A payout is a batch: you select approved referrals, build the batch, and settle it. Nothing moves money on its own, and there is no setting that makes it.
Building a batch
- Squad Affiliate → Payouts → New batch.
- Filter to what you intend to pay — a date range, a minimum balance, a rail.
- Review the totals per affiliate.
- Build the batch. It sits in draft.
- Settle it when you are ready.
A draft batch changes nothing: the referrals in it are still unpaid and the affiliates see no difference. Building and settling are separate steps because the moment before money leaves is the moment to check.
Rails in the free plugin
- Manual — mark as paid once you have sent it however you send it, with a CSV export of the batch.
- Store credit — pay in credit rather than cash.
- Bank transfer — collect the details, export the batch, pay from your bank.
Affiliates choose their preferred rail in their portal and can request a withdrawal once they clear your minimum.
Rails in Pro
PayPal Payouts, Wise and Stripe Connect settle a batch without leaving WordPress, and scheduled dispatch runs the whole thing on a cadence. Pro also generates provider-shaped export files for PayPal and Wise, and can pay in loyalty points.
When a payment fails
A failed line does not fail the batch. The line is marked failed with the provider’s reason, the balance returns to unpaid, and the affiliate stays owed — which is the only correct behaviour, because a failed transfer is not a paid commission.