Stop Calculating Commissions in Spreadsheets
Recurring commissions get complex fast: a percentage of MRR over the life of a contract, upgrades, downgrades, churn clawbacks, expansion, and tiered bonuses. Elinkages calculates them automatically and triggers payouts — built for how MSPs actually pay their referral partners.
The Recurring Commission Nightmare
Why manual commission math breaks when you pay partners on recurring contracts
Monthly Commission Chaos
Every month, you're stuck in spreadsheet hell trying to calculate recurring commissions across every client referral, vCIO intro, and peer-MSP partner...
Pull together every referral that closed
Which referred clients actually signed a contract?
Cross-reference referral attribution
Which referral partner gets credit for each signed client?
Calculate MRR impact per partner
What's the recurring revenue value by referral partner?
Handle upgrades and downgrades
How do plan changes affect each channel's commissions?
Account for client churn
Do we clawback commissions when a referred client churns out of contract?
Generate payouts by partner
Finally calculate what every referral partner is owed this month
Result: 40+ hours/month in spreadsheets
Plus errors, delays, and frustrated referral partners
Common Commission Mistakes
Manual calculations lead to errors that cost money and trust with your referral partners.
Double-Counting Referrals
Paying two partners for the same referred client.
Ignoring Churn Impact
Not adjusting commissions when a referred client churns out of contract.
Quote vs. Signed Confusion
Paying commissions on proposals that never become signed recurring contracts.
Mismatched Commission Models
Using one model for partners who need different incentive structures.
Delayed Payouts
Taking weeks to process payments, damaging relationships with the partners who feed you recurring revenue.
Recurring Commission Automation
Built for the complexity of paying referral partners on recurring contracts
MRR-Based Calculations
Automatically calculate commissions as a percentage of Monthly Recurring Revenue for every referral partner.
- • Real-time MRR tracking per partner
- • Automated commission calculations
- • Contract change adjustments
- • Expansion revenue tracking
Quote-to-Signed Tracking
Only pay commissions on signed recurring contracts, not proposals that never close.
- • Quote-to-signed tracking by partner
- • Delayed commission payments
- • Close-rate analytics per referral partner
- • Partner performance insights
Churn Impact Handling
Automatically adjust commissions when a referred client churns, with configurable rules per partner.
- • Partner-specific clawback rules
- • Minimum tenure requirements
- • Partial refund calculations
- • Churn reporting by referral partner
Flexible Recurring Commission Structures
Support different commission models for clients, vCIOs, peer MSPs, and vendor partners
Recurring Revenue Share
Share a percentage of monthly recurring revenue with your referral partners for the life of the client contract — the default model for MSPs.
Upgrade Impact:
Client upgrades to $2,000/month → Commission becomes $400/month
One-Time Finder's Fee
Prefer a one-off? Pay a referral partner a percentage of the first year's contract value upfront, with no ongoing commission.
Churn Impact:
If the client churns in month 3, clawback 75% of commission
Tiered Commission
Increase commission rates for your most active referral partners based on milestones.
Performance Bonus:
Additional 5% for partners who hit quarterly referral targets
Hybrid Model
Combine an upfront finder's fee with ongoing recurring share — ideal for high-value referral partners.
Best of Both:
Immediate payment + long-term revenue sharing
Commission Automation Features
Every complex calculation handled automatically across every channel
Contract Change Handling
Automatically adjust commissions when clients upgrade, downgrade, or change their managed-services plan — regardless of which partner sourced them.
Upgrade: $500 → $1,000 MRR
Commission increases from $100 to $200/month
Downgrade: $1,000 → $500 MRR
Commission decreases from $200 to $100/month
Plan Change: Business → Enterprise
Commission rate may change based on plan type
Churn Management
Configurable rules for how client churn affects commissions across all your referral partners.
Churn Within 30 Days:
100% commission clawback
Churn Within 90 Days:
50% commission clawback
Churn After 90 Days:
No clawback, stop future payments
Seasonal Churn:
Pause commissions, resume if they return
Multi-Currency Support
Handle referral partners in any region with automatic currency conversion and local payout options.
Expansion Revenue Tracking
Track and credit referral partners for upsells and expansion revenue from the clients they sent you.
Seat Expansion
Client adds 10 seats → Referring partner gets commission on added MRR
Service Upsell
Client adds a managed service → Referring partner gets ongoing commission
Usage-Based Growth
Usage-based billing increases → Partner benefits from the growth
Flexible Payout Options
Pay your referral partners how they want to be paid
Bank Transfer
Direct bank deposits with international wire support
PayPal
Instant PayPal payments for referral partners anywhere
Account Credits
Apply commissions as service credits to partner accounts
Custom Rewards
Gift cards, products, or other non-cash rewards for partners
Real-World Referral Scenarios
How our automation handles complex recurring-commission situations
Scenario: Multi-Partner Deal
A large managed-services contract with contributions from several referral partners.
Ongoing Impact:
Each partner continues to earn on MRR and expansion revenue based on their partner rules
Scenario: Client Lifecycle
Track commission changes over a referred client's entire contract lifecycle.
Month 1: Contract Signed
$500 MRR → $100 commission to referring partner
Month 6: Upgrade
$1,000 MRR → $200 commission
Month 12: Team Expansion
$2,000 MRR → $400 commission
Month 18: Downgrade
$1,500 MRR → $300 commission
Month 24: Churn
$0 MRR → $0 commission
Total Partner Earnings:
$6,300 over 24 months from one referral
Built to Connect Your Stack
The PSA and billing tools that feed automated recurring-commission calculations (integrations on the roadmap)
Billing & PSA
Connect your billing or PSA to track MRR and contract events.
- • Stripe
- • QuickBooks
- • ConnectWise
- • Autotask (Datto)
- • HaloPSA
Client Data
Link client data to track contract changes, churn, and referral attribution.
- • PSA / CRM
- • Client records
- • Ticketing system
- • RMM tooling
- • Contract management
Payout System
Connect payout methods for automatic payments to every referral partner.
- • Banking APIs
- • PayPal
- • Wise (TransferWise)
- • Stripe Connect
- • Manual processing
Calculate Your Time Savings
See how much time and money you'll save with automated recurring commissions
Current Manual Process
With Automation
Monthly Savings: $1,900
Annual Savings: $22,800
Ready to Escape Recurring Commission Chaos?
Stop spending 40+ hours every month in spreadsheets. Automate recurring-MRR commissions for every referral partner.
Related Resources
Explore related content to learn more
Commission Structures Guide
Complete guide to recurring commission models and best practices
Commission Structure Template
Download a template for designing your commission policy
Commission Calculator
Calculate commission payouts with different models
Billing Integration
Automate commission calculations with billing and PSA platforms
Partner Portal
Show referral partners their commissions in real-time
Referral Analytics
Track recurring-commission performance and ROI by partner