Learn how to track, manage, and pay affiliate commissions in Kajabi with confidence. This guide explains how commissions move through different statuses, how you can pay them manually or automatically, and why settings like the Commission Due Day and Payout Date matter for your program.
Note:
The Affiliate Feature is only available with the Growth and Pro Plans. Check out kajabi.com/pricing for more details.
Commission Statuses & Timing
Every affiliate commission displays a status so you can quickly see where it stands in the payout process:
Pending: The commission is recorded but not yet eligible for payout according to your delay schedule.
Due: The commission has met the payout delay requirements and is now payable.
Paid: The commission has been paid out to your affiliate.
Canceled: The commission was canceled and will not be paid out.
Tip: Refunded commissions retain their Paid status but display a Refunded badge for transparency.
Commissions flow through a simple lifecycle:
Transaction occurs. An affiliate earns a commission on a qualifying sale.
Due Day countdown. You set a Commission Due Day (2–365 days; 30 days recommended).
Commission becomes Due. After the countdown, it becomes payable.
Payout method applies. You pay commissions manually or let Kajabi process them automatically.
From the Transactions tab, you can manually adjust statuses when needed:
Change Pending → Due to accelerate payout eligibility.
Change Pending or Due → Paid to record a manual payout.
Change Pending or Due → Canceled to prevent payout.
Once a commission is Paid or Canceled, it becomes finalized and cannot be changed.
Manual Payouts
Manual payouts give you full control over when and how affiliates are paid. Kajabi helps you track and batch Due commissions, but you send the money outside Kajabi (for example, PayPal, Wise, or cash).
Key Settings
Commission Due Day: Choose 2–365 days (Kajabi recommends at least 30 days). This buffer helps you verify transactions and account for any refunds or disputes before payment.
How It Works
When commissions become Due, visit Affiliates → Transactions.
Select Pay Now to mark commissions as Paid in Kajabi.
View Itemized Transactions and Download the PayPal mass payout report for easier bulk payments.
Complete the payment in PayPal (or your preferred method).
Select Confirm payment in Kajabi. We will automatically record a single Payout entry in your Payouts tab containing those commissions.
Example:
A sale happens on Day 0. With a 30-day Commission Due Day, the commission becomes due on Day 30. You will see the commission with a due status on the affiliates' transaction page then you will go through the Pay Now workflow. You'd review the itemized transactions. Download the PayPal mass payout report. Pay your affiliates and confirm this action within Kajabi, and all transactions will be marked as paid.
Automatic Payouts
Automatic payouts reduce manual work by scheduling payments directly through PayPal.
Key Settings
Commission Due Day: Determines when each commission becomes due (choose 2–365 days; Kajabi recommends at least 30 days)
Payout Frequency & Date (schedule): Choose Weekly (a day of the week) or Monthly (a specific calendar day). Kajabi enforces this schedule and triggers payouts on that day.
Currency: Choose the currency which PayPal will attempt to pay out to all of your affiliates. Generally, if the affiliate has a wallet with a different currency, currency conversion will automatically occur.
How It Works
Commissions reach their Due Day.
On your chosen Payout Date, Kajabi triggers PayPal to send payments.
You receive an email notification two days before the payout with a summary of included transactions.
Review the snapshot, verify transactions, and ensure your PayPal wallet has sufficient funds.
Example:
Monthly: You have a 30-day commission due day and a monthly payout schedule to pay out on the first. You have a sale that happens on January 1st and another sale that occurs on January 15th.The first transaction is scheduled to become due on January 31st. The second transaction is scheduled to become due on February 14.
On February 1st, Kajabi would only pay out the first transaction because it had become due prior to that date. The second transaction would not get paid out until March 1st, based on this schedule.
Authenticating PayPal
In the Transactions tab, select the option to set up automatic payouts.
Re-authenticate PayPal if you already have it integrated for payment processing, otherwise Connect PayPal
Grant Kajabi LLC permission to connect to your PayPal account. This allows Kajabi to access transaction data to manage payouts automatically
Once confirmed, you will also need to verify that the Mass Payout feature is enabled on your PayPal Account via the following PayPal resource: https://www.paypal.com/payoutsweb/landing. This will be required for automatic payouts to function.
Editing Affiliate Commission
There may be times when you need to adjust an affiliate’s commission, for example correcting the amount, reassigning the sale to a different affiliate, or updating the payout status. Kajabi provides the ability to do so! two entry points for editing an affiliate commission:
From the Transactions tab
Navigate to Affiliates > Transactions.
Locate the commission you want to edit.
Click the ellipsis menu (···) beside the transaction.
Select Edit affiliate commission.
Edit Affiliate Commission window
Once you open the edit window, you can update the following fields:
Reassign affiliate: Transfer the commission to another affiliate if needed.
Set a new commission amount: Adjust the commission tied to the transaction.
Change payment status: Choose whether the commission remains Pending, is marked as Paid, or updated to another available status.
Failed Payouts
If an automatic payout fails:
Kajabi marks the payout attempt as failed if the entire payout failed or partially failed if only part of the payout failed (example 1 out of 5 transactions in the payout failed to send). In addition, the commission transactions within the payout that failed will be marked as failed.
When failed commission transactions are present, Kajabi will show the failed amount and surface a retry button. Once you’ve resolved the failure issue (for example, insufficient PayPal balance) you will be able to retry paying out these failed commission transactions.
Customizing Your Transactions Table
You can personalize the Transactions table to display the information most relevant to you. By customizing the columns, you can quickly view details such as commission amounts, payout types, or customer names without needing to open each transaction.
To customize columns:
Navigate to Affiliates > Transactions.
Click the ellipsis menu (···) in the upper right corner of the table.
Select Customize columns.
Toggle columns on or off based on the information you want to display.
Drag and drop columns to reorder them.
Click Apply to update your view.
If you want to reset your table back to the default view, select Reset to default.
Available Columns:
Affiliate
Offer
Amount
Commission
Created
Estimated Due
Status
Payout Type
Customer
Type
Due
Payout Paid Date
Payout ID
Refunded
Export Transactions
You can export affiliate transaction data from the Transactions tab to review payout history, reconcile payments, or process bulk payouts.
Go to the Transactions tab.
Click Export.
Choose a report format and select the date range you want to export.
The available export formats are:
PayPal Mass Pay Report
Affiliate PayPal email
Commission amount
Currency of commission earned
Summary Report
Affiliate name
Affiliate email
PayPal email
Commission earned
Currency
Details Report
Transaction ID
Stripe Charge ID
KP Charge ID
Date
Offer ID
Offer title
Affiliate name
Affiliate PayPal email
Refunded status
Transaction amount (in cents)
Commission type
Commission rate
Commission earned
Currency
Reason (for manually added transactions)
Customer name
Customer email
Status
Payout type
After choosing your report type and date range, click Export to download the file.
FAQs
Q: Can I change a Paid commission back to Due?
No. Paid commissions are locked for accuracy.
Q: What happens if I refund after payout?
The commission remains Paid but gets a Refunded badge.
Q: How do I find refunded commissions?
Apply the Refunded filter in the Transactions tab.
Q: If I reassign a subscription commission, what happens?
The reassigned transaction and all future subscription payments move to the new affiliate.
And that’s how you can get started with managing affiliate commissions and payouts! Please vote below and let us know if you found this article helpful. We value your feedback. Thanks for being the best part of Kajabi!