Understanding the Commission Lifecycle: Pending, Eligible, and Paid

Four stages a commission moves through

A commission starts out as Pending the moment it's generated, then becomes Eligible once it clears, and eventually reaches Paid once it's been paid out to you, a fourth status, Reversed, can happen instead of that normal progression if something about the originating payment doesn't hold up.

Why there's a waiting period

The gap between Pending and Eligible exists because a subscription payment needs time to be confirmed as settled before Sermfy treats the resulting commission as solid enough to pay out, this protects both you and Sermfy from paying out on a payment that later gets reversed.

Where to track it

The Commissions page groups every commission you've earned into these stages, Pending, Eligible, Paid, and Reversed, so you can see at a glance how much sits in each one, rather than a single combined total that hides where your money actually stands.

Best practice

When forecasting your own income from referrals, count only your Eligible and Paid totals as reliable, Pending commissions are real but not yet guaranteed, treating them as already-earned income can lead to planning around money that isn't fully secured yet.