Setting up and managing payout methods, structures, and payments in trackagoat.
trackagoat's Payouts feature lets operators define how creators are compensated, track outstanding balances, and record payments — all inside the platform, without spreadsheets.
Payout methods represent the platforms or channels you use to pay creators — for example Venmo, Cash App, PayPal, or a custom method like "Bank transfer".
Every org starts with three built-in methods: Venmo, Cash App, and PayPal. These are pre-configured and cannot be deleted, but they can be disabled if you don't use them.
Go to Org Settings → Payout Methods.
Click Add method.
Enter a name (e.g. "Zelle", "Bank transfer").
Optionally upload an icon (PNG, JPEG, WebP, or SVG; max 1 MB).
Click Add method to save.
Custom methods you create can be edited or deleted at any time.
If you stop using a payment platform, you can disable it so it no longer appears in payment dialogs:
Find the method in the list.
Toggle the Active switch to off.
Disabling a method does not affect historical payments that used it — those records are preserved with a snapshot of the method name.
To re-enable a disabled method, toggle the switch back on. Note: if your org has reached its method limit, you may need to delete a custom method first.
The number of custom payout methods available depends on your plan. Default methods (Venmo, Cash App, PayPal) count toward the limit.
| Plan | Limit |
|---|---|
| Free | 6 |
| Starter | 10 |
| Ultra | Unlimited |
Payout structures define how creators earn money — the rule type (recurring, goals-based, or CPM), the amount, the period, and when a partial-period assignment is prorated. Structures are project-scoped and versioned: editing a rule creates a new version and only affects future accruals.
A recurring payout pays a creator a flat amount each period regardless of performance. Use it for guaranteed base pay.
Navigate to Tools → Payout Structures and click New structure.
Give it a name (e.g. "Weekly base pay") and set the Period to Weekly. Enter the Amount in dollars (e.g. 50.00).
Choose Recurring. No additional parameters are required.
Choose how mid-period assignments are handled:
After creating, assign it to creators from the structure's detail page (Assignments card) or via the bulk-action toolbar on the Creators page.
A goals-based payout pays a creator only when they meet performance goals. The "criteria" controls whether all goals must be met, any one goal, or a specified minimum number.
Follow steps 1–2 above, but set the Period to match your goals — e.g. Monthly if your goals are monthly.
Choose Goals-based:
Click Create.
If you assign a goals-based structure to a creator who has no goals matching the structure's period, trackagoat will warn you at assignment time. The assignment will still be created, but accruals won't be computed until matching goals exist.
When mode is All goals, you can enable partial completion so creators earn a fraction of the amount even when they miss one or more goals.
Toggle Allow partial completion payouts in the criteria form. Two additional fields appear:
| Field | Default | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Payout multiplier | 1.0 | Scales the partial payout. 1.0 = no scaling; 0.5 = pay half of the completion fraction; 1.5 = pay 1.5× the completion fraction. |
| Minimum completion % for payout | 0% | Below this average per-goal completion, no partial payout fires at all. Use this to avoid paying out tiny amounts for minimal effort. |
How the partial amount is calculated:
actual / target (capped at 100% per goal).payout = structure amount × completion% × multiplier.The multiplier can push the partial payout above the full amount (e.g. 90% complete × 1.5 = 135% of the base). This is intentional — use it to reward near-completion generously when that fits your program.
Example: $500/month structure, partial enabled, multiplier 1.0, minimum 40%.
Partial completion only applies when mode is All goals. Any and N-of-M modes remain binary.
CPM (cost per 1,000 impressions) payouts base earnings on the total views of videos posted during the period. Use it for performance-driven bonuses tied to reach.
CPM = (total impressions ÷ 1,000) × rate
Follow steps 1–2, setting the Period to Weekly or Monthly.
Choose CPM. Additional fields appear:
Min impressions threshold — minimum views required before any payout is calculated. Creators below this threshold earn nothing for the period (e.g. 10,000 as a floor).
Max payout per period — an upper cap on earnings per period per creator (e.g. 500.00 to cap at $500/month).
