> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://help.impact.com/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://help.impact.com/brand/what-would-you-like-to-learn-about/platform-features/contracts-and-template-terms/template-terms/payout-adjustments/how-payout-rules-work.md). # How Payout Rules Work Payout rules allow you to proactively set a range of payout outcomes depending on the circumstances around an action. For example, you may want to hinge the amount you pay out for a sale on the customer's location, the category of product they purchase, and the promo code linked to the purchase. To do this, you would set a default payout in your contracts as usual, then create additional rules that determine under which conditions that default is modified. Payout rules apply automatically to a partner's payout, and they make it possible to build [*Payout Restrictions*](/brand/what-would-you-like-to-learn-about/platform-features/contracts-and-template-terms/template-terms/payout-adjustments/add-payout-restrictions-to-template-terms.md), [*Payout Groups*](/brand/what-would-you-like-to-learn-about/platform-features/contracts-and-template-terms/template-terms/payout-adjustments/set-payout-rules-using-payout-groups.md), and [*Payout Adjustments*](/brand/what-would-you-like-to-learn-about/platform-features/tracking/set-up-tracking/configure-customer-status-mapping.md#create-a-payout-adjustment) for your more customized payout needs. [Learn more](/brand/what-would-you-like-to-learn-about/platform-features/contracts-and-template-terms/template-terms/payout-adjustments/payout-modifications-explained.md). ## Understand the anatomy of a rule Each rule (e.g., `Customer Status is New`) is a single condition made of three parts: * **A parameter** (`Customer Status`): Which circumstance you want the payout condition to hinge on. * **An operator** (`is`): How the specified parameter and value must relate to each other for the rule to apply. * **A value** (`New`): What needs to be met in order for the rule to apply. ## Build & combine rules You can use multiple rules to either narrow the conditions for payout or widen them. * **When the action must satisfy every rule:** Add multiple rules to a single payout restriction, group, or adjustment. To override the default payout, all rules must be met simultaneously. In this case, `Customer Status is New` and `Order Total > $200` will apply to new customers who also spend over $200. * **When the action must meet at least one rule:** Put each rule in a separate payout restriction or adjustment. To override the default payout, only 1 rule needs to be met. In this case, `Customer Status is New` and `Order Total > $200` will apply to both new customers (who spend any amount), as well as returning customers who spend over $200. {% hint style="success" %} **Note:** With payout groups, only one group can apply to an action at a time. When an action matches more than one group, the group's rank decides which one applies. [Learn more](/brand/what-would-you-like-to-learn-about/platform-features/contracts-and-template-terms/template-terms/payout-adjustments/set-payout-rules-using-payout-groups.md#how-ranking-works). {% endhint %} ## Payout rules reference The parameters available to you depend on your impact.com edition. Some parameters (like exception-list lookups and product-catalog fields) are only accessible on specific editions or add-ons.
General payout parameters
Payout ruleDescription
CurrencyThe currency in which the purchase was made. This is used to calculate exchange rates into funding and payment currencies if needed.

If this is not sent, your account's default currency will be used.
Customer CityCity the customer specified in the conversion.
Customer Country/RegionThe location the customer specified in the conversion.
Customer PostcodePostal (or ZIP) code the customer specified in the conversion.
Customer RegionRegion code of the customer in the conversion.
Customer StatusStatus of the customer (e.g., New, Returning, etc.).

These values must be configured in the Customer Status Mapping section when editing an event type.
Date1-10General date field that accepts a date or datetime you want to send. These values appear in your reports.

When you create payout group rules using a date field (such as Date1–10), any date range you specify is start-inclusive and end-exclusive:

The start date is included in the range, but the end date is excluded from the range.

