterprise cost allocation. For operations that want both, it works well alongside the Agricultural & Farming Accounting service. We'll be clear about what each covers.
Starting with confidence
How we approach new working relationships
No-cost initial conversation
We'll spend time understanding your commodity sales channels and current record-keeping before any commitment is made. If this service isn't the right fit, we'll say so — clearly and without pressure to do otherwise.
Documented scope before work begins
Which channels we'll track, what documents you'll send us, what you'll receive, and how timing works — written out clearly before the first invoice. No surprises about what's in or out of scope.
Monthly arrangement, no long-term lock-in
The service runs month-to-month. If your marketing structure changes, you consolidate channels, or your situation shifts, you're not committed to a multi-year contract.
Getting started
A simple path from here
Getting from a disorganized pile of settlement sheets to a clear revenue picture is a process with a beginning — and it can start with a single message.
Tell us about your marketing channels
A short message describing how you sell — which buyers, roughly how many transactions per season, what commodities you move — gives us enough to have a useful first conversation. No need to prepare anything formal.
We'll follow up within a business day
If it sounds like a practical fit, we'll schedule a short call to understand your situation in more detail and explain what the setup and ongoing process would look like for your specific channels.
Review the written scope and decide at your pace
We'll put together a scope document that details exactly what we'll track, what documents you'll send us, and what you'll receive in return. You look it over, ask what you need to ask, and decide when you're ready.
Commodity Sales & Revenue Tracking
Find out whether this fits your operation
If you sell through multiple channels and want commodity revenue records that are organized, reconciled, and ready at tax time — it's worth a conversation to see if this is the right service.
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