When is a commission confirmed, and what happens after a refund or cancellation?

A referral starts as Pending and becomes Confirmed when the order is paid, or when it is fulfilled if you choose that. Only a confirmed referral counts toward a payout. A cancellation or a full refund reverses the referral, and a partial refund lowers a percentage commission in proportion.

Choose when referrals are confirmed

1. Open Settings > Referral.
2. Choose Payment (the default) or Fulfillment under Referral confirmation.

   

3. Turn on Enable confirmation delay if you want to wait longer.
4. Enter the Days to delay confirmation.
5. Click Save.

A delay gives you time to process returns before the commission is credited. It counts from the order date with Payment, and from the fulfillment with Fulfillment. Simple Affiliate confirms referrals in a daily check, so a referral can stay pending for up to a day after the delay ends.

Refunds and cancellations

Simple Affiliate reads refunds and cancellations from Shopify when the order changes:

• Cancelled order or full refund: the referral becomes Reversed, and its commission is 0.
• Partial refund: a percentage commission goes down in proportion to the refunded items. A fixed commission doesn't change. On a pending referral, the partial refund applies when the referral is confirmed.
• After a payout: a reversal or a refund still lowers the affiliate's earnings, so the unpaid balance can go below zero.

A referral that you added by hand stays confirmed after a cancellation. A refund still lowers or reverses its commission when it is a percentage, but a fixed commission stays, so reverse that referral yourself.

Confirm or reverse a referral yourself

1. Open Referrals.
2. Select the referrals.
3. Click Confirm or Reverse above the list.

   

4. Click Confirm or Reverse again in the dialog.

Confirm counts the selected referrals that are pending, and Reverse counts the selected referrals that you can reverse. The two buttons don't show when you select all the referrals of the list. Confirming credits the commission at once, also before the fulfillment or the end of the delay. Simple Affiliate removes its order tags when a referral is reversed, as described in Does Simple Affiliate tag referred customers and orders in Shopify? For an order that has no referral at all, see Why aren't referred orders showing up?