A program nobody manages usually still pays commissions, often for customers who would have bought anyway, partners buying through their own link, or codes posted on coupon sites. In Rewardful's data on 2,847 programs, only 7.6% of affiliates ever make a referral. Run the 12 checks below in order, and fix checks 1 to 5 before you recruit anyone new.
Why the audit comes before recruiting
The program launched on PartnerStack, Impact or Rewardful a year or two ago, someone ran it for a quarter, then moved on. It still shows clicks and a monthly payout, so nobody turns it off, and when someone asks for more affiliates the first idea is to recruit.
New partners inherit the current tracking, terms and payout rules. If links stopped recording after a site redesign, their traffic goes uncredited. If the hold period is shorter than your refund window, you pay commission on refunded customers. If a code is already on a coupon site, they compete with it.
Rewardful's State of SaaS Affiliate Programs report (2,847 programs) found that 7.6% of affiliates ever make a referral, 1.28% ever generate a sale, and 15.6% of programs survive in the long term. The audit finds the few partners who still bring customers.
The 12 checks at a glance
| # | Check | What a fail looks like |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Link tracking still records a referral | A test click and payment never show up in the dashboard |
| 2 | Promotion codes still attribute | A paid order with a partner code has no partner attached |
| 3 | Attribution window matches the terms | Terms say 60 days, tool says 30, or the reverse |
| 4 | Hold period covers trial plus refund window | Commissions become payable while a customer can still ask for a refund |
| 5 | Refunds and chargebacks reverse commissions | A refunded invoice still carries a full commission |
| 6 | Self-referrals reviewed | Flags left unreviewed, or partners buying through their own link |
| 7 | Brand bidding | Partners earning commission on searches for your own name |
| 8 | Coupon leaks | A partner code on a deal site, redeemed far beyond that partner's audience |
| 9 | Trial abuse and account farms | Commissions on signups that never became paid invoices |
| 10 | Payouts actually paid | Due commissions unpaid for months, partners missing payout or tax details |
| 11 | Partner activity bands | Most of the roster with no referral in 60 days or more |
| 12 | Terms, links and kit still current | Old pricing, renamed plans, landing pages that 404 |
Tracking and money: checks 1 to 5
1. Link tracking still records a referral
Create a test partner, open their link in a private window with no ad blocker, sign up with a new email and pay. The visit, customer and commission should all appear in the tracker. Repeat from every page partners link to, such as the pricing page, campaign landing pages and subdomains. Redesigns and new checkout flows usually cause the break, and nobody notices because the dashboard just shows fewer referrals.
2. Promotion codes still attribute
Run the same test with a code, in another browser and without the link. In Stripe Checkout the code field only appears when promotion codes are allowed on the session, and a checkout rebuild can drop that setting. Then partners who promote you on a podcast or in a video get no credit.
3. The attribution window matches the terms
Compare your public terms with the campaign settings. The cookie window, the commission duration (first payment, 12 months or lifetime) and the rule for a customer who came through two partners should match. If they differ, partners will quote the terms while you pay from the tool's numbers.
4. The hold period covers your trial and refund window
A commission should not become payable while the customer can still get a refund. Rewardful says its pending commission period should be set to match your refund policy, and it adjusts commissions when Stripe reports a refund. Set it to trial length plus refund window, rounded up: with a 14-day trial and a 30-day money-back guarantee, a 30-day hold is too short.
5. Refunds and chargebacks reverse commissions
Refund a test payment and check the commission. On Impact the action locking period runs from when an action is tracked to when it is locked, and reversals have to happen before the lock. If nobody has done that since the last owner left, every refund since then was paid as a sale.
Fix checks 1 to 5 first. Partners whose first sale never shows up in their dashboard rarely send a second one.
Leaks: checks 6 to 9
6. Self-referrals are reviewed
Most trackers flag these already, but someone has to review the flags. Rewardful emails you about a potential self-referral and lets you mark it legitimate or suspicious (suspicious deactivates the referral). FirstPromoter flags self-referrals by same email or same IP. Rewardful's own examples of legitimate cases include an agency partner signing up a client under an agreement and an affiliate who tested their link before buying. Write down your rule and clear the backlog case by case.
