Payout Modifications Explained

impact.com gives you a set of tools for fine-tuning how you want to compensate partners beyond their default payout rate. These tools let you protect payouts against low-quality traffic, incentivize the right partners, and cap spend to meet your budget. Read on to learn about each modification type and how impact.com applies it.

The role of payout modifications

Every contract has a default payout, and you've either set this to be a fixed amount or percentage per event, like a sale or click. However, you can add rules on top of this base payout for more control, e.g., to do the following:

• Block payouts you don't want
• Set higher payouts for actions you value more
• Cap how much a partner can be paid out within a timeframe
• Define tiers of rules that apply at different performance thresholds

Supported payout modification types

Modification type	What it does to the payout	When it is applied
Payout Restriction	Blocks it. Nullifies the payout entirely when an action matches a condition (e.g., traffic from a restricted region).	At conversion, per action.
Payout Group	Sets it. Replaces the base payout with a new rate when an action matches a condition (e.g., Customer Status is New). Only one payout group applies per action, and it sets the base before any Payout Adjustment runs.	At conversion, per action.
Payout Adjustment	Modifies it. Nudges the base payout up or down by an amount or percentage. The base it modifies is the matching Payout Group's rate, or the Default Payout when no group applies.	At conversion, per action.
Limit	Caps it. Stops paying once a payout or action ceiling is reached, for the chosen period. Actions beyond the cap are marked Outside of Terms and aren't payable unless manually approved.	At conversion, as the limit accrues.
Performance Bonus	Replaces it at tier. When a partner's monthly performance hits a certain tier, that tier's payout rate overrides the Default Payout, and the extra amount is paid as a bonus. Unlike a Payout Group, this override is applied later, on a monthly cadence, rather than at conversion.	Monthly, once actions lock (plus a 3-day buffer).
Participation Bonus	Redistributes it. Reduces the winning partner's payout to free up budget for contributing partners in the path. It's a workflow built on a Payout Adjustment (Path Media Count > 1), not a standalone setting.	Winner's reduction is applied at conversion. Contributors must be paid manually via a PFT (Partner Funds Transfer).

Note: Payout Restrictions, Payout Groups, and Payout Adjustments all make use of rules in a specific format. See How Payout Rules Work for the full list of rules and for help building and combining them.

Scenario in practice

On January 1, 2026, a new customer in the US completes a $200 order after clicking links from two of your partners along the way.

Your template term is configured with:

• Default Payout: You want to pay 8% per order
• Payout Group: If Customer Status is New, you want to increase the payout to 12% per order
• Payout Adjustment: If multiple partners influence the sale (Path Media Count > 1), you want to decrease the payout by 50% to credit more partners
• Payout Restriction: If Referral Derived Country/Region is not US, you don't want to pay out at all
• Limit: You want to cap each partner's total earnings at $5,000 USD per month to keep your commission spend predictable

How multiple payout modifications fit together

Here's how impact.com applies your payout rules to the same scenario:

1. Payout Restrictions: If the action matches any restriction, no payout is generated and evaluation stops here.

   • Customer's country was US → action passes.
2. Payout Group match: If the action matches a payout group's rules, that group's payout replaces the default payout as the new base payout.

   • Customer was new → base payout changes from 8% to 12% of $200 = $24.
3. Payout Adjustments: The adjustment then modifies the base payout by the adjustment amount or percentage.

   • A second partner was involved in the customer journey → decrease payout by 50% → payout becomes $12.
4. Limits: If the resulting payout exceeds the monthly limit, the action isn't payable unless manually approved.

   • Assume a payout of $12 on January 1st falls under the partner's $5,000 monthly cap.
5. Performance Bonus: If the partner's locked-action total for the month hits a specified performance tier, that tier's payout rate replaces the Default Payout.

   • You have none set up, so nothing changes.
6. Participation Bonus: Any additional partners in the customer journey can still receive their reward through a manual PFT.

   • The winning partner's reduction happened in step 3 above. The other partner in the path will receive their share after you run the Participation Bonus report and issue a Bulk Partner Funds Transfer.