Sometimes you need to manually intervene to correct a commission error or handle a return that happened outside of the standard Shopify refund flow. Manually reversing a referral allows you to subtract a specific commission from an affiliate's balance.
How to Manually Reverse an Affiliate Referral
This guide explains how to cancel a specific referral and its associated commission.
Step-by-Step Guide to Reversing a Referral
Navigate to the Referrals Section. From your main merchant dashboard, go to the "Referrals" section in the side menu.
Find and Select the Referral. Use the search bar to find the specific transaction. You can search by the Shopify Order Number, Affiliate Email, or Customer Name. Click on the referral in the list to open its detailed view.
Initiate the Reversal. Within the referral's detail view, locate and click the "Reverse referral" button.
Confirm the Action: A confirmation pop-up will appear to prevent accidental cancellations. Click the final "Reverse" button to proceed.
Once confirmed, the referral status will be updated to "Reversed" in your reports, and the commission will be deducted from the affiliate's balance.
Important Rules to Remember
Permanent Action: Reversing a referral is permanent. Once confirmed, it cannot be "un-reversed." You will need to manually create a new referral.
Negative Balances: If you reverse a commission that has already been paid out to the affiliate, their "Amount Owed" will become negative. This negative balance will be deducted from their future earnings.
Syncing with Shopify: Manually reversing a referral in Simple Affiliate does not cancel or refund the order in Shopify; it only affects the affiliate's commission within the app.
Partial Reversals: If you only need to reverse part of a commission (e.g., for a partial return), it is often easier to process the partial refund directly in Shopify, as Simple Affiliate will automatically adjust the commission proportionally.
What Happens Next?
The affiliate will see the reversed referral in their dashboard. To maintain a positive relationship, we recommend reaching out to the affiliate if the reversal was due to a manual error or a non-standard return so they understand the adjustment to their balance.