If you don’t define clawbacks, you’ll end up negotiating them one angry email at a time. Use the copy/paste template below to set expectations for refunds, chargebacks, payout timing, and adjustments — especially for SaaS on Stripe.
This is written to be understandable by affiliates and enforceable by founders. Customize the bracketed fields.
1) Definitions
“Commission” means the affiliate fee earned on an eligible customer payment. “Clawback” means reversing or deducting a commission when the underlying payment becomes ineligible.
2) Eligibility & refund window
Commissions are only eligible after the refund window closes (default: [30] days). Refunded payments do not earn commission.
3) Chargebacks & disputes
If a payment is disputed, charged back, or deemed fraudulent, the associated commission is ineligible and may be clawed back.
4) How clawbacks are applied
If a commission is clawed back after it was already paid, we may deduct the clawback amount from your next payout. If your balance becomes negative, we may carry it forward and offset against future earned commissions.
5) Payout timing & threshold
Payouts are processed on [monthly] cycles. We pay out approved balances once your approved balance reaches the minimum threshold (default: [$50]).
6) Dispute process
If you believe a clawback was applied in error, contact us within [14] days with relevant details. We may request order identifiers or payment references to verify the underlying event.
Policies work when the numbers match reality. If you track revenue in Stripe, the cleanest workflow is: approve after the refund window, export a payout report, then pay affiliates.
A clawback is when you reverse or deduct previously-approved affiliate commission because the underlying customer payment became ineligible (refund, chargeback, cancellation inside the refund window, fraud).
Most SaaS programs say no: refunded payments do not earn commission. The simplest approach is to only approve commissions after your refund window closes.
The common policy is to deduct the clawed-back amount from the next payout. If the balance becomes negative, you can carry it forward until it is offset by future earnings.
You still need policy language, but Stripe makes the underlying events explicit (refunds/chargebacks). TinyAffiliate focuses on tracking Stripe-attributed revenue and exporting clean payout reports.