Advanced Commission Configuration

Available in:

Post Affiliate Pro , Post Affiliate Pro Ultimate , Post Affiliate Network

Overview of Advanced Commission Configuration

Post Affiliate Pro provides comprehensive commission configuration options that go far beyond simple percentage or fixed-rate payouts. With advanced commission configuration, merchants can create sophisticated compensation structures that motivate affiliates, ensure fair distribution across multi-tier networks, handle edge cases like negative balances, and automate approval workflows.

The advanced configuration options allow you to fine-tune every aspect of how commissions are calculated, approved, held, and distributed to your affiliates.

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Commission Approval Types

Commission approval determines when and how commissions become available for payout to affiliates. Post Affiliate Pro supports several approval methods to match your business requirements.

Automatic Approval

With automatic approval, commissions are instantly approved when a tracked conversion occurs. This is ideal for low-risk transactions where immediate affiliate gratification is important for motivation.

Manual Approval

Manual approval requires a merchant or administrator to review and approve each commission before it becomes payable. This provides maximum control and is recommended for:

• High-value transactions
• Industries with high refund rates
• Programs requiring verification of conversion quality

First Login Approval

Commissions remain pending until the affiliate completes their first login to the affiliate panel. This ensures affiliates are actively engaged with your program before receiving payments.

First Sub-affiliate Sale or Action Approval

This approval type is designed for multi-tier programs. Commissions are held pending until the affiliate’s sub-affiliate generates their first sale or action. Options include:

• First Sub-affiliate Sale or Action: Approved when sub-affiliate makes any conversion
• First Sub-affiliate Sale: Approved specifically when sub-affiliate makes a sale
• First Sub-affiliate Action: Approved when sub-affiliate completes a tracked action

Commission Recurrence Settings

Recurrence settings enable automatic generation of commissions on a scheduled basis, perfect for subscription-based products or recurring billing models.

Available Recurrence Periods

High-Frequency Options

For specific use cases, Post Affiliate Pro also supports:

• Every 15 minutes: For real-time or near-real-time commission updates
• Every 4 hours: For frequent but not instantaneous updates

To configure recurrence, navigate to Campaigns > Campaign Manager > Edit Campaign > Commission Settings and select the appropriate recurrence preset for your commission type.

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Negative Carryover Feature

The Negative Carryover feature is an automated safeguard that ensures affiliate commission balances never carry negative amounts from one month to the next.

How Negative Carryover Works

1. The feature performs a monthly check on the configured day
2. It analyzes all approved, unpaid sale transactions from the previous month
3. For each affiliate with a negative balance in the specified campaigns, it creates a compensating positive commission
4. The compensating commission uses “carryover” as the product ID and zeros out the negative balance

Configuration Options

To enable and configure Negative Carryover:

1. Navigate to Configuration > Features in the merchant panel
2. Activate the “Negative Carryover” feature
3. Configure the following settings:
   • Day of Month: The day each month when the carryover check runs
   • Campaigns: Select which campaigns should be monitored
   • Affiliates: Optionally limit to specific affiliates (leave empty for all)

Use Cases

Negative Carryover is particularly valuable for:

• Programs with refund-based negative commissions
• Campaigns where chargebacks can result in negative balances
• Ensuring affiliates always see positive account statements

Variable Tier Commissions

Variable Tier Commissions is an advanced plugin that dynamically distributes commissions among all affiliates in an upline hierarchy, based on each affiliate’s individual commission group settings.

How Variable Tier Commissions Work

Unlike traditional multi-tier commissions where each tier has a fixed percentage, Variable Tier Commissions:

1. Determines the highest possible commission from all commission groups
2. Pays the referring affiliate their 1st tier commission percentage
3. Calculates the difference and pays it up the affiliate tree
4. Continues until the maximum commission is distributed or there are no more parent affiliates

Example Scenario

Consider an affiliate tree with the following commission group assignments:

When Affiliate D refers a $100 sale:

1. Affiliate D receives 10% = $10 (their commission group rate)
2. Affiliate C receives 10% = $10 (20% - 10% already distributed)
3. Affiliate B receives $0 (their 10% is already covered by total distributed)
4. Affiliate A receives 30% = $30 (50% - 20% already distributed)

Total distributed: $50 (matches the highest commission group rate of 50%)

Enabling Variable Tier Commissions

1. Navigate to Configuration > Plugins
2. Activate “Variable Tier Commissions”
3. Configure per-campaign settings if needed:
   • Enable “Apply Variable Tier Commissions” setting per campaign
   • Requires Commission Groups feature to be active

Requirements

• Post Affiliate Pro version 5.10.16.1 or higher
• Commission Groups feature must be active
• Properly configured commission groups with different rates

Commission Type Settings

Post Affiliate Pro supports multiple commission calculation methods that can be applied to different commission types.

