How commission is calculated
This article explains exactly what a commission amount is worked out on, when it counts as earned, and how refunds and orders with more than one coupon are handled.
A percentage rate
A percentage is worked out on the order’s product totals after all coupon discounts, without tax, less anything refunded. That covers every product in the order, including products the coupon itself did not discount.
The three boxes under Calculated on in the settings add more to that base:
| Setting | Adds |
|---|---|
| Add shipping | The order’s shipping. |
| Add fees | The order’s fees. A negative fee, such as a discount entered as a fee, lowers the base. |
| Add tax on everything counted | The tax on the products, and on shipping and fees when those are counted too. |
The base never goes below zero. The commission is the base multiplied by the rate.
For example, with a 10% rate, an order of $100.00 in products after the discount and $8.00 of shipping earns $10.00. With Add shipping ticked, it earns $10.80.
A fixed amount per order
A fixed rate earns its amount once for each order that uses the coupon, whatever the order is worth. A partial refund does not change it. Calculated on has no effect on fixed rates.
Earned, pending or nothing
What the affiliate earns depends on the order’s outcome, which follows its WooCommerce status. See Order outcomes and the cancellation rate.
| Outcome | Commission |
|---|---|
| Confirmed | Earned. It counts toward what the affiliate can be paid. |
| Pending | Shown as pending. It becomes earned once the order is confirmed. |
| Cancelled, Never paid or Refunded | Nothing. |
A cash on delivery order stays pending at Processing and is confirmed when it is Completed, unless you change that in the settings.
Refunds
- A full refund moves the order to Refunded, which earns nothing.
- A partial refund that picks products, shipping or fees takes exactly those parts, and their tax, off the base.
- A partial refund of a plain amount, with no items picked, comes off every part of the order in proportion to its value.
- Deleting a refund puts the amounts back.
A partial refund changes a percentage commission and leaves a fixed one as it is.
Orders with more than one coupon
When one order uses two coupons that belong to the same affiliate, the affiliate is credited once for that order, with the larger of the two amounts. The Coupons and Orders reports still show each coupon’s own amount, so their per-coupon figures can add up to more than the affiliate is paid.
When one order uses coupons of two different affiliates, each affiliate earns their own rate on the whole order. The amount is not split between them.
Rounding
Amounts are kept to four decimal places and shown with your store’s number of decimals. On the Payouts screens, amounts below 0.005 of your currency are treated as zero.