# Multi-Level Commissions

Reward affiliates for recruiting other affiliates with up to 3 levels of sub-affiliate commissions

Multi-level commissions let you reward affiliates not just for their own sales, but also for the sales made by affiliates they recruit. When a sub-affiliate generates a sale, their parent affiliate automatically earns a commission — up to 3 levels deep.

**How it works:** Affiliate A recruits Affiliate B. When Affiliate B makes a sale and earns a $100 commission, Affiliate A automatically receives a multi-level commission based on your configured rate. If Affiliate B then recruits Affiliate C, the chain continues — Affiliate A earns from Affiliate C's sales too.

## Setting Up Multi-Level Commissions

1. Go to your [Groups & Rewards](https://affonso.io/app/groups) settings
2. Select the group you want to enable multi-level commissions for
3. In the **Multi-Level Commissions** section, click **"Add Level"**
4. Choose the calculation type and set the rate
5. Optionally add Level 2 and Level 3 for deeper referral chains

Levels must be added in order — you can't add Level 2 without Level 1. Removing a level automatically removes all higher levels.

## Calculation Types

### Percentage of Commission

The parent earns a percentage of the sub-affiliate's commission amount. This is the default and most common setup.

**Example with 10% at each level:**
- Sub-affiliate earns $100 commission from a sale
- Level 1 parent earns $10 (10% of $100)
- Level 2 grandparent earns $1 (10% of $10)
- Level 3 great-grandparent earns $0.10 (10% of $1)

With this mode, commissions naturally decrease at each level since each level is a percentage of the previous level's earning.

### Percentage of Sale

The parent earns a percentage of the original sale amount, regardless of the sub-affiliate's commission rate.

**Example with 5% at each level on a $200 sale:**
- Sub-affiliate earns their normal commission
- Level 1 parent earns $10 (5% of $200)
- Level 2 grandparent earns $10 (5% of $200)
- Level 3 great-grandparent earns $10 (5% of $200)

With this mode, every level earns the same amount since it's always based on the original sale.

## Per-Affiliate Overrides

You can customize multi-level rates for individual affiliates. This is useful for top performers or partners with special agreements.

1. Go to the affiliate's detail page
2. In the Multi-Level section, add or modify rates for specific levels
3. The override takes priority over the group-level configuration

Overrides follow the same level rules — no gaps allowed, and levels can't exceed the group's maximum configured level.

## How Affiliates Recruit

When multi-level commissions are active, affiliates automatically see a **recruitment link** in their portal under the **Sub-Affiliates** tab. Anyone who signs up through this link becomes their sub-affiliate. Affiliates can track their recruited sub-affiliates, see their sales activity, and monitor their multi-level earnings — all from their portal dashboard.

## Manually Assigning Parent Affiliates

You can also manually set up parent-child relationships:

1. Go to the affiliate's group page
2. Click on the affiliate and select **"Assign Parent"**
3. Search for the parent affiliate by name or tracking ID
4. Confirm the assignment

The system prevents circular references — you can't assign an affiliate as a parent if it would create a loop in the referral chain.

## Refund Handling

When a sale is refunded, multi-level commissions are handled automatically:

- **Full refund:** All related multi-level earnings are set to REFUNDED
- **Partial refund:** Multi-level earnings are proportionally reduced based on the refund ratio
- **Declined/disputed:** All related multi-level earnings follow the same status

## Things to Know

- Multi-level commissions only apply to monetary commission incentives (not credits, free months, or points)
- Parent affiliates must be in ACTIVE status to receive multi-level earnings
- If a parent affiliate in the chain is inactive, the chain stops at that level
- Multi-level earnings inherit the same hold period and approval settings as the direct commission
- Multi-level commissions are included in regular payout calculations

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**Ready to grow your affiliate network?** Visit your [Groups & Rewards](https://affonso.io/app/groups) settings to enable multi-level commissions.