SaaS Affiliate Program Example: 25% Commission, 90-Day Cookie

This SaaS affiliate program example uses a 25% recurring commission, a 90-day cookie, and monthly net-30 payouts after a 30-day validation period. The worked example shows the CAC, gross-profit impact, refund handling, and written terms behind those numbers.

If you still need the strategic setup, start with how to set up a SaaS affiliate program. For payout methods, thresholds and tax workflow, read how to pay affiliates in SaaS.

The SaaS company

Use this fictional but realistic case:

Input	Value
Product	B2B analytics SaaS
Main plan	$99/month
Gross margin	85%
Paid acquisition CAC	$240
Refund window	30 days
Target customers	Founder-led B2B SaaS teams
Sales cycle	Trial, then subscription within 14-45 days

The goal is not to build the most generous program. The goal is to create a program that is attractive enough for good partners while staying inside the CAC envelope.

The affiliate offer

This is the public-facing offer an affiliate would see.

Term	Example setting	Why it works
Commission	25% recurring for the first 12 paid months	Easy to understand and aligned with subscription revenue
Cookie window	90 days	Covers trial, demo and delayed purchase paths
Attribution	First-click, server-side, customer-level	Rewards the partner who introduced the product
Approval	Application required	Filters out coupon-only and low-fit partners
Payout validation	Commission becomes payable after the 30-day refund window	Prevents paying on refunded revenue
Payout schedule	Monthly, net-30	Gives the merchant time to reconcile refunds and failed invoices
Minimum payout	$50	Avoids tiny transfers while remaining reachable for new affiliates
Payment methods	Bank transfer for domestic partners, PayPal for international partners	Covers most early-stage affiliate rosters

The headline version is simple: 25% recurring commission, 90-day cookie, monthly net-30 payouts after a 30-day validation period.

The commission math

For one referred customer on the $99/month plan:

Month	Customer pays	Affiliate earns	Merchant keeps before platform costs
1	$99.00	$24.75	$74.25
3	$297.00	$74.25	$222.75
6	$594.00	$148.50	$445.50
12	$1,188.00	$297.00	$891.00

The 12-month affiliate CAC is $297. That is slightly above the company's $240 paid CAC, but it is performance-based and spread over revenue as it arrives. If the affiliate sends lower-churn customers than paid ads, the economics can still work.

Gross-profit view:

Metric	Calculation	Result
12-month revenue	$99 x 12	$1,188.00
12-month gross profit	$1,188 x 85%	$1,009.80
12-month commission	$1,188 x 25%	$297.00
Commission as gross-profit share	$297 / $1,009.80	29.4%

That is the number to watch. If the commission share of gross profit climbs above your CAC target, reduce the duration, add tiers only for high-quality partners, or pay a lower rate after month 12.

The first payout example

Assume an affiliate sends eight paid customers in March.

Event	Count	Commission impact
Paid conversions in March	8	8 x $24.75 = $198.00 pending
Refunds during April validation	1	-$24.75 removed
Payable conversions after validation	7	$173.25 payable
Payout timing	End of May	Monthly net-30 after validation

The affiliate sees $198.00 as pending, then $173.25 as payable after the refund window. Because the payable balance is above the $50 threshold, the payout is sent in the next monthly cycle.

This avoids the worst version of affiliate payouts: paying instantly, then manually chasing a clawback after a refund or chargeback.

The rules affiliates need in writing

The program terms should be short enough to understand and specific enough to enforce.

Use clauses like these:

• Commission is calculated only on paid subscription revenue, excluding tax, credits, refunds and chargebacks.
• Trial signups do not create commission until the subscription is paid.
• Refunded invoices remove unpaid commission from the affiliate balance.
• Chargebacks or confirmed fraud can reverse unpaid commission and trigger account review.
• Brand search ads, coupon-site submissions and fake reviews require written approval.
• Affiliates must disclose the commercial relationship in content that includes affiliate links.

Those rules prevent a friendly growth channel from becoming an accounting dispute.

When to add tiers

Start with one rate. Add tiers only after you can measure partner quality.

Example tier model:

Tier	Requirement	Commission
Standard	1-5 active referred customers/month	25% recurring for 12 months
Growth	6-15 active referred customers/month and refund rate below 8%	30% recurring for 12 months
Partner	16+ active referred customers/month and shared launch plan	Custom rate or fixed bonus

Do not raise commission just because an affiliate sends volume. Raise it when the volume is incremental, qualified and low-refund.

Copy this structure

For an early SaaS program, use this as your starting configuration:

• 25% recurring commission for the first 12 paid months
• 90-day attribution window
• First-click attribution with server-side customer matching
• 30-day validation period before commission becomes payable
• Monthly net-30 payouts
• $50 minimum payout threshold
• Application review before approval
• Written rules for refunds, chargebacks, branded search and disclosure

Then model the numbers against your own price, margin and CAC. A $39/month product may need a lower rate or a shorter commission duration. A $499/month product may work better with a fixed bounty plus a smaller recurring percentage.

Build the example in RefCampaign

RefCampaign supports this structure with recurring commissions, validation states, payout thresholds, affiliate portals and Stripe-aware attribution.

Start a free trial and create the example program with your own price, refund window and payout threshold.