Distributions

Context and Why This Exists

Distributions are not the same as ownership relationships. A shareholder, beneficiary, partner, or SMSF member relationship tells you who is entitled to receive something. A distribution records that value was actually paid or allocated on a specific date.

That matters because distributions are usually reviewed by period, especially across Australian financial years. If you only model ownership and control, you can miss the timing and pattern of income and capital flows.

StructureGram lets you record distributions as dated events so you can:

• track what was paid, by whom, and to whom,
• review distributions within a financial year or custom period,
• show them on ownership diagrams,
• and keep validation tied to the structure that supports the payment.

What the Feature Does

StructureGram records distributions separately from relationships.

Each distribution stores:

• distributor,
• recipient,
• amount,
• distribution date,
• distribution type,
• and optional notes.

You can work with distributions in two main places:

1. The dedicated Distributions page for list management, search, filtering, and bulk entry.
2. The Distributions section on entity detail pages.

On ownership diagrams, distributions can also appear as optional links when Distributions is turned on in Diagram Settings. You can create new distributions on a diagram by dragging a link between a distributor and an eligible recipient. From a trust, the same link can record a resolution instead (see Record a distribution or resolution on a diagram below).

Distribution resolutions

A trust can record a resolution before the dollar amount is known. A resolution is an entitlement for a date: a percentage of the income, the balance of the income, a percentage of the capital, or the balance of the capital. It is not a dollar amount.

The entity page shows resolutions on their own card, beside the dollar distributions. One period selector, set to the current financial year when you open the page, filters both cards. The list shows each resolution on its own. Percentages are not added together, and they do not have to total 100. A trust can record more than one resolution for the same recipient, including more than one income resolution and more than one capital resolution.

You can record a resolution on the entity page or on an ownership diagram. On a diagram, draw a link from the trust to the recipient and choose Draft Distributions (%). Only a trust records resolutions, so the option is not offered from a company, partnership or SMSF.

Convert asks for the dollar, creates one ordinary distribution, and deletes the resolution. The distribution's notes start with the wording (50% of income, balance of income, 50% of capital, or balance of capital) and then the resolution's own notes.

On an ownership diagram, resolutions are a second arrow between the same pair, drawn dashed in the distribution colour until you set a Distribution Resolution style. An As at today or As at date diagram shows the resolutions and distributions whose dates fall in the organisation's financial year containing that day. The year ends on the date set under Account → Organisation (30 June, unless you change it). A date range, From, Up to, or All dates stays the window you chose. The global Distributions page stays the dollar register and does not list resolutions.

Distribution Types by Entity

The allowed distribution type depends on the entity making the distribution.

Important behaviour:

• Company distributions are always treated as dividends.
• Trust distributions require you to choose between income and capital.
• Partnership distributions derive the type from the amount sign.
• SMSF distributions require you to choose between pension and lump sum.

How to Use It

Add a distribution from an entity detail page

1. Open the entity that is making the distribution.
2. Scroll to Distributions.
3. Click Add Distribution.
4. Choose the recipient.
5. Enter the amount.
6. Enter the Distribution Date.
7. Choose the type if the source entity requires a choice.
8. Optionally add notes.
9. Save.

Expected result:

• The new record appears in Distributions Made for the source entity.
• The same record appears in Distributions Received for the recipient entity.

Review distributions for an entity

1. Open an entity detail page.
2. Go to the Distributions section.
3. Use the period filter to switch between:
   • current financial year,
   • last financial year,
   • or a custom date range.
4. Review Distributions Made and Distributions Received.

Entity behaviour:

• Individuals only show Distributions Received.
• Companies, trusts, partnerships, and SMSFs show both made and received.
• Assets do not have a distributions section.

Use the main Distributions page

1. Open Distributions from the main navigation.
2. Use the search box, source entity type filter, and period filter.
3. Sort by date or amount.
4. Use bulk entry when you need to add multiple records in one session.

Show distributions on a diagram

1. Open an ownership diagram.
2. Open Settings.
3. Go to the Relationships tab.
4. Turn on Distributions.
5. If needed, apply a snapshot filter to narrow what is shown by date.

Expected result:

• Distribution links appear as separate financial-flow lines.
• Multiple distributions between the same source and target are combined into one diagram link for the visible period.
• The label shows the total amount for that period.

Record a distribution or resolution on a diagram

1. Open an ownership diagram.
2. Click the entity making the distribution.
3. Drag from one of the arrows on its edge to the recipient.
4. In the Inspector panel, open Relationship Type and choose:
   • Actual Distributions ($) to record a dollar amount that was paid or allocated. Enter the amount and date, choose the type if the distributor is a trust or SMSF (a company or partnership's type is set for you), and add notes if you want.
   • Draft Distributions (%) to record a trust resolution before the dollar amount is known. This option appears only when the link starts at a trust. Choose Income or capital, then the Basis: Percentage (greater than 0 and at most 100, with up to two decimal places, so one third is 33.33) or Balance. The date starts at today. Notes are optional.
5. Click Create.

Expected result:

• An actual distribution is drawn as a dotted distribution link labelled with its amount.
• A draft distribution is drawn as a dashed arrow labelled with its wording, for example 50% income.
• In a scenario, both are staged in the scenario like any other change.
• If the new record will not be drawn, a message says why: either Distributions is turned off in the diagram's settings, or its date is outside the dates the diagram shows. The record is saved either way.

Validation and Who Can Receive a Distribution

StructureGram validates distributions based on the entity making the payment.

Company distributions

• The source must be a company.
• The recipient must be a shareholder of that company.
• The type is always Dividend.

Trust distributions

• The source must be a trust.
• The app checks the trust type and the recipient relationship.

