8. Next Steps
Why Approve/Disapprove Conversions?
Conversions represent purchase actions that result in rewards (commissions) for the affiliate who drove the referral. You need to manage their status for several reasons:
Payment Workflow: An approved commission is immediately forwarded to the Payments Page and is included in the affiliate's outstanding balance.
Refunds/Cancellations: If an order related to a conversion is later refunded, returned, or canceled, you should disapprove the conversion/commission tied to it.
Corrections: Disapproving or modifying allows you to apply corrections to a commission, even after the affiliate's balance has been settled (paid out).
What Happens When You Approve/Disapprove?
Impact on Affiliate Balances and Portal View
Affiliates can track their progress in real-time through their own affiliate portal. They will see the current status of their commissions—whether they are Pending, Approved, or Disapproved—allowing for full transparency.
Action | Result on Commission | Result on Affiliate Balance | Affiliate Portal View |
Approve | The commission is immediately forwarded to the Payments Page.
| The commission amount is added to the affiliate's outstanding balance. |
Status updates to "Approved". |
Disapprove | The commission is removed from the Payments Page. | The commission amount is subtracted from the affiliate's outstanding balance. If the commission was already paid out, the balance becomes negative (a debit). |
Status updates to "Disapproved". |
Modify Amount | The new amount is reflected. | The difference between the old and new amount is subtracted or added to the outstanding balance. |
Updated amount is visible. |
NOTE: You can set up Triggers (Automated Emails) to automatically notify affiliates via email when a conversion or commission is created, updated, or modified.
How to Approve/Disapprove Conversions
You have three primary methods for managing conversion statuses: Manual, Bulk, and Automatic.
A. Manual Approval/Disapproval
To manage a single commission manually:
Go back to the conversion where the commission originated.
Open the right-side details panel.
Locate the Status field for the commission (as seen in the first image, where the status is "Approved") .
Use the dropdown menu next to the status to either Approve or Disapprove the commission entirely.
Note: If the commission had already been paid out to the affiliate, disapproving it will subtract the amount from their current outstanding balance.
B. Bulk Approval/Disapproval
If you have many affiliate-driven conversions with pending commissions, you can use the batch management feature on your Conversions Page .
Use the filters on the page to set a date range or other criteria.
Select your conversions by checking the boxes next to them. (See checkboxes in the attached screenshot).
The Approve and Disapprove buttons will appear near the top of the page. (See the second attached screenshot showing the buttons: Approve pending only and Approve).
Note: If you use the "Check all" box and your selection is over 100 conversions, you must click the link inside the grey box to "Select all" within the set range.
C. Automatic Approval
You can set up a general auto-approval setting:
Go to your program's settings.
Navigate to Programs.
Toggle the 'Automatically approve commissions' option on.
For customized auto-approvals: If you need specific filters, you can set up customized auto-approvals using triggers, a webhook action, and the platform's API.
Understanding Recurring Payments: Conversions vs. Commissions
Depending on your integration, subscription renewals may appear in the UI in two different ways:
Recurring Conversions (Standard Model): This is the behavior for most supported integrations (e.g., Stripe, PayPal). Each renewal triggers a separate conversion record with its own unique External ID. You manage these as individual entries on the main Conversions page.
Recurring Commissions (Internal Model): In certain custom setups or specific user solutions, multiple renewal payments might be recorded as extra commissions inside a single "original" conversion record.
How to manage: If you don't see a new conversion entry for a renewal, click on the initial conversion to open the details panel.
Action: Look for the "Commissions" list within that record. You will see multiple rows for each renewal date, where you can individually (dis)approve the latest commission.
Modifying Conversions and Balances
You can apply corrections or modify a commission even after a balance has been settled.
Modifying the Commission Amount
Go to the conversion where the commission originated.
Open the right-side details panel.
Click on the commission amount (as shown in the image) to edit this field.
Type in the new commission amount and click enter to save.
Result: The difference between the old and new amount will be subtracted from or added to the affiliate's outstanding balance.
Modifying the Conversion Amount
If the original order amount changed:
Click on the conversion amount field.
Edit the amount, and click enter to save the input.
Result: This automatically adjusts the commission amounts in accordance with your program's commission structure.
Real-World Impact: How Commission Changes Affect Affiliate Balances
Understanding how modifications impact an affiliate's balance is essential for financial accuracy. Balances are calculated as follows: All approved commissions minus paid out amounts.
If there are changes to commissions that have already been paid out, the change will be reflected in the affiliate's current balance.
Example Scenario: Commission Approval, Payment, and Disapproval
Let's follow an affiliate's balance through a typical lifecycle:
Action/Status | Commission Amount | Affiliate's Balance | Impact on Balance | Source of Change |
Initial State | N/A | $0 | N/A | An affiliate has no conversions yet. |
Conversion Created | $10 | $0 | N/A | A conversion with a $10 commission is recorded. |
Commission Approved | $10 | +$10 | Approved commission amount is added to the balance. | The commission is approved (manually or automatically). |
Balance Settled | $10 | $0 | The balance is paid out to the affiliate. | The affiliate receives the $10 payment. NOTE: A "Settled" status indicates the advertiser has recorded the payment; please refer to section "6. Managing the Payout Process" for more details on fund receipt and processing times. |
Refund/ Cancellation Occurs | $10 | -$10 | The disapproved commission amount is subtracted from the current balance. | The conversion/commission is disapproved (due to a refund). |
Key Takeaway: The affiliate's balance will be set back (become negative) only if they have already been paid out the commission for the conversion that is being disapproved.
Example Scenario: Partial Commission Modification
An approved commission is $20. The affiliate's balance is settled (paid out).
You perform a partial detraction by editing the commission amount to $15.
Result: The $5 difference ($20 - $15) will be subtracted from the affiliate's current outstanding balance.
Managing the Payout Process
⚠️ IMPORTANT NOTE: Understanding "Settled" Balance Tapfiliate is a tracking platform and does not have an automated in-house payout system.
Meaning of "Settled": When a balance is marked as Settled, it indicates the advertiser has recorded the payment as paid in the system.
Advertiser Responsibility: The actual transfer of money is handled by the advertiser, not Tapfiliate. Affiliates may see a "Settled" status before the funds arrive in their personal accounts, as actual receipt depends on the advertiser's chosen payment method and processing time.
Still need help?
If you have any questions or if something in this guide is unclear or If you want to unlock this feature and collect more details about your affiliates, please don't hesitate to contact us at support@tapfiliate.com-we're happy to assist!
Next Steps
Now that you've mastered the process of approving, disapproving, and modifying commissions to maintain accurate affiliate balances, let's explore other critical management tasks: