What a merchant of record is
The merchant of record is the business that sells to the buyer: its name is on the sale, it collects the tax, and it issues the buyer's documents. On most payment processors, that business is you. On a merchant-of-record platform, it is the platform: the platform buys your product from you and resells it to your buyer.
The platforms write it into their terms. Paddle's seller terms: "as Paddle is the seller of the Product to the Buyer, you shall not issue any invoice or make any demand for payment to any Buyer in a Transaction" (Paddle terms, 10.1, read 18 October 2026).
Who the seller is, platform by platform
| Platform | Who sells to your buyer | In the platform's words (read 18 October 2026) |
|---|---|---|
| Paddle | Paddle | "as Paddle is the seller of the Product to the Buyer, you shall not issue any invoice…" (terms 10.1) |
| Gumroad | Gumroad | "Gumroad is the merchant of record for the resale of your Products to the Buyers" (terms 6.1) |
| Polar | Polar | "as Polar is the seller of the Product to Buyer, you shall not issue any invoice…" (terms 10.1) |
| Dodo Payments | Dodo Payments | "wherever Dodo Payments is the seller of the Product to the Buyer, you shall not issue any invoice…" (terms 2.2) |
| Lemon Squeezy | Lemon Squeezy | "Yes! Lemon Squeezy acts as a merchant of record." (docs) |
| Stripe Managed Payments | Stripe, through Link | "The customer sees Link as the merchant of record, and sees purchases as Sold through Link." (docs) |
| Stripe (ordinary account) | You | Your business is the seller; see Stripe invoice |
Why you must not send your own invoice
On these platforms, the platform issues the buyer's document. Four of the terms above say it in the same words: you "shall not issue any invoice or make any demand for payment to any Buyer". A second invoice from you would break those terms and put two sellers on one sale in the buyer's books.
So when a buyer from a merchant-of-record platform asks you for an invoice, send them to the platform's own receipt or invoice: on Gumroad, for example, the buyer can print it from the "Generate" link of the receipt (see Gumroad invoice).
What the platform's documents record
You sell to the platform, and the platform pays you out. A payout is a settlement: it is not the same figure as your sales. Paddle's documents keep the figures apart. Its monthly statement lists "Total Gross Sales", "Sales Taxes Withheld", "Paddle’s fees", "Account adjustments" and "Your opening and closing balances", and with each payout come "a Statement, one or more Reverse Invoices, and a Remittance Advice document" (Paddle help, read 18 October 2026). In Paddle's words, these documents "help you understand what revenue you made, what fees you incurred, and so on."
Those documents are your source records. How you book the sales, the fees, the withheld tax and the payouts is a question for your accountant and your country's rules.
InvoiceCow is built to import those platform documents next to the invoices of your own sales, so every sale sits in one dashboard, and never to send a second invoice. That import is planned, with the status shown above. To keep the books, AccountingYear is free up to 5 companies; the sync with it is planned too.