Trust-specific behaviour:

• Unit trusts require the recipient to be a recorded unitholder or beneficiary.
• Bare trusts require the recipient to be a recorded beneficiary.
• Discretionary, hybrid, testamentary and deceased estate trusts save with a warning when the recipient is not recorded as a beneficiary or named beneficiary of the trust.
• Charitable-purpose trust rules can further restrict which trust recipients are allowed.

Partnership distributions

• The source must be a partnership.
• The recipient must be a partner of that partnership.
• Negative amounts are allowed and are treated as partnership losses.

SMSF distributions

• The source must be an SMSF.
• The recipient must be a recorded member of that SMSF.
• You choose SMSF Pension or SMSF Lump Sum.

General rules

• Assets cannot make or receive distributions.
• An entity cannot distribute to itself.
• Amounts can include cents (up to two decimal places).
• The amount cannot be zero.
• Negative amounts are only allowed for partnerships.
• The distribution date is required.
• A relationship that has ended before the distribution date, or starts after it, saves the distribution with a warning.
• Editing an existing distribution's amount, date, type or notes does not re-check the recipient's relationship: a distribution stays a record of what was paid, even after the shareholding or membership ends. Changing the payer or the recipient checks everything again.
• Warnings appear after you save; they never stop the save.

Dates, Financial Years, and Filtering

Every distribution needs a single Distribution Date.

This date is important because StructureGram uses it for:

• entity detail page period filters,
• the main distributions page,
• and snapshot-based diagram display.

The built-in period filters follow the organisation's financial year. Account → Organisation sets the day the year ends. In Australia that is 30 June, so the year runs from 1 July to 30 June.

• This FY is the financial year that contains today.
• Last FY is the financial year before that one.
• Custom Range lets you choose your own start and end dates.

If your distribution date is wrong or missing, it will appear in the wrong period or not show where you expect it.

How Diagram Display Works

Distributions are off by default on ownership diagrams.

When you turn them on:

• they display as green dotted distribution links,
• they sit above standard ownership links,
• and they are filtered by snapshot dates when a snapshot is active.

Important diagram behaviour:

• distributions are shown for the current visible period,
• multiple rows between the same source and target are aggregated for the diagram only,
• entity pages still show each record separately,
• orphaned distributions with no source entity are preserved in data but not drawn on the diagram.

Edge Cases and Expected Behavior

A distribution can exist without showing on the diagram

Common reasons:

• the Distributions toggle is off,
• the distribution date falls outside the snapshot period,
• or the source entity has been deleted.

When you create a distribution or resolution on the diagram and one of the first two applies, a message after the save tells you which.

Diagram totals can differ from entity-detail lists

• The diagram combines matching source-to-target rows for the visible period.
• Entity pages and the main list page show individual records.

Trust distributions can warn instead of block

Whether a trust distribution is blocked or just flagged with a warning depends on the trust's type:

That's intended behaviour for the trust-deed-driven types (Discretionary, Hybrid, Testamentary, Deceased Estate) — the structure may allow the payment even when no Named Beneficiary link is recorded, so StructureGram warns rather than blocks. A trust whose type is unknown or not listed above also warns. See Beneficiary Relationship, by Trust Type for which beneficiary relationship applies to which trust type in the first place.

Deleted source entities are preserved for history

• If the distributor entity is later deleted, the saved source name is retained for the distribution record.
• That helps preserve historical reporting even when the original source record no longer exists.

Troubleshooting (Q&A)

I cannot add a distribution from this entity

Most likely cause:

• The entity type cannot make distributions.

Fix:

1. Confirm the source entity is a company, trust, partnership, or SMSF.
2. If you are on an individual or asset, open the actual distributor entity instead.

The app says the recipient is not eligible

Most likely cause:

• The recipient does not hold the required role for that source type.

Fix:

1. For companies, check shareholder relationships.
2. For trusts, check the recipient's Beneficiary, Named Beneficiary or Unitholder relationship — see the recipient-requirement table above for what your distributing trust's type actually requires.
3. For partnerships, check partner relationships.
4. For SMSFs, check member relationships.

I cannot find Draft Distributions (%) in the Relationship Type list

Most likely cause:

• The link starts at an entity that is not a trust, or starts at the recipient.
• Actual Distributions ($) is missing too: the recipient cannot receive a distribution from this trust. Draft Distributions (%) is offered only where an actual distribution is.

Fix:

1. Draw the link from the trust to the recipient.
2. Companies, partnerships and SMSFs record only dollar distributions, as Actual Distributions ($).
3. If neither option is offered, see The app says the recipient is not eligible above.

My distribution does not show in the expected financial year

Most likely cause:

• The distribution date is outside the selected period.

Fix:

1. Edit the distribution and verify the date.
2. Check the active period filter or snapshot range.

I turned on distributions in the diagram, but I still do not see anything

Most likely causes:

• No distributions exist for the visible scoped entities.
• A snapshot filter is excluding them.
• The source entity no longer exists for a historical row.

Fix:

1. Confirm records exist on the entity detail page or Distributions page.
2. Clear or widen the snapshot range.
3. Check whether the row is historical only and no longer drawable from a live source.

Best Practice

Use distributions as dated evidence of value movement, not as a substitute for structural relationships.

A practical workflow is:

1. Build the ownership, beneficiary, partner, or member structure first.
2. Record distributions with accurate dates and whole-dollar amounts.
3. Review by financial year on entity pages or the main Distributions page.
4. Turn on diagram distributions only when you want to analyse the flow pattern visually.

Related Topics

• Diagram Export Guide
• Snapshot Filtering (Temporal Views)
• Relationship Types Reference
• Unpaid Present Entitlements (UPE): a distribution the trust has not yet paid
• Trust Entities
• Company Entities
• Partnership Entities
• SMSF Entities