Calculation

How the plugin calculates the commission of an order.

Every commission follows the same way: assignment, waiting time, pre-checks, rates, base, rules, limits and result. The log on every order shows which way it took, with every rule that was checked and the reason why it applies or not. The examples below are recalculated.

Orders → open the order → tab Affiliate program → card Commission → ··· → View log

The way of an order

From the order to the commission in ten steps

The help of the commission rules shows the same way as a decision tree. In words:

  • 1. Assignment: there is only commission for an order with a partner code, from link, short link, QR code, partner voucher, entry in the cart or the customer account. Upper and lower case do not matter.
  • 2. Active partner: for an inactive partner the plugin calculates nothing.
  • 3. When it is booked: when the order is old enough (14 days from the time of the order by default), has the chosen status and, if customer groups are selected, the customer is in one of them; cancelled orders never, orders older than two years no longer. Every order is evaluated once. The settings of the sales channel of the partner apply.
  • 4. Pre-checks: an own order with own commission switched off, an expired assignment, a subsequent order with subsequent orders switched off or a base below the minimum order value give €0.00.
  • 5. Rates: type, rate, subsequent rate, minimum order value and maximum commission of the partner; an active partner group replaces them all. A subsequent order uses the subsequent rate.
  • 6. Base: the net value of the goods after discounts, without shipping, in the default currency; discounts of a promotion only reduce its products.
  • 7. Without commission rules: percentage rate × base, per piece rate × pieces, per order the fixed amount.
  • 8. With commission rules: if a rule per order has the highest priority of the whole order (on a tie with a rule per product it comes first), its amount is the commission. Otherwise every line takes its winner, without a match the rate of the partner, and the lines are added up. In the “Always” modes the priority does not count.
  • 9. Result: changes by other plugins, then the maximum commission, below 0 becomes 0, rounded commercially to the cent (€5.625 gives €5.63). Booked with a log.
  • 10. Afterwards: a cancellation gives a negative manual booking for every positive booking, the decision “Fraud attempt” as well. Available is the sum of the commissions minus what has been redeemed.

The log on the order

Open the log

For every booking the plugin stores a log as long as the switch “Log the calculation of commission for each order” is on (on by default). You find it on the order.

  1. 1Open the order under Orders and switch to the tab Affiliate program.

  2. 2The card Commission shows every booking of the order with date, affiliate, revenue, commission and redeemed commission. With the multi-level marketing add-on plugin there is one row per level.

  3. 3Click ··· in the row and then View log.

Tab Calculation: the steps that decided the amount

The window “Commission calculation log” shows order, order date, level and commission at the top and three tabs below. The tab Calculation lists only the steps that decided the amount, each with an explanation and an amount. The example is order 10065: an own rate of 8 % on €205.46.

  • Header: order number, order date, level “1 (partner)” for the commission of the referring partner, “2 (additional level)” and higher for further levels, and the booked commission.

  • Subsequent order: No with “First order with commission of this customer” or Yes with the order that earned commission before.

  • Commission base: “Amount of the order” without rules; with rules the products net and the discounts, and whether the discounts of a promotion were spread over its products only.

  • Order or Line “…”: where the rate comes from, such as “Own rate of the partner, 8 %”, a rule or the partner group, and the amount.

  • Commission: the result. Depending on the case, “Minimum order value”, “Maximum commission per order” with “Capped”, “Changed by another extension” or “Negative commission” come before it.

Tab Commission rules: every rule checked, with its reason

The tab Commission rules shows per line every rule that was checked, with priority, rate, status and reason. So you also see why a rule did not apply. The example is a yoga mat sold by a partner in the partner group Silver.

  • Chosen: the winner with reason and amount, such as “Partner group, replaces the own rates; highest priority, €4.79”. Applies: the rule counted but had a lower priority or another rate. Does not apply: outside the period or rule at checkout not met, with the date or the name of the rule.

  • With a rule per order, “Rule per order” comes first with the reason why it counts or not, such as “lower priority than a rule per product”.

Tab Log: every line for support

The tab Log shows the stored log line by line as an indented tree, in technical English lines. Important lines are marked: ★ for a chosen rule, = for the result.

  • Important lines only hides everything else.

  • Copy puts the whole log on the clipboard, for a support request for example.

