Commission payout timeline

When do commissions actually get paid?

Enter one deal’s numbers and see when each commission dollar accrues, clears clawback, and hits the partner’s account.

Monthly revenue
Commission rate
%
Commission duration
Payout frequency
Collection delay
Revenue takes 30 days to collect, so commission accrual starts in month 2.
Clawback window
Commissions earned during this window are held until it closes.
Total commission
$6,000
First payout
Month 6
Clawback exposure
$1,000

First payout of $2,500 arrives ~6 months after the introduction.

One deal is a spreadsheet. Twenty partners running simultaneously is a system.
Commission timeline

Month by month

MonthRevenueCommissionStatusCumulative paid
Month 1
Month 2$5,000$500At risk
Month 3$5,000$500At risk
Month 4$5,000$500Accrued
Month 5$5,000$500Accrued
Month 6$5,000$500Paid$2,500
→ Payout: $2,500
Month 7$5,000$500Accrued$2,500
Month 8$5,000$500Accrued$2,500
Month 9$5,000$500Paid$4,000
→ Payout: $1,500
Month 10$5,000$500Accrued$4,000
Month 11$5,000$500Accrued$4,000
Month 12$5,000$500Paid$5,500
→ Payout: $1,500
Month 13$5,000$500Accrued$5,500
What this means

Reading your commission timeline

Collection delay matters.

Commissions on collected revenue mean you never pay out on money that hasn’t arrived. The trade-off is that partners wait longer for their first check. A 30-day delay on quarterly payouts means the first payment arrives roughly 4 months after the introduction.

Clawback windows protect both sides.

If a referred client cancels in the first 90 days, the commissions from that period are deducted from future payments rather than clawed back. This protects your margin without creating an adversarial dynamic with partners.

Quarterly beats monthly for most firms.

Monthly payouts are faster for partners but create 12 reconciliation events per year per partner. Quarterly payouts bundle three months of commissions into one check and one statement, which is operationally simpler for firms under 50 partners.

The real complexity is tracking, not math.

The timeline above is one deal. A firm with 20 active referral partners and overlapping deal timelines has hundreds of these running simultaneously, each at a different stage. — which is exactly the workload commission automation replaces.

Related tools

Where this fits in the toolkit

The timeline shows _when_ commissions pay. These tools answer the questions that come before and after.

Referral fee calculator

"What’s a fair fee?"

Decide on the rate before you model the payout schedule.

Fee structure comparison

"Flat, percentage, or recurring?"

Compare five structures on the same deal. The timeline here shows what the winning structure looks like month by month.

Agreement template

"How do I put this in writing?"

A one-page agreement with blanks for the rate, cadence, and clawback terms you chose above.

ROI calculator

"Is this worth it?"

Estimate how much referral revenue you’re leaking without a system in place.

Sources

Payment timing conventions from Sakas & Company and Elinkages. The collected-revenue trigger is consistent with Introzy’s fee engine. See the referral fee agreement template for putting these terms in writing.

FAQ

What if my client pays annually instead of monthly?

The timeline still works. Enter the full annual amount as one month’s revenue and set the duration to the number of annual payments you expect. The commission math is the same, just at a larger grain.

Should I pay commissions before the clawback window closes?

It depends on your tolerance for reconciliation. Paying immediately builds partner trust; holding until the window closes eliminates clawback accounting entirely. Most firms split the difference by paying quarterly, which naturally bundles 1–3 months of clawback-cleared commissions.

How does Introzy handle this?

Commissions calculate against your fee plan as payments collect, and partners see earnings move from earned to invoiced to paid on their own statements. The timeline you see above is what the system computes automatically for every deal. Get started free →

This tool is for general informational purposes only and does not constitute financial, legal, or tax advice. Results are estimates based on the inputs you provide and published industry conventions. Consult a qualified professional before making compensation decisions.