Confusing the two is the quickest way to wreck a firm's business case for a referral channel. A $240,000 license sounds like $240,000 of channel volume. For the introducing firm it is a $62,000 reward on a first qualifying transaction, arriving months later, if the deal closes at all (Illustrative figures).
Five amounts in one introduction, and who owns each
A completed data license produces five different sums. Only one of them belongs to the firm that made the introduction, and the program terms define the reward base so that the other four stay out of it.
| Amount | Paid by | Received by | Does the partner see it? | In the reward base? |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Acquisition Partner's transaction price | The Acquisition Partner | SourceX | No; SourceX need not disclose it | No, the terms exclude it |
| SourceX's fees and margin | Part of the transaction price | Retained by SourceX | No | No; never calculated on fees or revenue |
| Actual Supplier Payout | SourceX | The referred company, your client | Only through the client, or as the base on your statement | Yes, it is the base |
| Taxes and expense reimbursements itemized separately | SourceX | The referred company | Only through the client | No, excluded |
| The partner reward, your channel revenue | SourceX, from its own funds | Your firm | Yes, on your reward statement | It is the result: the greater of $50,000 plus 5% and 15% of Actual Supplier Payout, with no cap |
Two details matter more than they look. Indicative ranges, unclosed data and unpaid supplier amounts are not Actual Supplier Payout, so a price floated in a meeting is a base for nothing. And because partners follow a referral through generic stages or reference codes, the firm can never compute "its share of the deal", only its share of the client's payout.
"Channel revenue" also means different things in other programs. In PartnerStack's 2026 survey of 100 senior leaders at B2B SaaS companies with $50M+ revenue, 42% attribute partner revenue with multi-touch models, 31% first-touch and 19% last-touch. Here there is no attribution model to choose: the whole credit for a company goes to one partner, whoever made the earliest valid introduction during the 90-day window, and it is assigned only after the company submits a verified application.
The client's question, and the firm's narrower part
Your client wants to know whether licensing its records is worth the effort, on what terms, and what it will actually receive. Your part is smaller than your revenue line suggests: recognize a likely fit, get the CEO's agreement to a conversation, and introduce. SourceX then evaluates eligibility, agrees the supplier's terms, coordinates preparation and delivery and works with Acquisition Partners. You need not join every call.
The sample Channel Partner Agreement is explicit that the partner is not SourceX's agent and may not commit SourceX to prices, licenses or payouts. So your firm cannot influence the size of the payout, and should not try. Your revenue is a by-product of the client's outcome. That creates one honest tension: if you also advise the client on whether to accept its terms, a larger payout means a larger reward for you. Say so before you advise.
Reading the money-flow definition diagram
The diagram at the top of this page has three money arrows: the Acquisition Partner pays SourceX the transaction price (arrow 1), SourceX pays the client its Actual Supplier Payout (arrow 2), and SourceX pays your firm the reward from its own funds (arrow 3). A dashed calculation line runs from arrow 2 to arrow 3: on the company's first qualifying transaction, the greater of $50,000 plus 5% and 15% of Actual Supplier Payout, with no cap; on further qualifying transactions first agreed within 12 months of the first Closing, 15%. It runs one way; the reward depends on the payout, never the reverse.
There is no arrow between your firm and the client. That absence is the definition: the client pays you nothing for the introduction, and nothing you receive passes through its account.
Four rules follow from the picture:
- Arrow 1 does not size your revenue. A higher Acquisition Partner price raises nothing unless the client's payout rises, and the agreement says a change to SourceX's price or fee does not change the reward base by itself.
- Reductions travel along the dashed line. If the client's payout is reduced or reversed, the reward is reduced proportionately with the payout. A refund or chargeback on arrow 1 alone changes nothing.
- Timing follows conditions, not invoices. The reward becomes payable only after the Acquisition Partner's acceptance, cleared payment to SourceX, payment of the client's compensation, finance approval and your tax and payment details. Two events start the clock, the Acquisition Partner's final written acceptance of the client's complete, validated dataset and completed handoff of that dataset, and payment is due within 60 calendar days of whichever happens second. Installments accrue proportionately as each is paid.
- The floor applies once per company. The USD 50,000 element belongs to a company's first qualifying transaction only; repeats, renewals and amendments pay 15% of their payout, and a transaction below the USD 100,000 Minimum Transaction earns nothing unless SourceX agrees in writing.
| Actual Supplier Payout on a first qualifying transaction (Illustrative) | Reward | Reward as a share of payout |
|---|---|---|
| $40,000 | $0, below the USD 100,000 Minimum Transaction | None |
| $200,000 | $60,000 | 30% |
| $400,000 | $70,000 | 17.5% |
| $800,000 | $120,000 | 15% |
Paid by SourceX or paid by the client: two ways to earn from one introduction
Some firms already charge clients a success fee on transactions under their own engagement letters. That is a second participation model, and its money flows the opposite way.
| Criterion | Model A: reward from SourceX | Model B: success fee from the client |
|---|---|---|
| Who pays the firm | SourceX, from its own funds | The client, out of its licensing proceeds |
| Effect on the client's net | None; never deducted from its agreed compensation | Lowers it by the fee |
| Calculation base | the greater of $50,000 plus 5% and 15% of Actual Supplier Payout, with no cap | Whatever your engagement letter defines |
| When cash arrives | After the terms' payment conditions are met | When the client is paid and settles your invoice |
| Who you collect from | SourceX, on its conditions | Your own client |
| What to disclose | That SourceX may pay you, how it is worked out, and that nothing is deducted | The fee in your letter, plus any reward if you take both |
| Fits a firm that | Wants no fee conversation with the client | Already bills transaction advice this way |
Taking both on one license means being paid twice for the same introduction, once from the client's pocket. Check your own professional rules before you do that, and tell the client plainly; most firms will pick one model per client. The Lehman formula comparison covers client-paid fees in depth, and is my consultant getting a referral fee gives clients the short answer.