For example, if you set a payout group rule for: Date1 is between 2024-08-01 and 2024-09-30, conversions where Date1 is 2024-08-01 up to and including 2024-09-29 will match the payout group and 2024-09-30 will not match the payout group.
Derived BrowserBrowser determined by the user's IP address at the time of the conversion.
Derived Country/RegionCountry or region determined by the user's IP address at the time of the conversion.
Derived Device TypeThe electronic device determined by the user's IP address at the time of the conversion.
Derived OSThe device operating system determined by the user's IP address at the time of the conversion.
Derived State/RegionThe geographical state or region determined by the user's IP address at the time of the conversion.
Gift PurchaseIf you're tracking gift purchases, you can mark the order in the conversion as a gift purchase.
Hear About UsUsed to capture how the customer heard about your business.
Item BrandThe brand's name associated with the product.
Item CategoryCategory for the product referenced at the item level.
Item Delivery TypeThe delivery method specified for a product.
Item DiscountDiscount applied to each item purchased.
Item NameThe purchased product's name.
Item PriceIndividual unit price for each product.
Item QuantityQuantity of the item that was purchased in the order, expressed as a whole number.
Item SKUUnique stock-keeping unit (SKU) value of the product referenced at the item level.
Item SubcategoryIf applicable, the subcategory for the product referenced at the item level.
Item SubtotalTotal price for this line item (all products purchased of this type). The final value will be determined by subtracting the corresponding discounts from this value.
Money1-3General numeral field that accepts strings of any money or financial data you want to send. These values appear in your reports.
NoteGeneral field used to pass information for event-level reporting purposes.
Numeric1-10General numeral field that accepts strings of any numeric data you want to send. These values appear in your reports.
Order DiscountFor sales, this is the discount applied to the order overall. The amount is automatically subtracted from the order total on processing. If item amounts are used, this discount will be subtracted proportionally from each item amount sent in.

Generally, shipping discounts are excluded.
Order Location IdUsed primarily for travel, this specifies the unique identifier for the location for this purchase.
Order Location NameUsed primarily for travel, this specifies the location for the purchase.
Order Location TypeUsed primarily for travel, this specifies the type of location for the purchase.
Order Payment TypeHow the customer paid for their order.
Order Promo CodeThe action includes a promo code used by the customer.
Order ShippingPrimarily used for retail sales with shipping costs for a conversion. The total sale amount used for payout purposes will not include shipping costs.
Order TaxPrimarily used for retail sales with tax costs for a conversion. The total sale amount used for payout purposes will not include tax costs.
Order TotalThe amount before tax is deducted and after any discount is deducted.
Referral AdThe ad name and ID that triggered the click.
Referral Ad CampaignThe ad campaign name of the ad triggering the click (third party/ad server notion of ad and campaign).
Referral Ad Campaign IdThe third-party ad campaign ID captured from the referring click's tracking parameters, e.g., Google Ads. This is pulled automatically from the associated click data rather than the conversion data submitted by the brand.
Referral Ad GroupThe third-party ad group that this step in the conversion path is contained in (e.g., Paid Search).
Referral Ad Group IdGoogle's ID for the third-party ad group.
Referral Ad KeywordKeywords used in Paid Search efforts.
Referral Ad PlacementThe location of the ad on the partner's page. Typical values are "Home", and "Forum".
Referral Ad TypeWhich third-party ad distributor served the ad (e.g., Google Ads).
Referral DealType of the deal associated with the ad.
Referral Derived BrowserThe browser determined by the user's IP address at the time of the click.
Referral Derived Country/RegionThe country or region determined by the user's IP address at the time of the click.
Referral Derived Device TypeThe device type determined by the user's IP address at the time of the click.
Referral Derived OSThe operating system determined by the user's IP address at the time of the click.
Referral Derived State/RegionThe state determined by the user's IP address at the time of the click.
Referral Landing PageThe landing page's URL for the event.
Referral Param1-10Values that partners can include in the click query string and can be anything they want them to be.
Referral SharedIdGeneral SharedId field that accepts strings of any SharedIds you want to send. Appears in your reports.
Referral SKUUnique identifier for the item—usually the stock-keeping unit (SKU) identifier of the product being promoted.
Referral Subaccount IDId of the partner or media source that drove the action.
Referral Subaccount NameName of the partner or media source that drove the step.
Referral Traffic TypeWhere users come from when a partner directs them to your site.
Referral Traffic SourceWhere on the referral site the ad is hosted.
Referral URLThe Uniform Resource Locator or link of the website that referred the customer.
Site CategoryThe category associated with your site.
Site VersionSpecifies the version of the site this customer visited.
Text1-50General text field that accepts strings of any text data you want to send. These values appear in your reports.
Edition-specific parameters The following payout rules are only available to specific impact.com editions or add-ons: | Payout rule | Description | | ------------------------------------- | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | Audience |

A structured value a partner passes on a conversion to identify which audience segment the converting user belongs to.

