FAQ: What do the earnings figures on the affiliate dashboard mean?
The affiliate dashboard shows three figures: Unpaid earnings, Total earnings and Referrals. This article explains what each figure counts and when it changes, so you can answer your affiliates' questions. The last section has a short text that you can give to your affiliates.
Where Affiliates See the Figures
- New customer accounts: The Earnings section of the affiliate dashboard shows the three figures as cards. A Date range menu sets the range. A chart below the cards has the tabs Earnings, Sales and Referrals. The Sales tab shows only when you show sales data to affiliates. The chart totals are the same figures for the same range. If you add the Earnings block to the profile page of the customer account, the same three figures show there, with a View dashboard link.
- Classic customer accounts: The Statistics section shows the three figures in a table, with a date range menu.
There is no card for paid commission or for pending commission. Affiliates see each referral and its status in the Referrals table, and each payment in the Payments table (Invoice, Invoice Date and Amount), when you show these tables in Settings > Dashboard.
The Three Figures
|
Figure |
What it counts |
Date range |
|---|---|---|
|
Unpaid earnings |
The commission that is confirmed and not paid yet. It adds all confirmed commission and takes away every payment and every reversal. A partial refund also takes away commission, but only for a percentage commission. |
No. It always shows the balance now. |
|
Total earnings |
The commission that Simple Affiliate confirmed in the range, paid or unpaid, minus the refunds and reversals that it recorded in the range. A payment does not lower it. |
Yes. |
|
Referrals |
The number of referrals that are confirmed and that Simple Affiliate confirmed in the range. A reversed referral does not count. A referral with a partial refund still counts. |
Yes. |
The Amount owed card on the affiliate profile in Simple Affiliate shows the commission that you owe the affiliate. While an Autopay or PayPal payout is on its way, the profile also shows In progress with the amount. The affiliate dashboard does not subtract it yet.
When Commission Counts
Commission counts only when its referral is confirmed. A new referral starts as Pending or Confirmed, and it can end as Reversed.
|
Referral status |
Meaning |
In the figures |
|---|---|---|
|
Pending |
The order does not meet your confirmation rule yet. It is not paid or not fulfilled yet, or it waits for the confirmation delay. |
Not counted. |
|
Confirmed |
The order meets your confirmation rule, or you confirmed the referral by hand. |
Counted in all three figures. |
|
Partial refund |
Part of the order was refunded and the commission is a percentage. The referral usually stays confirmed with a lower commission. A fixed commission keeps the status Confirmed after a partial refund. |
Counted. The refund lowers the commission. |
|
Reversed |
The referral no longer counts, for example because the order was cancelled or refunded, or because you reversed it by hand. The commission is removed. |
Not counted in Referrals. The reversal of a confirmed referral lowers Unpaid earnings and Total earnings. A pending referral that is reversed never counted, so it changes no figure. |
A referral that you add by hand is confirmed at once. A refund can lower or reverse it when its commission is a percentage. With a fixed commission, it stays confirmed after a refund or a cancellation. To remove its commission yourself, use Reverse in Referrals. You can confirm a Pending referral by hand in the Referrals list with Confirm. It then counts at once, and Simple Affiliate dates the commission on that day. A partial refund lowers a percentage commission in proportion. It does not change a fixed commission.
How to choose when a referral is confirmed
- Go to Settings > Referral.
-
In Referral confirmation, choose Payment or Fulfillment. With Payment, a referral is confirmed when the
order is paid. With Fulfillment, it is confirmed when the order is fulfilled. New stores start with Payment.
- Optional: Turn on Enable confirmation delay and enter a number of days from 1 to 365. A referral that meets your rule stays Pending until the delay ends. With Payment, the days count from the date of the order. With Fulfillment, they count from the date of fulfillment.
- Click Save.
The text under Referral confirmation in the app is short. A refund or a cancellation of the order can lower the commission of a referral or reverse the referral.
Simple Affiliate confirms a referral when the delay has ended, at its next routine check. The referral can stay Pending a little longer than the number of days.
A change to these settings applies to new referrals and to later updates of an order. You can confirm a Pending referral by hand with Confirm in Referrals. A referral that is already Confirmed stays Confirmed, unless it is refunded or reversed.
What Changes Unpaid Earnings
- It goes up when a referral is confirmed. Simple Affiliate adds the commission of the referral in full.
-
It goes down when a payment is complete. The moment depends on how you pay:
- Autopay and PayPal: when the payout is complete, not when you click Send payout.
- Store credit: when Shopify issues the credit.
- Manual payments: when you create the payment, before you mark it as paid. If you delete the payment, the amount returns to Unpaid earnings.
- It goes down when a confirmed referral is reversed. It also goes down when a partial refund lowers a percentage commission.
⚠️ Warning: If a referral is refunded after you paid its commission, Unpaid earnings can go below zero. New commission first makes up the difference. See FAQ: Why did my affiliate's commission decrease or go negative?
Unpaid earnings does not mean that Simple Affiliate pays the amount now. Your payout schedule and your payout threshold decide when it pays. The classic dashboard shows the threshold next to Unpaid earnings as Payout threshold when you set one. The threshold applies to the monthly payment only. Pay now ignores it. See How to Set Up Autopay and Pay Your Affiliates.
How the Date Range Works
- Choices: Today, Yesterday, Last 7 days, Last 30 days, Last 90 days, Last month, Last year, Week to date, Month to date, Year to date and All time. The dashboard for new customer accounts starts on Month to date.
- Time zone: The range uses the time zone of your store.
- Date of a commission: Simple Affiliate dates a commission on the day it confirms the referral. If the order already meets your rule when it arrives and you use no confirmation delay, this is the date of the order.
- Date of a refund: A refund or a reversal lowers Total earnings in the range where Simple Affiliate records it. It does not change an earlier range.
Example: An order of $100 earns a commission of $10, and Simple Affiliate confirms it in March. For March, Total earnings shows $10 and Referrals shows 1. In April, the customer returns the order and you refund it. For April, Total earnings shows -$10. March still shows $10 for Total earnings, but Referrals for March now shows 0, because the referral is reversed. All time shows $0.
Currency
Total earnings and Referrals count only commission in your current store currency. If you changed your store currency, see FAQ: Why does changing the store currency affect affiliate earnings visibility?
What to Tell Your Affiliates
You can copy this text and change the store name:
Unpaid earnings is the commission that you earned and that we have not paid yet. Total earnings is the commission that you earned in the date range that you choose. Referrals is the number of orders in that range that count for you.
A new order can show as Pending in the Referrals table. It counts in your figures after [Store name] confirms it. If an order is cancelled or refunded, your commission for that order can go down or be removed.
Important Rules to Remember
- Pending is not counted: A pending referral is in the Referrals table only. No card counts it.
- Total earnings is not a lifetime figure: It covers the date range only. Choose All time for the whole history. A payment does not lower it.
- Unpaid is not payable now: The payout schedule and the payout threshold decide when Simple Affiliate pays the balance.
- Labels can differ: You can change the words of the dashboard in Settings > Translations. If an affiliate sees other words, check that page.