# Understand the Action Life Cycle & Finance
Take the PXA course
An action is a conversion (such as a sale, or a lead) that's been tracked by impact.com and credited to one or more of your partners. Actions follow a “life cycle” — they begin as new, pending actions, and usually end as a locked action with a scheduled payout to the partner that is attributed credit for the conversion.
As part of the action life cycle, certain financial implications may apply — your impact.com account funding needs to be up-to-date and prepared for payout obligations sourced from locked actions.
#### **Action life cycle overview**
* When a conversion is tracked and credited to a partner, it becomes a *Pending action*.
* Pending actions can be modified or reversed before the Locking Date. After this date, they become *Approved Actions* (or *Locked Actions*).
* Approved actions finalize the commission amount due, which is delivered on the *Scheduled Clearing Date*.
* After the clearing date passes, the action will appear on the next partner invoice (usually on the 2nd of the month, unless a custom GAAP month is used).
{% hint style="info" %}
**Note**: When you submit orders to impact.com long after they happened, impact.com will set the *Event Date* to the date and time you submitted the action. Locking and Clearing Schedules will run according to the newly-assigned Event Date. Any payouts, adjustments, and payout group rules for these conversions are determined by your active contract with the partner.
{% endhint %}
#### Action status & finance
Below are the different statuses a particular action can appear with in the [Action Listing report](https://help.impact.com/brand/what-would-you-like-to-learn-about/platform-features/multi-program-reports/performance-reports-for-brands/advanced-action-listing-report), along with a correlated finance status.
| Action Status | Finance "Status" | Description |
| ------------------- | ------------------------------------------ | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| *Pending* | Action Cost estimated | When an action is pending, it can still be modified (or reversed). Pending actions have an estimated *Action Cost* column in the Action Listing report. If the action does not change before it locks, this will be the commission to the partner. |
| *Approved / Locked* | Action Cost due on Scheduled Clearing Date | When an action is locked, the Action Cost amount is now due — this will be used to credit the partner with a commission for generating the action. |
| *Reversed* | Action Cost voided — 0.00 payout | When an action is reversed, the action cost is voided — no commission is due. |
View action details
The Action detail modal shows details about a specific action.
1. From the left navigation menu, select  **\[Engage]** → **Transactions → Pending Payouts → Actions**.
2. On the *Pending Payouts* screen, select the **linked Action ID** to open the modal.
Below is a list of the most important data points to keep in mind when viewing action details:
| Action Status | Finance "Status" | Description |
| ------------------------- | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| *"Payout" (Commission)* | Equal to the Action Cost — the amount the partner will receive as a commission for the action | The commission amount the partner will receive for this action if it's approved (i.e., when it locks). |
| *Locking Date* | The date and time when the action will lock; the commission will be due (see below) | When an action is locked, the Action Cost amount is now due — this will be used to credit the partner with a commission for generating the action. |
| *Scheduled Clearing Date* | The date and time when the commission amount is debited from your impact.com account | The date and time when impact.com will clear the funds from your account to pay the partner for the action. **If your account has insufficient funds, it will be considered Overdue**. |
---
# Agent Instructions: Querying This Documentation
If you need additional information that is not directly available in this page, you can query the documentation dynamically by asking a question.
Perform an HTTP GET request on the current page URL with the `ask` query parameter:
```
GET https://help.impact.com/brand/what-would-you-like-to-learn-about/platform-features/actions-and-payouts/understand-the-action-life-cycle-and-finance.md?ask=
```
The question should be specific, self-contained, and written in natural language.
The response will contain a direct answer to the question and relevant excerpts and sources from the documentation.
Use this mechanism when the answer is not explicitly present in the current page, you need clarification or additional context, or you want to retrieve related documentation sections.
