Commission Approval

In affiliate marketing, commission approval, also called validation, is the review that determines whether a recorded affiliate commission meets the program’s eligibility rules. A tracked sale can remain pending until payment, refund, fraud, and attribution checks are complete. Approval makes it eligible for payment under the payout policy; it is not a transfer of money.

What is checked during validation?

Validation compares the recorded conversion with the underlying eligible action. A purchase may require settled payment, while a lead may need to satisfy agreed qualification criteria. Both can also need duplicate-event and prohibited-promotion checks.

Commission states and payment states

Status names vary between systems. Approval can still be followed by a hold, a payout threshold, or a scheduled payment run. A payout record should be reconciled with the payment provider instead of treating a label as proof of receipt.

Manual and automated approval

Manual review lets an administrator inspect evidence and resolve unusual cases. It can also create delays if the program has no review schedule. Automated rules can release transactions that satisfy configured checks, but their quality depends on the source data and the rules being appropriate.

A hybrid approach can automate straightforward cases and queue exceptions. Test a refund, a duplicate conversion, and a failed payment to verify which states and reason codes the integration produces.

How can affiliates dispute a decision?

Provide the transaction reference and evidence that the referral met the terms. Use the program’s review process and avoid sending unnecessary customer information. Merchants should explain the applicable reason, review evidence consistently, and retain a record of any correction.

Clear validation rules help affiliates plan against expected approved earnings rather than a dashboard’s pending balance. They also make mass payouts easier to reconcile.

How should approval rules be documented?

Link validation to the source event

State whether the reward depends on a paid purchase, qualified lead, delivered service, or another event. Preserve its transaction ID and the rule applied at creation. The affiliate’s recorded click and the merchant’s payment confirmation answer different questions, so both may need review.

For example, a hypothetical $100 sale at 10% creates $10 before adjustment. If a $20 product refund reduces the eligible base proportionally, the commission becomes $8 under that rule. A different policy can produce a different result; it must be explicit.

A repeatable review checklist

1. Confirm the underlying event exists and meets the offer terms.
2. Verify the eligible amount, currency, and assigned affiliate.
3. Check duplicate reports and prohibited promotional methods.
4. Review source payment and refund states.
5. Approve or decline with the relevant reason code.
6. Explain review rights and reconcile the payable balance.

Stripe’s refund API illustrates why payment adjustments need their own identities and amounts. A commission engine should apply the program policy to those source events rather than assuming every notification represents a new sale.

How should approval timing be communicated?

Tell affiliates when routine checks occur and which cases can take longer. A dashboard should distinguish recorded, approved, payable, and paid amounts using the system’s actual status meanings. Post Affiliate Pro’s notification settings can support communication, but a delivered message is not independent payment confirmation.

From a recorded click to a payable commission

A click record establishes a possible referral. A qualifying conversion creates a commission record under the attribution and rate rules. Validation then checks the underlying event: Was the order paid? Is it a duplicate? Does it satisfy product, customer, and promotion restrictions?

Use explicit reason codes when declining or reversing a commission. Affiliates should be able to distinguish a returned order from an attribution dispute or a prohibited self-referral. Restrict access to customer information while providing enough context for a review request.

Automation can approve transactions that pass documented checks, but uncertain cases need investigation. Reconcile approved commissions against the commerce or billing system before creating a payout batch. Approval, a holding period, a minimum payout threshold, and the payment schedule are separate controls.

For the corresponding Post Affiliate Pro settings, consult the commission configuration advanced documentation . Confirm the configuration and integration requirements against your program’s rules.

Process at a glance