A customer can keep buying for years. Without a limit, a partner would be credited with every order the account ever places, and their figures would grow until nobody believed them. So a referred customer counts for a window.
The rules
- The window is 12 months from the date of the referral, unless the partner’s Counts for (months) says otherwise.
- It is counted from when the referral was recorded, on the lead or the customer, not from when the lead converted.
- A deal or document made inside the window is credited to the partner. One made after it is credited to nobody.
- A referred lead has no window. Its conversion and first deal are the partner’s however long they take.
Worked dates
| Referred | Window | Raised | Credited to the partner? |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 Mar 2026, as a customer | 12 months | Quotation on 28 Feb 2027 | Yes, inside the window. |
| 1 Mar 2026, as a customer | 12 months | Deal on 2 Mar 2027 | No, the window closed on 1 Mar 2027. |
| 1 Mar 2026, as a customer | 6 months | Invoice on 2 Sep 2026 | No, six months ended on 1 Sep 2026. |
| 5 Jan 2024, as a lead | None | Converted with a deal on 14 Oct 2026 | Yes: a lead has no clock. |
| 1 Mar 2026 | 12 months | Invoice on 5 Apr 2027 from a quotation of 20 Feb 2027 | Yes: it keeps the quotation’s partner. |
Choosing a window
Set a partner’s Counts for (months) to match what you agreed with them. A builder paid on the first sale only might have 3 months; an architect who keeps specifying for a client might have 24. Changing it applies to records made from then on. What was already credited stays credited.
The window decides credit, not commission. When commission arrives with Targets and Commission, it will be worked out on what is credited here.
Why twelve months
A year covers a typical project from design to final order in most businesses that work with architects and builders, and it is the period people already think about commission in. It is a starting point: change it per partner to whatever you agreed.
What will catch you out
- The window is checked when each deal or document is made, not when it is paid. An invoice raised inside the window and paid after it still counts, because it was credited when it was made.
- Changing Counts for does not re-credit anything already made, in either direction.
Where the window is shown
Each partner’s page states how long their customers count for, under the figures. The date each referral was recorded is kept with the lead or customer, and every deal and document records the partner it was credited with when it was made, so there is never a need to work the window out by hand.
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