Worked examples

Example 1: the rate of the partner, without rules

Order 10065, commission base €205.46, own rate of the partner 8 % per product, no commission rules: €205.46 × 8 % = €16.4368, rounded commercially €16.44. The log shows “Order” with “Own rate of the partner, 8 %” and €16.44.

  • The line in the tab Calculation.

Example 2: from gross to net

An order of €991.90 gross, all goods at 19 % VAT, without shipping: €991.90 ÷ 1.19 = €833.53 net. With 10 % that is €83.35. With shipping costs the base stays the same, because shipping never counts.

Example 3: one order, nine cases with commission rules

Customer X buys product A for €100, B for €50 and C for €30 net, €180 together. Commission selection: priority first, highest rate on equal priority, unless stated otherwise. The partner has 10 % per product, in the last two rows €12.30 per order.

  • This is how the second row looks in the log: the rule per order does not count because a rule per product has the higher priority.

  • These and more cases are also in the help of the commission rules in the tab “Examples”, for a partner per product and one per order.

RulesWhat countsCommission
“Product A: 20 %”, priority 600A €20.00, B and C with the 10 % of the partner: €5.00 and €3.00€28.00
plus “Customer X: €10 per order”, priority 500600 is per product; the €10 do not count€28.00
“Product A: 20 %”, priority 500, and “Customer X: €10 per order”, priority 600600 is per order€10.00
“Product A: 20 %” and “Product C: €15 per order”, both priority 600tie: per order comes first€15.00
partner group Gold active: per product 12 %, priority 1000€12.00 + €6.00 + €3.60€21.60
“Always highest rate”: “Product A: 20 %” and “Customer X: €10 per order”per product €28.00 against per order €10.00€28.00
“Always lowest rate”: the same rulesper product €28.00 against per order €10.00€10.00
partner with €12.30 per order, no rulesthe amount of the partner€12.30
the same partner, only “Customer X: 5 %”rule per product by the customer: 5 % of the net value of the order (€180)€9.00

Example 4: limits, subsequent order and partner group

CaseCalculationCommission
minimum order value €40.00, base €32.77below the minimum order value, no calculation€0.00
15 %, base €81.93, maximum commission €10.00€81.93 × 15 % = €12.29, capped€10.00
subsequent order, subsequent rate 3 %, base €89.90€89.90 × 3 % = €2.697, rounded€2.70
partner group Silver 8 % (priority 50) against “Yoga mats” 12 % (priority 20), base €59.90Silver has the higher priority: €59.90 × 8 % = €4.792€4.79

In detail in the chapters Commission and Partner groups.

Example 5: payout to a partner with a VAT ID

With the switch to reduce the available commission by the net value for partners from Germany with a VAT ID, a partner with a German billing address and a VAT ID requests a payout of €10.00. €10.00 is paid out, but the available commission only drops by €8.40, the net value. More in the chapter Payout.

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Common questions

How can I trace how a commission came about?

On the order in the tab Affiliate program: in the card Commission, “View log” opens the calculation with base, rate, rules, limits and result, plus every commission rule checked with its reason.

Why did a commission rule not apply?

The tab Commission rules of the log names the reason: lower priority, another rate on equal priority, an order date outside the period or a rule of the rule builder that did not match at checkout. If the rule is not listed at all, it did not match the order or commission rules are switched off.

Why does an order show a commission of €0.00?

Because it was evaluated but deliberately not rewarded: an own order, an expired assignment, a subsequent order with subsequent orders switched off, a base below the minimum order value or a rule with the rate 0. The log names the reason.

How is rounding done?

Commercially to the cent: the net value of every line after discount, every line and the booked commission. €5.625 gives €5.63.

Why does a partner get less than the rate suggests?

Usually because of a maximum commission per order, a commission rule with a higher priority or an active partner group whose rate replaces the own one. The log shows which step decided the amount.

Is there a log for older orders as well?

Yes, for every booking created while the switch “Log the calculation of commission for each order” was on. The window also shows older logs without priorities, just without the column Priority.

In detail in the manual

More chapters

Payout Commission as a voucher or a payout: fixed amounts, review list, SEPA file, PayPal run, automatic payout and payout document. Read on → Partner area What partners see in their customer account: overview, redeeming commission, statistics, settings and which switches control them. Read on → Fraud check Five checks compare referred orders with the partner’s data; you decide every suspicion yourself. Read on →