How Can I Automate Payment Of Commissions?
Once your commission structure is stable and your calculations run like clockwork, you may want to automate payment of commissions to eliminate the following steps:
- Navigate to Calculations > All Calculations
- Export payouts for payroll
- Upload the CSV to your payment system
- Review and execute payment within your payment system
Key Considerations
Collecting Payment Information
You must be able to collect banking information for each payee.
Typically this requires some type of verification workflow to prevent fraud.
Also note that supported payment methods may vary (ex: Venmo works in the United States only).
Handling Payment Failures
If you have hundreds of payees, some of the payments may fail.
For example, some of your payees may have closed their bank account, resulting in errors.
It's important to have a clear policy for retrying failed payments (without double-paying).
Payment Fees
Sales Cookie does not charge fees for payments.
However, most providers do charge a fee (ex: PayPal Payout charges 2% to the sender + $0.25 per transaction).
Please make sure to review all fees (including those related to currency conversions).
Guarded Payroll Systems
Many HR or financial systems do not implement public APIs to automate payments as a precaution:
- Financial standards.
- Standards such as KYC/AML require verification of user identities and the source of funds. Automated transactions can bypass manual checks or make it harder to trace the origin of funds.
- Data Security.
- Privacy regulations such as GDPR in Europe or state-specific laws in the US may prevent retrieval or processing of financial details for payment. It may be illegal to share financial details with third-parties.
Risk Of Double Payment
Automating payments increases the chance of accidentally sending payment twice.
Some systems have built-in protection to prevent the same payment from being sent twice.
Implementation Options
PayPal's Payouts API
Sales Cookie offers native support for PayPal mass payments.
When you release rewards on a calculation, payment is automatically sent to recipients based on their Sales Cookie email.
Built-in protection prevents double-sending payments twice from the same Sales Cookie calculation.
Requirements
- Understand PayPal's fee structure and limitations
- Sign up for PayPal Mass Payment (now PayPal Payouts)
- Sign up for a PayPal developer account to get a client ID and secret
- Require all payees to create a PayPal account (recommended)
Payroll Gateway
Sales Cookie supports generic payroll gateways.
When you release rewards on a calculation, payment is automatically sent to a web page of your choice, where you implement your own payment logic.
This allows you to connect to your own protected financial systems to effect payments.
This is a good option if your payment system is guarded without a public API for payment (ex: intranet-only).
Requirements
- Be able to host a web page with your own logic
- Verify the shared secret to ensure inbound requests are legitimate
- Protect against duplicate payments
- Write code targeting your own payment system
Zapier
Sales Cookie's Zapier integration supports a Zapier event when rewards are released.
You can process this Zapier event to connect to your systems and process payment information.
Note that some financial systems support Zapier, but few support the ability to automate payments.
Requirements
- Have a Zapier account
- Configure Zapier automation to process the Sales Cookie "rewards released" event
- Protect against duplicate payments
- Write code targeting your own system
Here are popular systems and Zapier support:
SaaS Solution | Zapier Support | Zapier Action to Send Payments | Summary of Zapier Capabilities |
|---|---|---|---|
Trolley | Yes | Yes | - Supports actions: "Add a Payment to an Existing Batch," "Send an Existing Batch to Processing," and "Creates a Batch with a Payment and Sends It to Processing." - Designed for global payouts to vendors, suppliers, or contractors. - Automates payment workflows with recipient creation and batch processing. - Ideal for effecting payments directly via Zapier. |
Paystack | Yes | Yes | - Offers "Send Simple Invoice" action to initiate payments by sending a payable invoice to a customer’s email. - Primarily for African merchants, records payment requests but requires recipient action to complete. - Supports triggers like "New Transaction" and actions like "Create Refund." - Suitable for initiating payment requests, less direct for effecting payments. |
Bill.com | Yes | Yes | - Provides "Create a Bill Payment" action to schedule or process payments to vendors. - Effects payments through Bill.com’s system, ideal for accounts payable automation. - Supports triggers like "New Bill Created" and actions for managing vendors or invoices. - Suitable for automating payments to individuals set up as vendors. |
MyHR | Yes | No | - Supports syncing payroll data with apps like Xero or QuickBooks. - Actions focus on creating draft persons, setting up leave balance types, and linking employee records. - No direct action for sending or recording payments; payments occur within connected payroll systems. - Designed for data transfer, not payment initiation. |
Employment Hero | Yes | No | - Integrates with apps like Salesforce, Microsoft Office 365, and Go1 for HR and payroll data syncing. - Triggers include "Employee Created" and "Pay Run Initialised"; actions focus on updating CRMs or sending notifications. - No native action for sending or recording payments; payments processed within Employment Hero. - Focused on data integration, not direct payment initiation. |
