Commission Length counts charges, not time
By default, a commission runs until the customer cancels. To cap it, open the campaign's commission settings and set Commission Length to By Count. The number you enter is a count of successful charges. It is not a number of months.
That difference matters more than it looks. On a monthly plan, a count of twelve lasts a year only if all twelve charges succeed; a failed payment isn't a successful charge, so the commission can run past the twelve-month mark. On a yearly plan, a count of twelve is twelve yearly charges.
When you explain a campaign to affiliates, say it in charges. Write the count and what it means on the plan the product sells, so nobody reads a charge cap as a calendar limit.
Commission Length is a count of successful charges. Say it that way to your affiliates.
Which rate applies to a sale
A campaign can carry more than one rate, and HighLevel applies them in a partial order it does document: a product-specific rate on the campaign comes before a variable rate, and a variable rate comes before the campaign default.
Variable Commissions assign rates to ranges of charge counts, so early charges can earn at one rate and later ones at another. Turn it on only when the rate should change over the life of a subscription, then save the campaign.
One affiliate can also get their own rate, without changing anyone else's. Open Marketing > Affiliate Manager, choose the affiliate, then Active referral links > Customize > Commissions. That setting adjusts rates on the tiers the campaign already has. The campaign decides how many tiers exist, so an affiliate who needs a different tier structure needs a different campaign.
HighLevel says it doesn't publish one complete order for every mix of affiliate, product and variable settings. If you stack them, run a test sale and read the commission it creates.
Discounts and refunds
A discounted purchase earns commission on the discounted amount, not the list price. Affiliates who promote a coupon should expect smaller commissions on those sales.
Refunds need the most care. HighLevel doesn't track refunds automatically for subscriptions or one-time products, so the commission on a refunded sale stays in place. Before you approve a month's payouts, check that month's refunds against them and use Deny Payout on anything that isn't owed.
How a payout moves from Pending to Paid
Payouts follow the same path every month. Knowing the order tells you where a missing one is stuck.
- Commissions build up through the month as referred sales come in.
- On the first of the month, HighLevel generates payouts as Pending.
- Each payout's due date comes from the campaign's payout terms: NET-7, NET-15, NET-30, NET-45, NET-60 or NET-90, counted from the end of the month. Set them under Campaign > Additional Settings.
- Review the Pending payouts, check refunds, and deny anything ineligible.
- Approve the rest. They move to Approved for Payout.
- Pay them, either through PayPal Auto Payouts or by paying outside HighLevel and then marking the payout Paid. Mark a manual payout Paid only after the money has gone out.
- Once a payout is Paid, it can't be modified, so any correction has to happen before this step.
When the payout buttons are missing or a payment fails
If you can see payouts but not the actions on them, check your user's permissions. Missing payout actions can mean the user doesn't have the Pay Affiliate Manager Payout permission.
If a payout fails, Retry Payment puts it back to Approved for Payout. That doesn't send money by itself. The payout still has to be paid, and a manual one still has to be marked Paid afterwards.
Rather have it set up for you?
We'll set your commission length, rates and payout terms and write the monthly refund check into the plan, beginning with a 30-minute 1:1 with Rob.