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The Payouts section of the Affiliate Manager handles the full commission payment workflow — from reviewing pending amounts to disbursing funds to affiliates. Commissions accumulate automatically as sales are recorded, and payouts are processed according to your configured schedule. Navigate to Marketing > Affiliate Manager > Payouts to manage your payout pipeline.

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Payout tabs

The Payouts section is organized into three tabs corresponding to the stages of the payout lifecycle:

Pending

Commissions that have been earned but not yet reviewed. These accumulate throughout the month and appear here for your review and approval.

Approved for payout

Commissions you have reviewed and marked as approved. Ready to be paid out via CSV export or PayPal.

Paid

Completed payouts that have been marked as paid. Provides a permanent record of all commission disbursements.

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Understanding the payout cycle

Commissions are recorded in real time as sales occur. The payout cycle determines when those commissions become available for review and payment. By default, pending payouts for a given month become available for review at the start of the following month — for example, commissions earned in March appear in the Pending tab on April 1. This gives time for any refunds or chargebacks to be processed before commissions are paid out. You can configure the payout schedule and minimum payout threshold under Affiliate Manager > Settings.

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Reviewing and approving payouts

1

Open the Pending tab

Go to Payouts > Pending to see all commissions awaiting your review. The table shows each affiliate’s name, email, campaign, payout month, and commission amount.
2

Review commission details

Click the three-dot menu next to any affiliate’s payout row and select View Commissions to see the full breakdown — individual sales, dates, amounts, and associated contacts.
3

Approve eligible payouts

For affiliates whose commissions are correct and ready to pay, click Approve for Payout (or check the box next to their name and use the bulk approval action). Approved payouts move to the Approved for Payout tab.
4

Deny payouts when needed

If a commission should not be paid (for example, due to a refund, dispute, or policy violation), click Deny from the three-dot menu. Denied commissions are removed from the payout queue and a record is kept in the affiliate’s history.

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Processing payments

Once payouts are in the Approved for Payout tab, you have two options for processing the actual payment.

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Manual payout via CSV export

1

Export the approved payouts

In the Approved for Payout tab, click Export to download a CSV file. The file includes each affiliate’s name, email, commission amount, currency, and payout month.
2

Process payment externally

Upload the CSV to your payment gateway (PayPal Mass Pay, Stripe, bank transfer tool, or any other batch payment system you use).
3

Mark as paid

Return to the Approved for Payout tab, select the affiliates whose payments you have sent, and click Mark as Paid. These records move to the Paid tab and the affiliates’ payout history is updated.

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Automated PayPal payouts

For hands-free payment processing, connect a PayPal Business account to automate the disbursement step.
1

Connect PayPal

Go to Affiliate Manager > Settings and click Connect PayPal. Authorize the connection with your PayPal Business account credentials.
2

Ensure affiliates have PayPal accounts linked

For automated payouts to work, each affiliate must have their PayPal email address saved in their affiliate profile. Affiliates can add their PayPal details through their portal, or you can add it manually from the affiliate’s record in the Affiliates section.
3

Pay via PayPal

In the Approved for Payout tab, select the affiliates you want to pay (or select all), and click Pay. The platform initiates PayPal transfers to each affiliate simultaneously.
4

Confirm and monitor

Successful PayPal transfers move to the Paid tab automatically. Transactions where PayPal is still processing show as “Pending” until the transfer clears — this is a PayPal processing delay, not an error.
PayPal automated payouts can only be sent to affiliates who have a valid PayPal account linked. The platform will flag any approved affiliates without a PayPal account connected so you can follow up with them before processing the batch.

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Payout settings

Configure your payout preferences under Affiliate Manager > Settings:
SettingDescription
Payout scheduleHow frequently payouts are processed (monthly, bi-monthly, custom)
Minimum thresholdThe minimum commission amount required before a payout is triggered for an affiliate
Default payment methodSet PayPal as the default payout method when available
Setting a minimum threshold avoids processing small payouts that cost more in payment fees than the payout amount itself. Commissions below the threshold accumulate and are paid out once the affiliate reaches the minimum.

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Manual sales

If a sale occurred outside the platform’s tracking (for example, a phone order, in-person sale, or third-party transaction), you can add it to an affiliate’s record manually:
  1. Go to the affiliate’s profile in the Affiliates section
  2. Click Add Manual Sale
  3. Enter the sale amount and date
  4. The manual sale generates a commission that will appear in the Pending tab on the next payout cycle
Export your full paid payout history monthly and store it separately as an accounting record. The Paid tab in the Affiliate Manager provides a record of all completed payouts, but maintaining an external backup simplifies end-of-year reconciliation for tax and accounting purposes.

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Frequently asked questions

Commissions are recorded immediately when a sale is tracked. They appear in the Pending tab at the start of the following month (or per your custom payout schedule). This delay allows time for refund windows to close before commissions are paid out.
Yes. You can approve and process payouts at any time — the default monthly cycle is a guide, not a hard limit. If you want to run weekly or bi-monthly payouts, simply review and approve the Pending tab at your preferred frequency.
If a sale is refunded and the commission has not yet been paid out, the commission should be denied in the Pending tab before processing. If the commission has already been paid, you will need to handle the clawback manually outside the platform (for example, by deducting from the affiliate’s next payout cycle).
Yes. Affiliates can log in to their portal and view their commission history, including which commissions are pending, approved, or paid. They cannot approve or deny their own payouts — only the account admin can take those actions.
PayPal charges transaction fees for business payments — typically a percentage of the transfer amount plus a flat fee, which varies by country and account type. Check PayPal’s current fee schedule for mass payments. These fees are charged by PayPal, not by the HoopAI platform.
Last modified on March 5, 2026