# 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**. |