CPM tiers — define rates by impression volume. Add rows to create tiered pricing:
| Up to (impressions) | Rate per 1,000 |
|---|
View threshold incentives pay a creator a one-time bonus the first time any of their videos crosses a specific view count. Thresholds are per-video and per-milestone — they fire exactly once, permanently, regardless of future assignment changes.
Example: a $20 bonus when any video reaches 1,000,000 views, and a $100 bonus when any video reaches 2,000,000 views. Both can fire on the same video; they are independent.
How to set one up:
Go to Project → Payout Structures → New structure.
Enter a name, then on the Criteria step choose View Thresholds.
Add one or more milestones — each with a view count and a bonus amount.
Duplicate view counts in the same structure are not allowed.
Key differences from other structure types:
How it differs from the Goals "views" metric: Creator Goals track aggregate views across all posts in a period. View threshold incentives track a single video's lifetime view count crossing a milestone. Both features coexist and serve different incentive patterns.
The proration mode controls what happens when a creator is assigned or unassigned partway through a period:
| Mode | Behavior |
|---|---|
| Skip | Only assigns and unassigns that cover the full period are paid. Partial periods earn nothing. |
| Prorate | Earnings are multiplied by the fraction of the period the creator was active. |
| Pay in full | The creator earns the full period amount regardless of when they were assigned. |
For CPM structures, proration applies a time-fraction multiplier to the impression count.
Editing rule fields (period, amount, criteria, proration) creates a new version. Editing only the name is cosmetic and doesn't create a version.
Base + bonus: assign two structures to the same creator — a Recurring weekly base pay, and a Goals-based monthly bonus. Accruals from both structures are separate and can be settled in a single payment.
Top-creator bonus: create a Goals-based monthly $200 structure with Any criteria, backed by a high-reach goal (e.g. 500K views). Assign it only to top-tier creators.
Tiered CPM with a floor: set min_impressions = 50,000 so micro-accounts aren't paid out, and a two-tier CPM that rewards high-reach creators more per-view.
Effort-based partial payout: create a Goals-based monthly structure with All goals mode, enable partial completion, set multiplier to 1.0 and minimum to 50%. Creators who come close but miss earn proportionally instead of nothing — reduces churn on near-misses without eliminating the incentive to fully meet goals.
Viral video incentive: create a View Threshold structure with a $20 milestone at 1M views and $100 at 5M views. Assign alongside a Recurring base pay structure. The threshold accruals fire once per video per milestone, permanently — creators are rewarded the moment any video crosses the bar, regardless of when it was posted.
Once accruals have been computed (the system runs hourly for all active assignments), project members and org admins can settle them by recording a payment.
Navigate to a creator's detail page and click the Payouts tab.
Click Mark a payment as paid.
Check the earned accruals you want to settle. You can select all or none. Leaving all unchecked records an ad-hoc payment (see below).
The total defaults to the sum of selected accruals. Edit it if you're rounding, adding a tip, or recording a partial payment.
The selected accruals move from Earned to Paid and are locked. The payment appears in the per-creator payment history.
Leave all accruals unchecked and enter an amount. The system creates a payment row with an adjustment line for the full amount. This is useful for one-off bonuses, advances, or any payment not tied to a specific accrual period.
An adjustment is automatically created whenever the payment total differs from the sum of the selected accruals:
When an adjustment is created, a reason is required. This keeps the audit trail meaningful. Good examples: "tip", "tax deduction", "underpayment pending bank clearance".
Adjustments do not create separate payments. They are attached to the payment row and visible in the payment history.
To undo a recorded payment:
Find the payment in the creator's payment history or the Payouts Tracker.
Click Void payment.
Confirm in the dialog.
Voiding reverts the linked accruals back to Earned so they can be re-paid. The original payment record and audit trail are preserved — voiding never deletes data.
If voiding is blocked: you'll see an error explaining that one or more accruals have been re-paid in a newer payment. Void the newer payment first, then void the original.
Receipt files (attached in Step 4) are stored privately — they are not publicly accessible. Only project members and org admins can view them. Download links are available in the Payouts Tracker and the per-creator Payouts tab.
Note on tax reporting: trackagoat does not generate 1099s or tax documents. The CSV export gives you a full payments ledger you can share with an accountant.
