# payout

URL: /business/nouns/account/payout · Id: `verb:Account.payout` · Call: `await $.Account.payout({ … })` (SDK) or the `do` tool at `https://api.sb/mcp`. Inputs says what to pass, Outputs what returns, When it waits who approves.

> Payout sends available cash from the payments balance to the owner’s bank and lists every Transaction the payout carries.

Payout sends available cash from the payments balance to the owner’s bank and lists every [Transaction](/business/nouns/transaction) the payout carries.

## Inputs
| Input | Type | Required | Description |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| `account` | [Account](/business/nouns/account) | Yes | The payments balance: the cash Account held at `payments`. |
| `amount` | `money` | No | How much to send. Defaults to everything available. |
| `instant` | `boolean` | No | True to send it within minutes to an eligible debit card or bank, for Stripe’s instant payout cost. |
| `schedule` | `string` | No | Sets the Account’s `payoutSchedule` from now on, in place of sending a payout now. |

## Outputs
| Output | Type | Required | Description |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| `account` | [Account](/business/nouns/account) | Yes | The payments balance after the payout. |
| `transaction` | [Transaction](/business/nouns/transaction) | Yes | The payout, a Transaction of kind `payout`. |

## Effects
- Emits [`Account.paidOut`](/business/events/Account.paidOut).
- Performed by the [Treasurer](/agents/finance/treasurer).
- One-way (money): it waits out its delay window, and runs in the `send` and `do` modes.
- Runs on the Account’s `payoutSchedule`, daily by default; a call sends one now, or with `schedule` changes the rhythm.
- A payout the bank returns lands back in the payments balance and opens a Task to fix the bank details.

## Refuses when
| Check | Error | Fix | Then call |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| The key is valid, but its scopes do not allow this operation. | [`forbidden`](/code/api/errors/forbidden) | Use a key whose scopes cover the operation, or ask an owner of the namespace to grant them. | [Account.payout](/business/nouns/account/payout) |

## When it waits
| Gate | Default |
| --- | --- |
| Decision class | Medium: one-way, bounded (money) |
| [Delay window](/systems/trust-and-governance/controls/one-way-windows) | 1 business hour, in which a watcher can pause, redirect or cancel it; then it runs. |
| Limit | The spend [Limit](/business/nouns/limit) of the [Permission](/business/nouns/permission) or [Mandate](/business/nouns/mandate) it runs under. |
| Over the Limit | It waits `pending` for an [Approval](/business/nouns/approval) from the [Founder](/agents/founding/founder). Approved, it runs; refused, it ends `refused` with [`limit-exceeded`](/code/api/errors/limit-exceeded); unanswered by its deadline, it ends `canceled`. |

## Example

**Ask**

```text
Pay out the balance of my account to the bank.
```

**API**

```bash
curl -X POST https://api.sb/routewise.dev/accounts/account_1/payout \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $STARTUP_BUILDER_API_KEY"
```

```json
{
  "api": "https://api.sb/routewise.dev",
  "account": {
    "$id": "https://api.sb/routewise.dev/accounts/account_1",
    "$type": "Account",
    "class": "cash"
  },
  "transaction": {
    "$id": "https://api.sb/routewise.dev/transactions/transaction_1",
    "$type": "Transaction",
    "kind": "charge",
    "amount": {
      "amount": 25,
      "currency": "USD"
    }
  },
  "action": {
    "$id": "https://api.sb/routewise.dev/actions/action_1",
    "operation": "Account.payout",
    "status": "done"
  },
  "links": {
    "self": "https://api.sb/routewise.dev/actions/action_1"
  }
}
```

**SDK**

```ts
import { $ } from 'startup-builder'

const { account, transaction } = await $.Account.payout({ account: 'account_1' })
```

**CLI**

```bash
npx startup-builder do Account.payout --json '{"account":"account_1"}'
```

**MCP**

```json
{
  "name": "do",
  "arguments": {
    "code": "return await $.Account.payout({ account: 'account_1' })"
  }
}
```

Guides that call it: [Pay out to my bank](/systems/finance/pay-out-to-my-bank).