When channel revenue starts to exist
The rewards page lists five statuses. Before the client is paid, any reward shown is an estimate based on proposed supplier compensation, and the terms call portal and calculator estimates projections, not promises.
| Status | What SourceX means by it | How a firm's plan can treat it |
|---|---|---|
| Estimated | An indication while the opportunity progresses | A pipeline note, never revenue or a forecast line |
| Eligible | The company has been paid and the payout conditions are met | Close to payable; confirm with your accountant |
| Approved | Finance has approved the reward | A receivable candidate |
| Processing | Payment is underway after your tax and payment details | A receivable |
| Paid | Recorded as completed | Cash, still open to proportional reduction later |
Accounting standards point the same way. If your firm reports under IFRS 15, variable consideration is included only to the extent it is highly probable that a significant reversal of cumulative revenue will not occur once the uncertainty resolves, and the standard names two risk factors that describe an Estimated reward exactly: an amount highly susceptible to factors outside your influence, and uncertainty not expected to resolve for a long period. A firm on a cash basis simply records it when paid. Ask your own accountant which applies.
A money flow from license to adjustment (Illustrative)
Illustrative and fictional: a 260-person regional property manager licenses eight years of maintenance work orders for $240,000, paid in two installments of $120,000, with $7,000 of data preparation costs reimbursed as a separately itemized line. Not a quote, forecast or completed deal.
| Event | Paid to the company | Accrues to the firm | Why |
|---|---|---|---|
| First installment | $120,000 | $56,000 | The USD 50,000 element with the first installment that meets every condition, plus 5% of that installment |
| Second installment | $120,000 | $6,000 | The 5% element on the second installment; $62,000 in total on $240,000 |
| Itemized reimbursement | $7,000 | $0 | Excluded from the base |
| Later reduction | Minus $20,000 | Minus $1,000 | Recalculated on $220,000, giving $61,000 |
The firm's channel revenue line ends at $61,000. It never showed $240,000, never showed what the Acquisition Partner paid, and showed nothing at all until the conditions were met. Nothing was deducted from the client's agreed compensation to pay the firm. The comparison of the two cash flows shows how a client can check that from its own paperwork.
Pilot, stay small, expand or decline once the definitions are settled
| Choice | When it fits | The reason to give your partners |
|---|---|---|
| Pilot | One to three clients pass the fit tests, and you can explain the five amounts to each CEO in one meeting | The client knows what you are paid and that nothing comes out of its payout |
| Stay small | The reward would be welcome but your plan cannot rely on it | No budget line; introduce when a client's situation calls for it |
| Expand | At least one introduction has reached a reward statement both sides reconciled, and clients found the conversation useful | Client usefulness is the signal; SourceX has not published conversion rates |
| Decline | Your rules or client promise bar third-party compensation, or your plan needs revenue on a schedule | Channel revenue arrives on SourceX's conditions, not your calendar |
The wider business case, scored on client fit and effort before money, is in should your firm add a data referral program.
Before any money moves: records, rights and the CEO
None of the five amounts exists unless the client fits. Introduced companies need 50+ full-time employees at peak, contractors excluded, years of documented operating history, rights to license the records and a CEO who authorizes the discussion. Companies in the U.S., Canada and the EU qualify, as do companies in the UK, Australia, New Zealand, India, Singapore, South Africa, Latin America, the UAE and Saudi Arabia when at least 70% of the data is in English.
Keep discovery at metadata level: which records, roughly how many, over how many years, in which system, owned by whom. Never ask for files, samples or logins. Material that belongs to the client's own customers is usually not a fit. What stays unknown until SourceX reviews the company: whether the records match current demand, whether contracts limit reuse, and what any payout would be. Your firm must sign the SourceX Channel Partner Agreement, the document once titled the Channel Partner Non-Circumvention and Non-Disclosure Agreement, before it submits an introduction.
Next step
Refer a company. No cap on rewards. Default reward on a company's first qualifying transaction: the greater of $50,000 plus 5% and 15% of Actual Supplier Payout, with no cap; further qualifying transactions first agreed within 12 months of the first Closing pay 15%. Eligibility and payment conditions apply, including the USD 100,000 Minimum Transaction, and a signed Schedule A or addendum can differ. A lead, meeting or signature alone does not trigger payment.
Once your partners agree which of the five amounts is the firm's, register for a partner link, check each client against who qualifies and keep the program terms beside the money-flow diagram when you explain it to a CEO.