The Payouts Tracker is found under Tools → Payouts in the project navigation. It gives you a creator-grouped view of what has been earned, what has been paid, and what is still outstanding — across your whole project in one place.
When any creator has an outstanding (unpaid earned) balance, a yellow banner appears at the top of the page showing the total amount owed and how many creators are affected. The banner disappears once all outstanding balances reach zero.
Use the toolbar to narrow the view:
All filters are reflected in the URL, so you can bookmark or share a filtered view.
Each row represents one creator. The columns are:
| Column | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Total Earned | Sum of all non-voided accruals for this creator matching the active filters |
| Total Paid | Sum of all non-voided payments recorded for this creator |
| Outstanding | Earned accruals not yet paid — highlighted in amber |
| Last Paid | Date of the most recent non-voided payment |
Click any row to expand it and see a detailed breakdown.
Expanding a creator row shows two tabs:
Accruals — one row per computed earning period. Each row shows:
Payments — one row per recorded payment. Each row shows:
You can record payments in two ways from the tracker:
Click Pay on a creator row that has outstanding accruals. The Mark as Paid dialog opens pre-filled for that creator.
Click the button at the top-right of the toolbar to open the dialog without a pre-selected creator. Use this for ad-hoc payments (bonuses, advances) or when you want to pick the creator inside the dialog.
Below the toolbar, two charts give a macro view of your spend:
Both charts update when you change the active filters.
Click Export in the toolbar to download data in CSV format. Three export types are available:
| Export | Contents |
|---|---|
| Tracker summary | One row per creator — earned, paid, outstanding, last paid, structure count |
| Payments | One row per payment — creator, method, amount, date, status, note, tracking URL |
| Accruals | One row per accrual — creator, structure, period, amount, status |
All exports respect your active filters (date range, creator selection, outstanding-only toggle). Amounts are in dollars (e.g. 12.50), not cents. Timestamps are UTC ISO 8601. The files are UTF-8 with a BOM so they open correctly in Excel and Numbers.
The tracker is the macro view — one row per creator across a whole project. When you need to focus on a single creator's full financial history, use the Payouts tab on their detail page.
Navigate to Creators → [creator name] → Payouts to open the tab.
At the top of the tab, three stat cards show the creator's running totals:
| Card | What it shows |
|---|---|
| Total Earned | Sum of all earned + paid accruals for this creator (voided and rejected excluded) |
| Total Paid | Sum of all non-voided payments recorded for this creator |
| Outstanding | Earned accruals that have not yet been settled |
Outstanding amounts are highlighted in amber when greater than zero.
Two charts give a visual breakdown:
The tab is divided into three subtabs. The active tab is preserved in the URL (?tab=accruals|payments|assignments), so you can share or bookmark links to a specific view.
Accruals (default) — every computed earnings record for this creator, newest first. Each row shows:
earned accruals: a Reject action via the ⋯ menu. Rejected accruals are excluded from outstanding totals. A voided rejection restores the accrual to earned.Payments — every recorded payment for this creator. Each row shows:
paid payments: a Void button. Voiding reverses the accrual statuses back to earned.Assignments — the active payout structures currently assigned to this creator. Each row links to the structure's detail page. Org admins see an Unassign button on hover; unassigning takes effect immediately (with a 5-second undo window) and stops new accruals from being computed.
The Mark as Paid button in the top-right header opens the settlement sheet pre-filled with this creator, skipping the creator-picker step. The Accruals subtab also has a Mark as Paid button inline for quick access when you're reviewing outstanding rows.
Click Export to download accrual or payment data scoped to this creator:
Click Create to save.
| 1,000,000 | $0.50 |
| (no cap) | $0.75 |
In this example: views up to 1M earn $0.50/thousand; views above 1M earn $0.75/thousand. The final tier must have no cap.
Click Create.
Toggle Backfill on assignment if you want existing videos that already pass a milestone to trigger accruals immediately when you assign the structure to a creator. Leave it off if you only want future crossings to count.
Review and click Create structure.
Pick the payout method (Venmo, Cash App, etc.). Leave blank for cash or informal payments.
Attach a tracking URL (e.g. a Venmo payment link), a file (PDF, image, spreadsheet), and a free-form note.
Verify everything and click Record payment.