The Reward Processing Period is the number of days between when a member generates an attributed sale and when their reward becomes payable (status: Due) on your Rewards page.
You set this in Settings > Store Settings > Preferences. The default is 30 days.
[ SCREENSHOT: Reward Processing Period field in Preferences ]
How it works
When an order attributed to a member is placed at your store, Buzzbassador calculates the reward based on the member's program settings and creates a reward record with status "Processing." The reward stays in Processing for the number of days you have set as your Reward Processing Period. Once the period passes, the reward automatically moves to "Due" status and becomes payable.
Example: with the default 30-day setting, a sale on January 1st creates a Processing reward. On January 31st, the reward moves to Due and is ready to be paid.
This applies to all attributed rewards regardless of which attribution method generated the sale (referral code, referral code link, UTM link, UTM link with auto-applied code, or BuzzLink).
[ LINK: How order attribution works ]
Why it matters
The processing period exists to protect you from paying out commissions on orders that get refunded.
Once a reward has been paid via PayPal or Tremendous, the funds are gone and Buzzbassador cannot reverse the transaction. If a customer returns their order after the reward has been paid, you have already paid commission on a sale that no longer exists.
The processing period gives refunds a chance to happen before the commission is paid. If an attributed order is refunded while its reward is still in Processing, Buzzbassador automatically reduces the reward to reflect the refund (a full refund reduces it to $0; a partial refund reduces it proportionally).
For this reason, we recommend setting your Reward Processing Period to match (or slightly exceed) your store's return and refund policy. If your refund window is 30 days, set the processing period to 30 days. If you allow 60-day returns, set it to 60.
[ LINK: How commission calculations and refunds work in Buzzbassador ]
Skipping the processing period for a specific reward
If you are confident an order will not be refunded and want to pay a member sooner than the processing period allows, you can fast-track an individual reward from Processing to Due using the Skip Processing action.
[ LINK: How to skip the reward processing period for a specific reward ]
Programs with rewards disabled
If a member's program has the Rewards section toggled off, attributed orders still create reward records, but those records are auto-declined at $0 and never enter the processing period. They appear directly under Unpaid > Declined with a $0 amount.
The processing period does not apply to rewards-disabled programs because there is no commission to delay. To start paying commission on attributed orders, turn the Rewards section on for that program.
[ LINK: Why rewards are auto-declined and how to fix it ]
[ LINK: How to configure your program settings ]
Notes:
Changing the Reward Processing Period in Preferences applies to all programs across your account. There is currently no way to set a different processing period per program.
The setting affects future reward records only; rewards already in Processing keep their original timeline.
If you set a long processing period and need to pay a specific member sooner, use Skip Processing on that reward.
[ LINK: How to skip processing ]