Royalty Collection is not quite as simple as you may think! Our role as the brand licensing agency is to set up systems and procedures that prove what is due and collect the exact royalty in a seamless efficient way. In order to do this, we gain unfettered access to sales data and our on-site teams of auditors will physically check that what is reported is accurate and therefore identify what royalty is owed. We believe in trust, of course, however, it’s not a trust issue, it’s a procedural issue that is good business practice and that’s what our clients rely on us doing thoroughly for them.

We can also equip your team with the right software to dovetail with your licensing programme allowing you to monitor sales, track inventory and distribution as well as record the license fees that are about to be paid. Given that a lot of licensed products are sold well in advance it is extremely helpful for corporate planning to be able to budget with some certainty the cash flow that will result from firm orders received by your license holders or other customers of yours.

There are also times that we need to engage with external providers depending upon the circumstances and we never subcontract anything without you knowing in advance who we wish to engage with. They’ll form part of your team in the same way that we will.

Counterfeit

We’ve all heard stories of far-flung factories manufacturing legitimate branded goods and also counterfeits of the same goods in the same building – some of those stories are true so it’s also essential that as part of any royalty work that potential losses due to counterfeit activity are mitigated. Unfortunately as your brand stretches across other sectors and countries it’s appeal to counterfeiters increases.

Lime’s brand compliance team, in addition to carrying out various due diligence also works with a well-connected network of agencies and researchers who know where to look and how to trace illegal perpetrators. We don’t rely on the internet, unlike many companies who claim to complete this type of work because we have found over the years that mystery shopping in person, face to face is unbeatable in tracking down rogue operators. So Lime’s compliance agents are likely to be found at ground level mingling with manufacturers and agents and also with trading standards officials (or their equivalent) in whichever country we work in.

Client Accounts for Royalty Collection

Lime has it’s own client account to manage the flow of royalties and royalty collection and this is ring-fenced and totally separate to our operational funding, unlike some agencies that we could mention. Our client account is directly managed by a chartered accountancy firm. We’ll provide statements from our accountants and also our lawyers that explains the safeguards that guarantee the smooth and timely transit of royalties to you.