Percentage Commission

Commissions calculated as a percentage of the sale total cost:

Commission = Total Cost x (Percentage / 100)

This is the most common type for affiliate programs and automatically scales with transaction value.

Fixed Commission

A fixed monetary amount paid regardless of sale value:

Commission = Fixed Amount

Ideal for lead generation or action-based commissions where transaction value varies or is not applicable.

Percentage from Previous Tier

Calculates commission as a percentage of what the previous tier earned:

Tier N Commission = Tier (N-1) Commission x (Percentage / 100)

Useful for multi-tier programs where you want commission to diminish predictably up the tree.

Configuring Commission Types

1. Go to Campaigns > Campaign Manager
2. Edit your campaign
3. Navigate to Commissions Settings tab
4. Click Edit to modify commission types
5. Select the commission type (%, $, or P for percentage from previous)

Commission Value Calculations and Formulas

Understanding how Post Affiliate Pro calculates commissions helps you design effective compensation structures.

Basic Sale Commission

Commission = Total Cost x Commission Rate

Where Total Cost can include or exclude:

• Fixed costs (shipping, handling)
• Tax amounts
• Discount values

Multi-Tier Commission Calculation

For each tier in a multi-tier structure:

Tier 1 (Referring Affiliate): Total Cost x Tier 1 Rate
Tier 2 (Parent Affiliate): Total Cost x Tier 2 Rate
...
Tier N: Total Cost x Tier N Rate

Zero Order Handling

Configure how zero-value transactions are processed:

• Save Zero Orders Commission: Whether to create commission records for $0 transactions
• Save Zero Commission: Whether to save commissions even when calculated value is zero

These settings are valuable for tracking purposes even when no actual payout occurs.

Tier Configuration for Multi-Tier Programs

Multi-tier commission structures reward affiliates for building and managing sub-affiliate networks.

Setting Up Tiers

1. Navigate to Campaigns > Campaign Manager > Edit Campaign
2. Go to Commissions Settings tab
3. Click Edit on your commission type
4. Add tiers by clicking Add Tier
5. Configure rate and type for each tier (up to 100 tiers supported)

Tier Structure Best Practices

Sub-Type Configurations

Each tier can have different sub-types:

• Normal: Standard commission calculation
• Override: Special rates for specific conditions

Commission Status Management

Commissions in Post Affiliate Pro move through various statuses during their lifecycle.

Commission Statuses

Status Transitions

Tracked -> Pending -> Approved -> Paid
                  \-> Declined

Automated Status Changes

Configure automatic status transitions based on:

• Time elapsed since creation
• Refund window expiration
• Approval type settings
• Custom conditions via plugins

Commission Hold and Release Settings

Hold periods allow you to delay commission approval to account for refund windows or verification periods.

Configuring Hold Periods

1. Navigate to campaign commission settings
2. Set the approval delay period
3. Commissions will automatically transition from pending to approved after the hold period

Use Cases for Hold Periods

• 30-day hold: Matches typical refund policies
• 60-day hold: For products with extended return periods
• Custom periods: Based on your specific business requirements

Manual Release

Merchants can manually release held commissions before the hold period expires through:

1. Transaction List: Select transactions and use bulk actions
2. Individual Transaction: Edit and change status
3. API: Programmatic status updates

Best Practices for Commission Structure Design

Designing an effective commission structure requires balancing affiliate motivation with business sustainability.

Key Principles

1. Transparency: Affiliates should easily understand how they earn
2. Fairness: Reward effort and results proportionally
3. Sustainability: Ensure commission rates are profitable long-term
4. Motivation: Structure should encourage desired behaviors

Recommended Approaches

For New Programs:

• Start with competitive industry-standard rates
• Use automatic approval for faster affiliate gratification
• Keep tier structure simple (2-3 tiers maximum)

For Established Programs:

• Implement commission groups for performance-based rates
• Use hold periods matching your refund window
• Consider Variable Tier Commissions for complex networks

For High-Risk Industries:

• Implement manual approval for high-value transactions
• Use longer hold periods (60-90 days)
• Enable Negative Carryover to handle chargebacks

Commission Rate Guidelines

Testing Your Configuration

Before launching your commission structure:

1. Create test transactions to verify calculations
2. Review the commission trail for accuracy
3. Test multi-tier scenarios if applicable
4. Verify approval workflows function correctly
5. Test recurrence generation for subscription products

By leveraging Post Affiliate Pro’s advanced commission configuration options, you can create sophisticated, fair, and motivating compensation structures that drive affiliate performance while protecting your business interests.