Pay if Unused

This article applies to:

This option is rare. Leave this option blank unless your business has a multilevel payout system and wants to pay extra commissions to referral partners who are not associated with a referral partner parent. 

How Pay If Unused referral commissions are calculated

In this example, the referral partner program has two levels. The referral partner who makes a sale is eligible for a commission and the partner who recruited that referral partner (the referral partner parent) is also eligible for a commission. This program has the Pay If Unused option turned on and has a value entered into the Pay If Unused commissions.

Level 1 Commission = 20%. This commission is paid to the partner who makes the sale (child partner).

Level 2 Commission = 10%. This commission is paid to the partner who recruited the child partner.

Pay if Unused = 25%. This commission overrides the Level 1 commission when there is only a level 1 referral partner. 


Scenario 1
Referral partner Bob makes a $1,000 sale and no other partner was involved in recruiting him. Since there is no Level 2 partner (parent), Bob will receive the Pay If Unused commission - a 25% payout, even though the Level 1 Commission is only 20%. Bob will receive $250. If the Pay If Unused field was not used, he would receive $200 or 20% of the sale as commission. 

Scenario 2

Referral partner Jim makes a $1,000 sale. Jim was recruited to your program by referral partner Bob; i.e., Jim's referral parent. The Pay If Unused feature does not apply in this scenario. The payout for scenario 2:

  • Level 1 commission of 20% or $200 is paid to Jim who made the sale. 
  • Level 2 commission of 10% or $100 is paid to Bob who is Jim's referral parent.


Turn the Pay If Unused option on or off

  1. Navigate to CRM and click Settings.
  2. Under the Referral Partner Settings heading at the left, click Referral Partner Defaults. 
  3. Under Payout, select the Yes or No radio button to turn the Pay If Unused option on or off. 
  4. Click Save.


Enter the commission for the Pay If Unused option

  1. Navigate to CRM and click Referral Partners.
  2. Ope the Referral Partners menu and click Commission Programs.

  3. Either search for the commission program that you want to edit, or select it from the list.

  4. Under Default Commissions, click Edit.

  5. Enter either a set monetary amount or a percentage of sale commission rate. 
  6. Save.
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