7. Brand bidding
Search your brand name and see who is running ads on it. Google Ads policy does not restrict trademarks as keywords, so a partner can buy your name and earn commission on people already looking for you. Only your affiliate terms can forbid it. FirstPromoter flags referrals from paid ads on Google, Meta and TikTok and lets you allow, hold or block them per campaign.
8. Coupon leaks
Search your brand plus "coupon", "promo code" and "discount". A partner code on a deal site converts people who were going to buy anyway, and a code redeemed far more often than its partner's audience explains has probably leaked. In Stripe each promotion code can be limited to first-time customers, capped in redemptions and given an expiry date, so you can retire a leaked code without touching the partner's link. Give every partner their own code, and ban posting codes on coupon sites in your terms.
9. Trial abuse and account farms
If you pay on signups or trials, check how many of those accounts became a paid invoice. Clusters of non-converting signups from one partner, disposable email domains and accounts created minutes apart are the pattern. Pay commission only on paid invoices; if you want to reward trials, pay a small bounty on the trial and the percentage once the customer pays.
Partners: checks 10 to 12
10. Payouts are actually being paid
Open the due commissions list. Rewardful, for example, does not pay affiliates automatically: the merchant marks commissions as paid once they are due and above the minimum payout threshold. On an unmanaged program this step often stops first. Partners who earned money and never got it are the cheapest to win back: pay them, then tell them what changed.
11. Partner activity in three bands
Sort the roster by last referral into three groups: no referral in 30 days, in 45 days, and in 60 days or more. Send the first a personal message with something new to promote, ask the second whether they still plan to promote you this quarter, and cut the third or move it to a dormant tier. Settle what you owe first: in Rewardful, disabling an affiliate stops their links from recording new visitors and stops commissions on future recurring payments from customers they already referred.
12. Terms, links and onboarding kit are still current
Read the terms, the welcome email and the onboarding kit as a new partner would. Renamed plans, old pricing or screenshots and landing pages that now 404 make a partner look wrong in front of their audience, so update the kit before sending it to anyone.
What to fix, cut and keep
Fix everything in checks 1 to 5 before anything else. Cut partners who bid on your brand or post codes on coupon sites against your terms, self-referrers whose cases are not legitimate, and the 60-day group you could not bring back. Keep the few partners who still send paying customers, pay them what they are owed and give them new material first.
Then recruit, starting from that smaller base. Fifteen active partners on working tracking are worth more than 400 names and an attribution leak. To keep the program from going dormant again, set up the weekly routine in our guide to affiliate program management.
How Enclaverse can help. For B2B SaaS teams whose program has stalled, we run this audit first and then rebuild the roster under our Program Rescue: 15 or more partners onboarded and 10 or more live within 90 days, or the fee is refunded. We do not promise revenue inside 90 days, because the channel takes 6 to 12 months to ramp. More on the Affiliate & Creator Program page, or book a call.
FAQ
What is an affiliate program audit?
A check of an existing program before you put more time or money into it: whether links and codes still track, whether the hold period fits your refund policy, whether you pay for self-referrals, brand bidding or leaked coupons, whether due commissions get paid, and which partners are still active.
How do I stop affiliate coupon codes from leaking to coupon sites?
Give each partner their own code and limit it in Stripe to first-time customers, with a redemption cap and an expiry date. Ban posting codes on coupon or deal sites in your terms. Search your brand name plus coupon or promo code once a month and expire any code you find there.
When should I remove inactive affiliates?
Sort partners by last referral into three bands: 30 days, 45 days, and 60 days or more. Nudge the first, ask the second whether they still plan to promote you, and cut or park the third. Settle unpaid commissions before you disable anyone.
Sources checked on 19 October 2026: Rewardful, State of SaaS Affiliate Programs report (2,847 programs), Rewardful, automated refund handling, Rewardful, dealing with self-referrals, Rewardful, how do I pay commissions, Rewardful, how to disable affiliate accounts, FirstPromoter, fraud protection settings, impact.com, action locking and payment scheduling periods, Stripe API, the promotion code object, Google Ads policy, trademarks. The 12-check order and the 30/45/60-day activity bands are our own method; vendor behaviour is as documented on the pages linked, which can change.
