# Referrals

URL: /systems/referrals · Id: `system:referrals`

> Referrals records each Contact, Customer or Partner sending a Lead or Customer to a Startup, and pays the reward its Agreement promises.

[Referrals](/business/nouns/referral) records who sent each [Lead](/business/nouns/lead) or [Customer](/business/nouns/customer) to a [Startup](/business/nouns/startup): a Customer, a [Partner](/business/nouns/partner) or an affiliate. It pays the reward the [Agreement](/business/nouns/agreement) promises once the referred buyer pays.

## Summary
| Part | This System |
| --- | --- |
| Group | Marketing |
| Status | Beta: it works, and its Verbs may still change |
| Shelf | Wakes: offered once its Event fires |

You can ask:

- “Pay partners 20% of what they bring in”
- “Who sent us customers this month?”
- “Pay the commissions that are due”
- “Give this customer a referral link”

## What you get
| Part | This System |
| --- | --- |
| Starts | On for every Startup at creation, with nothing to install. |
| Wakes | On [`Customer.activated`](/business/events/Customer.activated) when the Startup reaches ten active Customers. |
| Built from | [Database](/code/platform/capabilities/database), [Event streams](/code/platform/event-streams), [Payment rails](/systems/finance/payments) |

## Nouns it owns
| Noun | Definition |
| --- | --- |
| [Referral](/business/nouns/referral) | A Referral is a Contact, Customer, or Partner sending a Lead to a Startup, with any reward it earns. |
| [Partner](/business/nouns/partner) | A Partner is an outside Organization that is party to an Agreement with a Startup, supplying it, distributing its Offers, or both. |
| [Commission](/business/nouns/commission) | A Commission is what a Partner earns on the collected revenue its Referral brings, at a rate over a term, paid after a clawback window. |

## Verbs
| Verb | Object | Approval | Event |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| [Referral.create](/business/nouns/referral/create) | [Referral](/business/nouns/referral) | None | `Referral.created` |
| [Referral.list](/business/nouns/referral/list) | [Referral](/business/nouns/referral) | None | None. |
| [Commission.pay](/business/nouns/commission/pay) | [Commission](/business/nouns/commission) | Asks first; waits 1 business hour | [`Commission.paid`](/business/events/Commission.paid) |

## Events
| Direction | Event | How |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Emits | `Referral.created` | By [Referral.create](/business/nouns/referral/create) |
| Emits | [`Commission.paid`](/business/events/Commission.paid) | By [Commission.pay](/business/nouns/commission/pay) |

## States
None.

## Who operates it
| Part | This System |
| --- | --- |
| Accountable | [Partner Manager](/agents/sales/partner-manager) |
| Team | [Sales Team](/agents/sales) |
| Seat | A role agent holds it until a Human is seated. |
| Autonomy | `supervised` |

## Approvals and limits
| Verb | Rule | Detail |
| --- | --- | --- |
| [Commission.pay](/business/nouns/commission/pay) | A person says yes first | Waits 1 business hour |

## Processes that use it
None.

## Rail underneath
Stripe’s products (Stripe’s names): **Connect**.

## Views and dashboards
| View | Shows | Metrics |
| --- | --- | --- |
| The [Partner Manager](/agents/sales/partner-manager)’s view | The Metrics its accountable Role answers for. | [Partner-sourced revenue](/agents/sales#partner-sourced-revenue) |

## Access
What each Access level may call here.

| Access level | May call |
| --- | --- |
| `owner` | Every Verb (15) |
| `admin` | All but 1 of 15: `Commission.pay` |
| `member` | All but 1 of 15: `Commission.pay` |
| `viewer` | Read only (6 of 15) |

## Import and export
None.

## Fees and pricing
Each commission pays out through Stripe, and Stripe’s payout cost passes through at cost as its own Entry.

## Availability and limits
| Part | This System |
| --- | --- |
| Status | Beta: it works, and its Verbs may still change |

## Compliance notes
Commissions follow the Agreement each Partner signed; the reward rate stays the founder’s.

Controls it carries:

- [Log completeness](/systems/trust-and-governance/controls/log-completeness)
- [Append-only records](/systems/trust-and-governance/controls/append-only-records)
- [Point-in-time recovery](/systems/trust-and-governance/controls/point-in-time-recovery)
- [Processing definitions](/systems/trust-and-governance/controls/processing-definitions)

## Related Systems
- [CRM](/systems/crm)
- [Earnings](/systems/payouts)
- [Agreements](/systems/agreements)

## Example
A [Licensed-human marketplace](/products/templates/licensed-marketplace) of tax preparers gives every client a link worth $25 to both sides. A referred client books and pays; Referrals attributes the [Order](/business/nouns/order) to the sender and credits both accounts. A preparer who brings in another preparer earns 5% of that preparer’s first year, paid through [Earnings](/systems/payouts).