Square Payroll | Yes (via When I Work) | No | - Integrates via When I Work for syncing employees, schedules, and time entries to Square Payroll. - No direct action for sending or recording payments; focuses on data syncing for payroll preparation. - Payments processed within Square Payroll, not triggered via Zapier. - Limited to US customers, unsuitable for direct payment automation. |
GoCo | Yes | No | - Supports syncing HR data with apps like ADP, Paychex, or JazzHR. - Triggers include "Employee Created" or "Employee Updated"; actions include creating employees or starting workflows. - No action for sending or recording payments; payments handled by connected payroll systems. - Designed for lightweight HR data automation, not payment initiation. |
ADP | Yes (via When I Work) | No | - Integrates via When I Work to sync payroll data like worked hours and pay rates to ADP Workforce Now. - No direct action for sending or recording payments; focuses on data transfer for payroll processing. - Payments processed within ADP, not triggered via Zapier. - Requires manager/admin access, not suited for payment automation. |
Plaid | Yes | No | - Supports actions for connecting bank accounts and sharing financial data. - No native action for sending or recording payments; focused on account verification and data syncing. - Payment initiation possible via Plaid’s API but requires custom Webhooks. - Unsuitable for direct payment-sending automation via Zapier. |
Stripe | Yes | No | - Supports actions like creating customers, subscriptions, or payment links; triggers include "New Payment" or "New Charge." - No native action for sending payments; requires Webhooks with Stripe’s Payouts API. - Focused on receiving payments or managing payment links, not sending. - Stripe Connect also lacks specific payment-sending actions. |
Wise | No | No | - No Zapier integration; previous custom integration discontinued due to financial regulations. - Supports payouts via its API, but no native Zapier actions for sending payments. - Automating payments requires custom API integration, not supported natively. - Unsuitable for Zapier-based payment automation. |
PayPal | Yes | No | - Supports triggers like "New Payment Received" and search actions for invoices or transactions. - No native action for sending payments; requires Webhooks with PayPal’s Payouts API. - Focused on receiving payments or tracking sales, not sending. - Unsuitable for direct payment-sending automation via Zapier. |
Stripe Connect | Yes (via Stripe) | No | - Stripe integrates with Zapier, but no specific Stripe Connect integration or action for sending payments. - Actions include creating customers, subscriptions, or payment links; triggers include "New Payment" or "New Charge." - Sending payouts requires custom Webhooks with Stripe’s Payouts API, not a native action. - Focused on receiving payments, not sending. |
Tipalti | Yes | No | - Supports actions for creating payees, syncing invoices, or updating payment statuses. - No native action for sending or recording payments; payments processed within Tipalti. - Focused on data transfer for accounts payable automation, not direct payment initiation. - Requires confirmation with Tipalti for API-based payment initiation. |
Hyperwallet | No | No | - No Zapier integration. - Supports global payouts via its API, but no native Zapier actions. - Automating payments requires custom API integration. - Unsuitable for Zapier-based payment automation. |
Dwolla | Yes | No | - Supports triggers like "Transfer Completed" or "Customer Created" and actions for managing customers or funding sources. - No native action for sending or recording payments; requires Webhooks with Dwolla’s API. - Focused on customer and data management, not payment initiation. - Unsuitable for direct payment automation. |
Mangopay | No | No | - No Zapier integration. - Supports payouts for marketplaces via its API, but no native Zapier actions. - Automating payments requires custom API integration. - Unsuitable for Zapier-based payment automation. |
Veem | No | No | - No Zapier integration. - Supports global payments via bank transfers, checks, or digital wallets, but no native Zapier actions. - Automating payments requires custom API integration. - Unsuitable for Zapier-based payment automation. |
Oracle HCM Cloud | No | No | - No Zapier integration. - Supports payroll processing and disbursements via Oracle Global Payroll, but no Zapier actions available. - Integrates with ADP or other payroll providers via Oracle Integration Cloud or APIs, not Zapier. - Unsuitable for Zapier-based payment automation. |
PeopleSoft | No | No | - No Zapier integration. - Supports payroll processing and payment disbursements (e.g., direct deposits, checks) within PeopleSoft Payroll. - Integrates with PeopleSoft Payables or Financial Gateway for payments, but not via Zapier. - Unsuitable for Zapier-based payment automation. |
OData + Custom Implementation
Sales Cookie makes it easy to pull payout information using standard OData APIs.
Sales Cookie can help automate the steps to retrieve payout information and connect to proprietary APIs to execute payment.
Requirements
- Be familiar with OData (to retrieve payouts from Sales Cookie)
- Provide Sales Cookie with API access to your payment system OR
- Write code targeting your own system
- Be able to run a CRON job since this a pull model
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