Short answer: Vast.ai generates host invoices weekly on Fridays and generally pays them the following Friday through Wise, PayPal or Stripe. An invoice marked Paid means Vast.ai has submitted the payout, not that the money has reached you. To keep clean books, match each payout from your Payout History to the receipt it became in the account it was paid to, by amount, reference and date, and keep a record of the match. Source: Vast.ai host payouts documentation.
How a Vast.ai payout moves, week by week
According to Vast.ai's documentation, a payout goes through these stages:
- Earnings accrue. Your machines earn while they are rented.
- Friday: an invoice is generated and marked Pending. This only happens when a payout method is connected to your Vast.ai account and your balance has reached Vast.ai's payout threshold.
- The following Friday: the payout is submitted and the invoice is marked Paid. Vast.ai sends it to Wise, PayPal or Stripe.
- The provider processes it. Wise, PayPal or Stripe can take more time before the funds appear, depending on the provider and your region. Your first payout typically takes up to two weeks.
Vast.ai does not pay hosts by direct bank transfer, ACH, wire or SWIFT. It also notes that it is not responsible for delays, holds or compliance reviews applied by the payout provider. So there are always two records of the same money: the payout in Vast.ai, and the receipt in Wise, PayPal or Stripe (and later, in your bank if you move the money on).
Paid in Vast.ai is not the same as received
Vast.ai says the Paid status only reflects its own billing system. It does not tell you whether the funds have finished processing with your payout provider. If a payout shows Paid and nothing has arrived, Vast.ai suggests checking that your payout account is active and fully verified, that the provider is not asking for documents, and that there are no limits or holds on the account.
New hosts run into this often. In the r/vastai community, one host asked which payout method to choose after Wise asked for identity documents before releasing a payout. For your books, that means a payout is not cash until you can point to the receipt.
Where to find the records
- Payout History. In your Vast.ai account, open Earnings and then Payout History. You can filter by date range and download payout records as CSV or PDF.
- Invoice details. Under Settings and then Invoice Information you can add a company name, business address and tax identification details to your invoices.
- Earnings by machine. Vast.ai's command line tool and API can list earnings and invoices. See show earnings and show invoices in the Vast.ai docs.
- The receiving account. Your Wise, PayPal or Stripe activity shows when each payout arrived and how much landed.
Hosts also ask what Vast.ai keeps from each rental. One r/vastai thread asked whether Vast.ai charges hosts a commission at all, because the host payout pages do not spell it out. Whatever the split, your books should follow what Vast.ai paid you and what actually arrived.
How to match Vast.ai payouts by hand
1. Export one month of payouts
Download Payout History as CSV for one calendar month, so it lines up with your monthly close.
2. Keep only Paid invoices
Pending invoices have not been sent yet. Leave them for next month's list.
3. Find each payout where it was paid
For each Paid payout, look in the Wise, PayPal or Stripe account it went to. Match on the amount, the reference and the date. The receipt usually lands a little after the date Vast.ai shows, because the provider still has to process it.
4. Write down every difference
The amount that lands can differ from the payout. A provider can take a fee, a conversion into another currency changes the figure, and one payout can arrive as several deposits or be combined with other money. Note the reason next to each match. If you cannot explain a difference, keep the payout on a review list instead of forcing a match.
5. Record the receipt
Record the money received against the payout it came from. If you later move the money from Wise, PayPal or Stripe to your bank, that is a transfer between your own accounts, not new income.
6. Keep the evidence with the month
Save the Payout History export, the provider statement and your list of matches and differences with the month's records, so your accountant can trace each figure.
Earnings and cash are two different numbers
Earnings are what your machines earned in Vast.ai. Payouts are what Vast.ai sent. Receipts are what arrived. If you record earnings as income when Vast.ai credits them, the payout and the receipt only move money you have already counted. If you record income when cash arrives, the receipt is the income. Agree one approach with your accountant and stick to it, so the same money is not counted twice.
Tracking Vast.ai payouts in Flash
The Vast.ai connection is in early access in Flash. Here is what it does:
- Connect your Vast.ai account to Flash.
- Open Payouts. Flash lists each payout Vast.ai reports. It only has the payout. A USD receipt is in Flash only if you import or enter it.
- Confirm each payout when the money lands, with the date and reference. Flash keeps it in your audit history. Nothing is confirmed for you.
- If you've imported the receipt, Flash suggests the match by reference and amount, for you to review.
What it does not do: Flash does not sync bank transactions and does not reconcile full bank statements. It does not handle fees, currency conversion, or payouts that arrive split across several deposits or batched with other money. Those stay for you to review and record, the same way as in the manual steps above.
For the records to keep at tax time, see GPU rental income and taxes. For how Flash handles GPU servers more broadly, see Flash for GPU operators. If you also run Bitcoin miners, see Flash for miners, and for mining pool payouts see how to get Braiins Pool and Luxor payouts into QuickBooks. If an accountant keeps your books, Flash for Accountants explains how they work with Flash.
Questions
How does Vast.ai pay hosts?
Vast.ai generates host invoices weekly on Fridays and generally pays them the following Friday, through the payout method you connected: Wise, PayPal or Stripe. Vast.ai does not send payouts by direct bank transfer, ACH, wire or SWIFT.
What does a Pending invoice on Vast.ai mean?
A Pending invoice has been generated but not paid yet. It is scheduled for the next payout cycle, generally the following Friday. It changes to Paid once Vast.ai submits the payout to your payout provider.
My Vast.ai invoice says Paid. Why is the money not in my account yet?
Paid means Vast.ai has submitted the payout to Wise, PayPal or Stripe. It does not mean the funds have finished processing there. Check that your payout account is verified and has no holds or requests for documents.
Where do I download my Vast.ai payout history?
In your Vast.ai account, open Earnings and then Payout History. You can filter by date range and download payout records as CSV or PDF. Company name, address and tax details for your invoices are set under Settings and then Invoice Information.
How do I match a Vast.ai payout to the money that arrived?
Take the payout's amount, reference and date from Payout History, then find the matching receipt in the account it was paid to. If the amounts differ, write down why, for example a provider fee or a currency conversion. Keep anything you cannot match on a list for review rather than forcing it.
What does Flash do with Vast.ai payouts?
In early access, connect your Vast.ai account and Flash lists each payout Vast.ai reports. When the money lands, confirm it with the date and reference, and Flash keeps it in your audit history. If you've imported the receipt, Flash suggests the match by reference and amount. Flash only has the payout as Vast.ai reports it, so a USD receipt is in Flash only if you import or enter it.
Does Flash sync my bank account or reconcile bank statements?
No. Flash does not sync bank transactions and does not reconcile full bank statements. It does not handle fees, currency conversion, or payouts that arrive split across several deposits or batched with other money, so those stay for you to review and record.
Flash is the CFO layer for compute operators: Bitcoin miners and GPU hosts. See Flash for GPU operators or Flash for miners.