Distributions — dividends and patronage

The Distributions tab is where surplus flows out to members.

Two kinds:
• **Dividend** — return on capital. Paid in proportion to each member's capital account balance.
• **Patronage** — return on usage. Paid in proportion to each member's patronage YTD (typically how much they bought from / sold to / worked at the co-op).

To create a distribution:
1. Distributions tab → "+ New distribution"
2. **Kind** — dividend or patronage
3. **Total amount** to distribute
4. **As-of date** — drives which member balances are used for allocation
5. Preview the per-member allocation (auto-computed)
6. Approve → each member's capital account is updated, and (when Stripe Connect is configured) payouts are queued to their bank.

Each distribution is logged as a journal entry in Accounting if the Accounting module is active. Members see their portion in their member view.

Bylaws can constrain when and how often distributions happen — the form validates against the bylaw rules.