commission mechanics
Affiliate Payout
The payment transferred to your account after hold periods, thresholds, and reversals clear.
What is Affiliate Payout?
An affiliate payout is the actual money transferred to an affiliate's account — the commission balance that has cleared the hold period, exceeded the payment threshold, and survived any reversal window — distinct from credited commissions that are still pending.
Affiliate Payout In Practice
The gap between credited commissions (what your dashboard shows) and payouts (what lands in your account) is the most common cash flow confusion for new affiliates. Three factors create this gap: the hold period (most programs hold commissions 30–90 days to allow for refund windows), the payment threshold (PartnerStack pays at $5; some networks require $100), and reversals (commissions removed before they pay due to refunds or chargebacks). Realistic monthly payout is not the sum of commissions credited that month — it is the sum of commissions credited 30–90 days earlier, net of reversals, if the accumulated balance exceeds the threshold. Track 'credited commissions' and 'actual payouts received' as two separate columns in a portfolio spreadsheet to prevent treating pending credits as available income.
Example of Affiliate Payout
An affiliate credits $480 across three programs in April. Program A (PartnerStack, net-30) pays $180 on May 13th. Program B (Impact, net-30) pays $210 on June 1st per program schedule. Program C (in-house, net-60, $100 threshold) pays $145 in late June — combining April's $90 with a March carryover to cross the threshold. The April credited total is $480; the actual cash arrives across three months from mid-May to late June. The credited total and the received total are entirely different figures in any given month.
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