> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://recurr.dev/docs/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# The cash-flow release

> The store-to-web settlement timing difference creates a one-time cash-flow release during migration.

This is the lesser-known part of the migration economics. It's a one-time cash-flow benefit, not a P\&L lift — but for many apps it's the most decisive number on the audit.

## The settlement window

App-store settlement is materially slower than web billing. The public audit models this as a **45-day timing difference** between store settlement and web-billing settlement.

Stripe typically settles on a T+2 or similar cadence depending on account, market, and risk settings.

Until subscribers are migrated, cash arrives on the store schedule. **The moment a subscriber moves to web rails, future renewals move onto the faster web-billing settlement cadence.**

## What you actually get

During the migration window, two things happen at once:

1. **Trailing store settlements still arrive.** Charges that happened on store rails keep paying out on the store schedule.
2. **New web settlements arrive faster.** Every subscriber who's migrated and renewed pays out on the web-billing cadence.

The trailing store settlements and faster web settlements **overlap** during the migration window. After that overlap, the trailing store cash is gone, and you settle to your new normal: faster settlement, web fee structure.

The net effect: **\~45 days of net revenue from your migrated subscribers releases over the migration window** as a one-time cash boost. This is just timing — the same dollars eventually arrive — but having them in your bank account earlier is real working capital you didn't have yesterday.

This release is the mechanism behind the self-funding migration: the program fee is covered by the release itself — typically within 2–3 weeks of migration starting — and the invoice is only due once it has been.

## The math

For each migrated dollar of **net receivable** (your share after the store fee), the cash released = `45 days / 365 days` = **\~12.3%**, taken once during the migration window.

Apple holds gross GMV during settlement but only owes you the net — so the float is calculated on `ARR × (1 − store fee rate)`, not gross ARR. At a 30% store fee, the float is 70% of what it'd be on the full top-line; at 15% (Google-only), it's 85%.

Public rule of thumb: with a 22% blended store fee assumption, the conservative figure is **\~9% of migrated ARR** (12.3% × 0.78). The audit reports your specific number using your actual blended fee.

A representative app at $5M ARR with a 22% blended store fee sees ~$264K cash-flow release ($5M × 0.78 × 12.3% × 55%), on top of the recurring margin lift. At a Google-heavier 15% blended fee, the same $5M ARR app sees \~\$288K. The cash side compounds *better* on lower blended fee rates.

## Cash-flow vs P\&L

The release **doesn't change your P\&L**. The dollars that arrive earlier would have arrived anyway — they're not new revenue, they're earlier revenue.

What it does change:

* **Working capital** — more cash in the bank, immediately
* **Burn runway** — for apps still investing into a growth cycle, this can extend runway materially
* **Funding the next acquisition cohort** — the cash-flow release often pays for the paid-acquisition cycle that benefits from the recovered margin

<Note>
  Founders often ask "is this real money?" — yes. It's settlement timing, not a paper number. Once it lands, the dollars are yours to deploy. After the overlap, future settlements continue on the faster web-billing cadence, so you've structurally shortened your settlement cycle for migrated revenue.
</Note>

[How the margin compounds →](/opportunity/margin-compounding)