Pending Is Not Paid: Understanding Commission States

Commission dashboards become misleading when every observed event is displayed as money already earned. Crown Affiliates separates economic states because a click, conversion, pending entry, available balance, and provider payout carry different evidence and risk.

Estimated

An estimate applies the current program formula to observed data. It can help forecasting, but it is not a ledger balance. The underlying event may still be incomplete, duplicated, excluded, or later corrected.

Pending

A pending entry has enough information to be tracked but still awaits one or more conditions: provider settlement, delivery, return or cancellation window, fraud review, claim compliance, identity checks, or reconciliation. The Crown Affiliates default pending period is displayed on the live pricing page; individual programs may disclose a longer period.

Available

An available commission passed the current release rules and may count toward a payout request. It can still be affected by a later chargeback, provider correction, fraud finding, or other legally valid reversal, but it is no longer in the ordinary pending window.

Paid

Paid means a payout was dispatched or recorded through the selected method. It does not mean the recipient’s bank or wallet has posted the funds at that exact moment. Provider and financial-institution timing remains outside the platform’s direct control.

Reversed

A reversal removes all or part of an entry that no longer qualifies. Common causes include refunds, returns, chargebacks, cancelled orders, duplicate or self-referrals, invalid traffic, prohibited promotion, or an attribution correction. The record should state the reason and connect to the underlying transaction evidence.

What Affiliates should reconcile

Compare program, period, tracked clicks, eligible conversions, pending amounts, released amounts, reversals, payout requests, provider dispatch, and tax records. Do not compare only gross sales to a paid total without accounting for the state transitions in between.

See the live Plans & Commission Models and Refund, Reversal & Payout Policy.