You and the partner agree on the Audience segment and its value off-platform, then configure your contract so that conversions carrying that value automatically pay a different rate.

| | Amplification Ad Group Id | Unique identifier linking a click to a specific amplified ad set. | | Amplification Ad Id | Unique identifier linking a click to a specific amplified ad. | | Amplification Campaign Id | Unique identifier linking a click to a specific amplified campaign. | | Facebook Click Id | Meta's click identifier for conversion reporting and data sharing. | | List for Order Promo Code | Promo code exception list used to pay partners at different rates based on promo codes associated with actions they drove. | | List for Item Promo Code | Promo code exception list used to pay partners different rates based on promo codes for specific line items within the order found on a pre-defined list. | | List for Item SKU | SKU exception list used to pay partners at different rates based on the SKU associated with the action they drove. | | List for Item Category | Category exception list used to pay partners at different rates based on the category associated with the action they drove. | | List for Item Super Category | Category exception list where values are a series of categories and subcategories (formatted as {category}\_{subcategory}). This is designed for brands that need to commission based on specific combinations of ItemCategory and ItemSubCategory. | | Item Catalog Manufacturer | The entity that manufactures the item. The SKU from the conversion event is used to look up the corresponding manufacturer value in the product catalog. | | Item Catalog Original Format Category | The item's category from the original format of the product/item catalog. The SKU from the conversion event is used to look up the corresponding category value in the product catalog. | | Item Catalog Category | The category from the brand's product catalog. This is useful when catalog data provides more accurate product grouping than point-of-sale data. | | Item Catalog Subcategory | The second or third level of categorization for a product store. The SKU from the conversion event is used to look up the corresponding subcategory value in the product catalog. | | Item Text1-10 | General text field that accepts strings of any text data for a SKU. | | Item Numeric1-10 | General numeral field that accepts strings of any numeric data for a SKU. | | Item Date1-10 | General date field that accepts a date or datetime for a SKU. | | Item Money1-3 | General numeral field that accepts strings of any money or financial data for a SKU. | | Order Discount Rate | The discount rate applied to any order. E.g., OrderDiscountRate50 represents a 50% discount for an order. | | Item Discount Rate | The discount rate applied to each item purchased. E.g., ItemDiscountRate123\_50 represents a 50% discount for an ItemSku123. | | Path Channel Count | How many channels were involved in the conversion path. | | Path Closing Channels | The channel that drove the partner to the last click (winner) referral. | | Path Closing Groups | The group that drove the partner to the last click (winner) referral. | | Path Closing Media | The media channel that drove the partner to the last click (winner) referral. | | Path Impact Partner Count | The number of partners in the click path determined by impact.com. | | Path Introducing Channels | The channel that introduced the first partner in the click path. | | Path Introducing Groups | The group that introduced the first partner in the click path. | | Path Introducing Media | The media that introduced the first partner in the click path. | | Path Media Count | How many partners and media sources were involved in the conversion path. | | Path Participating Channels | The channel that brought any partner between introducing and the last (winner) referral. | | Path Participating Groups | The group that brought any partner between introducing and the last (winner) referral. | | Path Participating Media | The media that brought any partner between introducing and the last (winner) referral. | | Path Partner Count | The number of partners in the click path. | | Path Steps | How many activities (e.g., Impressions) occurred in the conversion path. |
## Additional resources * [Payout Modifications Explained](/brand/what-would-you-like-to-learn-about/platform-features/contracts-and-template-terms/template-terms/payout-adjustments/payout-modifications-explained.md) — See an overview of how all payout modification types fit together and the order impact.com evaluates them in. Start here if you're not sure which modification type you need. * [Add Payout Restrictions to Template Terms ](/brand/what-would-you-like-to-learn-about/platform-features/contracts-and-template-terms/template-terms/payout-adjustments/add-payout-restrictions-to-template-terms.md)— Learn how to block a payout entirely when the action matches an unwanted condition. * [Create Payout Groups](/brand/what-would-you-like-to-learn-about/platform-features/contracts-and-template-terms/template-terms/payout-adjustments/set-payout-rules-using-payout-groups.md) — Learn how to set up rules that replace the default payout with a new base rate when a condition matches. * [Create a Payout Adjustment](/brand/what-would-you-like-to-learn-about/platform-features/tracking/set-up-tracking/configure-customer-status-mapping.md#create-a-payout-adjustment) — Learn how to set up payout adjustments that modify an existing payout up or down by an amount or percentage when a condition matches. --- # Agent Instructions This documentation is published with GitBook. GitBook is the documentation platform designed so that both humans and AI agents can read, navigate, and reason over technical content effectively. Learn more at gitbook.com. ## 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, and the optional `goal` query parameter: ``` GET https://help.impact.com/brand/what-would-you-like-to-learn-about/platform-features/contracts-and-template-terms/template-terms/payout-adjustments/how-payout-rules-work.md?ask=&goal= ``` `ask` is the immediate question: it should be specific, self-contained, and written in natural language. `goal` is optional and describes the broader end goal you are ultimately trying to accomplish on behalf of the user. GitBook uses it to tailor the answer towards what is most useful for that goal. 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.