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In this article, you will learn how to automate affiliate payouts with PayPal.
IMPORTANT: Automating commission payouts through PayPal requires a minimum of 25 affiliate invoices, with PayPal set as the payout method.
1. Connecting your PayPal account to systeme.io:
Once you have more than 25 affiliate invoices pending payment, connect your PayPal account to systeme.io to enable automatic payouts:
- Click your profile picture, then select Settings
- In the left menu, click Affiliate program
- Click Connect your PayPal account at the top right of the page
- In the Add PayPal credentials popup, enter your Client ID and Secret
2. Getting your PayPal client ID and client secret
- Navigate to https://developer.paypal.com/developer/applications
- Click Live, then click Create App
Your Client ID and Secret will then be displayed:
Copy and paste these credentials into the relevant fields in the Add PayPal credentials popup, and your PayPal account will be connected.
After connecting your credentials, you must contact the PayPal support team to request that they activate the Payouts feature. After answering a few questions, your request will be processed.
3. How the payout process works
The affiliate payouts are not 100% automatic. The process operates on a hybrid timeline every month. Here is exactly how and when your affiliates get paid:
a. Invoice Generation (Automatic)
On the 10th of each month (between 05:00 and 14:00 UTC), systeme.io automatically generates the invoices for your affiliates.
At this stage, the invoices will have a Pending status. This simply means the data has been created but has not yet been sent to PayPal.
b. Data Transmission (Automatic)
Later that same day (around 22:00 to 22:20 UTC), systeme.io automatically transmits this invoice data to PayPal.
If the transmission is successful, the invoice status will change to Processing. This means the invoice is now technically ready and waiting to be paid.
c. Triggering the Payment (Manual)
Once the invoices have successfully transitioned to the "Processing" status, you must manually trigger the payment. You will need to click the Pay invoices button to authorize PayPal to execute the transfer to your affiliates (batch transfer).
Important PayPal requirement: To use this automated batch payment feature, you must have a minimum of 25 invoices ready to be paid. If you have fewer than 25 invoices, the bulk payment cannot be processed automatically via the PayPal integration.
Notes:
- Missing invoices: Invoices will only appear in your "Pay invoices" list once they have reached the "Processing" status. "Pending" invoices will not show up here because they are not yet technically ready to be paid.
- Stuck on Pending: If an invoice remains stuck in the "Pending" status after the 10th, it usually means there is an issue preventing transmission. This happens if the affiliate's bank details are invalid, there is a currency conflict, or your PayPal account is misconfigured.