Affiliate Manager Part 4 - How to Manage Affiliate Payouts

In this article, we will review how to manage your affiliate payouts. Check out our other Affiliate Manager articles for tips, best practices, and an overview of the feature.

Step 1: Managing Payouts

• Navigate to Marketing on the left > Affiliate Manager at the top > From the dropdown select Payout

• You'll see four sub-tabs that indicate the payout statuses
  • PENDING: All payouts across every affiliate campaign are populated with this status monthly. The Affiliate owner/admin has to come in and approve those eligible for a payout. The admin can ‘Deny Payout’ if the commission is not applicable.

• APPROVED FOR PAYOUT: When a payout is approved, it moves to this tab, where the Affiliate owner/admin can upload the affiliate name/info to their payment gateway. If needed, an affiliate can be moved back to pending from this tab.

Automate Affiliate Payouts using Paypal

With this feature, users can streamline the payout process, whether paying individual affiliates or in bulk, directly from their account. A key benefit is the enhanced efficiency of managing affiliate payments, as both owners and affiliates can easily connect their PayPal accounts to facilitate transactions. To use this feature, ensure that both the product owner and affiliates have connected PayPal accounts, with live mode enabled for transactions.

To learn more about this feature, see article “Automating Affiliate Payouts with PayPal: A Step-by-Step Guide”

• PAID: Here, you’ll see a list of all affiliates with dated transactions that have received a payout. Payouts cannot be moved from here.

• DENIED PAYOUTS: Here, you’ll find denied payouts. Affiliate payouts can be found from either the “Pending” or “Approved for Payout” tabs.

How are payouts generated?

Payouts get generated in the 'Payouts' screen under the 'Pending' tab on the 1st of every month and the column 'Due' reflects the date on which the payout should be done to the affiliate based on the configurations done for the campaign they were enrolled into.

Payouts are generated for a specific interval and the ability to make actual payments at a later date. This is mostly used to cover refunds and other issues that might occur.

How do Commissions work? How are they linked to Payouts?

Commissions are how payouts are essentially earned. The affiliate earns a commission each time someone makes a purchase through the unique link associated with their Affiliate Campaign.

An Affiliates Commissions are based on the percentage of commission fixed for the campaign which the Affiliate is marketing.

PRO TIPS:

• Payments are completed manually. The Affiliate Manager owner/admin must complete them.
• Affiliate commissions can be recurring or one-time, depending on the Stripe product being sold and how it’s set up.
• Affiliate commission is tracked by sales happening in Stripe. Referins doesn’t track refunds for subscriptions or one-time products.
• Subscription cancellations should be effectively monitored - the Affiliate Manager administrator can choose to pay out affiliates 15, 30, or 60 days post-sale, allowing for the commission to be denied for a canceled subscription.
• Commission can be set up to be a flat rate commission 
• Paypal is now an option on the payout page. The PayPal account must be integrated into the payment’s integrations area. 
• You can now pay your Affiliates using Paypal Auto Payouts please see the article titled “How to pay your Affiliates using Paypal Auto Payouts”

• If you need to manually add sales navigate to the Affiliates tab, click on the menu dots and select Add Manual Sales

FAQ

1. How do I approve or deny affiliate payouts?
Navigate to Marketing > Affiliate Manager > Payouts. Under the 'Pending' tab, you will find all pending payouts. You can approve or deny payouts by selecting the relevant option for each payout. Approved payouts move to the 'Approved for Payout' tab, while denied payouts will be listed under 'Denied Payouts'.

2. When are payouts generated?
Payouts are generated on the 1st of every month and appear in the 'Pending' tab. The 'Due' column shows the date by which the payout should be made to the affiliate based on the campaign's configurations.

3. How are commissions linked to payouts?
Commissions are earned each time someone makes a purchase through an affiliate's unique link. The commission amount is based on the percentage set for the affiliate campaign. Payouts are then made based on these earned commissions.

4. Can I use PayPal for affiliate payouts?
Yes, you can use PayPal for affiliate payouts. Ensure that your PayPal account is integrated into the payment’s integrations area. For detailed instructions on setting up PayPal Auto Payouts, refer to the article titled “How to pay your Affiliates using PayPal Auto Payouts”.