Troubleshooting with payment entries

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Last updated: Apr 27, 2020
6 min read

Preface

Partner billing is a complex topic. You might found yourself in a situation where the system did not create payment entries, although you expected them and followed the instructions in the chapter on how to create payment entries. This article helps you to discover the cause and explains you how to solve it.

Checklist

If you find a payout is not created for a partner although you expected the system to do so, please make the following checks:

  1. Did the partner generate conversions?

  2. If so, what is the status of these conversions (open, approved, confirmed or cancelled)?

  3. If the status of these conversions is confirmed, were they included in an earlier payment entry?

  4. Did the partner make enough confirmed commission to reach his payout limit?

  5. Did the partner register bank data?

Getting answers

Checking whether conversions were made

To find out whether your partner has been making conversions, just click on ‘reporting’ in the main navigation menu and go to the filter options. If you already have the user identification number (UID) of the partner, you can fill it in directly into the field partner. If you only have a name or an email address of your partner, enter it in the search box. If your partner is found, the UID of the partner will be filled out automatically. Please note that you can also look for a partner’s ad space.

You’ll also might find it useful to define a specific timeframe if you are looking for conversions, left from the filter options. Please note that conversions appearing in the report might have been included in earlier payouts to the partner. Another option that might help you in finding conversions is the so called moment: normally, you look for the moment on which conversions are tracked. But if you are wondering why a payment entry for a partner could not be created up, you might want to look for the date on which the conversions were last updated. To do so, please select ‘update date’ in the drop box.

If you are done with the filter settings, click on the button ‘show’ in the left lower corner of the filter panel. In the table below, you will now see the conversions the partner has made. If there are no conversions, payment entries cannot be created; if there are conversions, you need to proceed with the checklist.

Checking the status of the conversions

Under ‘reporting’

If you find no payment entry was created although a partner has made conversions, you will need to check the status of these conversions. You can do this very rapidly in the reporting section by going to the relevant conversion figures in the output table and click on the arrow next to it. You will see a panel opens up looking more or less like this:

All the conversions in the overview above still have the status open. The  icon indicates conversions were canceled, the  icon indicates the conversions were confirmed.

Under ‘finance’

For a more detailed view, you should use the finance section. Here, you will also be able to change the status of conversions directly. You can use the filter panel to find conversions. Please make sure you select all possible statuses under ‘status’ and enter the UID of the partner you were expecting a payment entry for. Another important filter option will be the so called moment, because it allows you not only to look for the date on which the conversions were tracked, but also for the date on which the status was adjusted. For more detailed instructions on finding specific conversions, please read this article.

After you’ve clicked the button ‘search’ in the left lower corner of the filter panel. In the panel below, you will now see the output of the filter settings you chose. To find out the status of a conversion, all you need to do is to look at the panel element on the outmost right of the overview looking like this:

For a payout to be created, conversions need to have a confirmed status, meaning the  is selected. If you find a conversion has not been confirmed yet although it shouldn’t, change the status following the instructions in this chapter of the article on managing conversions. Please note you can also validate conversions in bulk. If you find conversions have been confirmed for the partner you were expecting a payment entry for, you will need to proceed with the checklist.

Checking previous payment entries

If you find conversions have been confirmed, but no payment entry appears in your preview, it might be the conversions have already been included in an existing payment entry. To find out if this is indeed the case, click on ‘finance’ and proceed to click on ‘partner billing’. Make sure you have the conversion IDs of the relevant conversions at hand. In the partner billing section, use the filter panel to find previous payment entries of the partner you expected a new payment entry in your preview. Once you have clicked on ‘search’, all previous payment entries will appear in the panel below.

An individual payment entry will look more ore less like this:

To find out whether the conversions you’d expected in a new payment entry have already been included in an existing one, you’ll need to download the CSV file via the icon. This CSV file contains all the confirmed conversions included in the payment entry. If the confirmed conversions you’ve found earlier are included in this payment entry, you will need to validate more conversions for the partner – or the partner will have to generate new conversions. If the confirmed conversions have not been included in previous payment entries, you will have to proceed with the checklist.

Payout limit check

Every partner has its own payout limit. A payout limit defines the amount of commission a partner needs to reach before a payment entry can be created. For example, if a partner has defined his payout limit as 10 and the advertiser he is promoting pays his partners in Euro, a payout will be created as soon as the partner reaches 10 EUR commission. If the commission related to the confirmed conversions does not exceed 10 EUR, a payment entry will not appear in the preview.

To check the payout limit of a partner, click on ‘partner’ in the main navigation menu and proceed to click on ‘manage partner’. To find your partner, use the filter options following the instructions in this article. When you see your partner appearing in the list below the filter panel, click on the  icon. If you do so, a panel will appear which contains all the partner details. You’ll find the payout limit in the left column, as the next to last. If the amount of confirmed conversions is higher than the payout limit, please proceed with the checklist. If not, you might want to lower it. When you change the payout limit, don’t forget to click ‘save’ in the right lower corner of the panel.

Finance data check

If your partner has made enough confirmed commission to reach the payout limit and no payment entry appears in your preview, the partner might have failed to register his financial details. You can check whether the partner did so in the same panel where you check your partners payout limit. So again, click on ‘partner’ in the main navigation menu and proceed to click on ‘manage partner’. To find your partner, use the filter options. When you see your partner appearing in the overview below the filter panel, click on the  icon.

If you do so, a panel will appear with all the partner details. In the right column, under the header ‘billing’, you can see if financial details have been filled out by the partner. What data needs to be filled out for a payment entry depends on whether the partner is liable to tax on sales and the country he is living in. The minimum requirement is a bank account number and a bank name. Should financial details be missing, please urge your partner to register them as soon as possible. Once the data has been filled in, you can create a payout entry for the partner.