# Partner firm internal reward split: checklist | SourceX

Canonical: https://refer.sourcex.si/guides/a-partner-firm-s-internal-reward-allocation-needs-its-own-agreement
Last updated: 2026-11-05

SourceX pays the partner named in the signed Channel Partner Agreement, whether that is a firm or an individual, and nothing in its terms or agreement says how a firm divides a reward among the people who made an introduction possible. That division needs its own written agreement, settled before the first introduction: who counts as a contributor, what each share is calculated on, when it is paid, and what happens after a reduction, a departure or a reward that never arrives.

Firms that skip this step usually discover it when money is late, smaller than someone expected, or arrives after the person who knew the CEO has left. Who in the firm submits an introduction is a separate question, answered in the [attribution FAQ for a multi-partner firm](/guides/the-referral-attribution-faq-for-a-multi-partner-firm); this page starts once the firm is the partner and asks how the money is shared. The checklist below is built to be agreed in a single meeting and signed off by whoever approves compensation in the firm.

## What SourceX decides, and what it leaves to the firm

The program draws a clear line around the partner and stops there.

| Question | What SourceX's documents say | What the firm must decide |
|---|---|---|
| Who the partner is | The party named in the signed agreement, an individual or an entity with its type and jurisdiction; the signatory represents authority to bind it | Which colleagues may introduce companies under the firm's account |
| Who gets credit for a company | One partner per company: the first valid introduction within 90 days, once a verified application is submitted | Which colleague's work counts internally |
| What the reward is | On a company's first qualifying transaction, the greater of $50,000 plus 5% and 15% of Actual Supplier Payout, with no cap; repeats first agreed within 12 months pay 15% | How the amount received is divided |
| When it is paid | After the conditions in section 5 of the terms | When internal shares are paid out |
| What a reduction does | The reward is reduced; an overpaid reward may be offset against later rewards or recovered where the law permits | Who inside the firm bears an offset |
| Moving the account | Assignment needs SourceX's written consent, except in a merger or sale where the successor takes on the obligations | What a departing colleague keeps |
| Who sees deal updates | Employees, professional advisers and service providers who need them and are bound by equally protective confidentiality duties | Which colleagues are told what, and when |
| The relationship | Independent contractors; no partnership or employment relationship with SourceX | Payroll and tax treatment of each share |

The [program terms](/terms) deal with the partner they credit, and say nothing about colleagues, employees or internal splits. That silence is the reason the firm's own agreement has to exist.

## The base every internal share should use

Calculate each share as a percentage of the reward the firm has actually received. Not the figure shown when the company signed its Confirmation, not the greater of $50,000 plus 5% and 15% of the deal, and not a reward that is merely Eligible.

Three features of the program make anything else unsafe. First, the base moves: before the company is paid any reward shown is an estimate, and a later reduction of the company's payout reduces the reward. Second, the formula changes after the first deal: the USD 50,000 floor is paid once per company, across every agreement, installment, repeat license and renewal, so a second deal with the same company pays 15% of its payout with no floor, and only if it is first agreed within 12 months of the first Closing. The floor also treats a parent and its subsidiaries as a single company. Third, timing depends on conditions the firm does not control. A percentage of cash received corrects itself in all three cases; a dollar figure promised in a meeting does not.

The same logic applies when two colleagues each bring a deal with one company: the floor is paid once, on the first qualifying transaction, and the internal agreement should say in advance whether the second deal's contributors share in it or take their split of 15% alone.

## The internal allocation review checklist

Twelve points to settle in writing. The right-hand column is the program fact or clause that makes each one necessary.

| # | Settle in writing | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Whether the firm or an individual is the partner of record, and who signed for it | SourceX pays the named party; the signatory represents authority to bind it (agreement 7.1) |
| 2 | That no colleague registers separately for companies met through firm work | Some employers require the firm itself to be the partner; see [employee referral rewards and employer consent](/questions/employee-referral-fee-outside-employer-consent) |
| 3 | Which roles count as contributors: the person who knew the CEO, the relationship owner, the person who checked fit | Only one partner is credited per company, so internal credit needs its own rule; duplicate claims inside a firm are covered in [preventing duplicate claims](/guides/how-to-prevent-duplicate-claims-before-they-reach-sourcex) |
| 4 | Shares as percentages of the reward actually received | Before the company is paid, any reward shown is an estimate (terms section 4) |
| 5 | A payout date for shares, counted from receipt, and no advances against an Estimated status | Payment waits for acceptance, handoff, cleared funds, payment of the company and finance approval (section 5) |
| 6 | One floor per company group, and whose deal carries it | The USD 50,000 floor applies once per referred company, parent and subsidiaries together, and not again on a repeat, renewal or amendment |
| 7 | Pro-rata adjustment of every share after a reduction, and the right to net it against later shares | An overpaid reward may be offset against later rewards or recovered (Schedule A 7) |
| 8 | What a colleague who leaves keeps: rewards received before leaving, after leaving, and on later deals | Earned rewards stay payable to the partner after participation ends (section 10); later deals count only if agreed inside the term or Protection Period (Schedule A 6); see [when a partner changes employers](/guides/a-partner-changes-employers-who-owns-the-active-referral) |
| 9 | Who tracks the agreement's one-year term, its renewal by fresh signature and the six-month Protection Period | Repeat licenses outside those dates earn nothing unless agreed in writing (agreement 5.1, 5.2) |
| 10 | Which colleagues see deal updates, and that nobody asks the company for its records | Updates come as generic stages or reference codes (4.6); partners stay at metadata level and never handle raw client records |
| 11 | How each share is paid: payroll for employees, a written contract for anyone outside the firm, and any professional rules on referral fees | Treatment differs by recipient; see the section below and [whether a tax preparer can accept a referral fee](/questions/can-a-tax-preparer-accept-a-referral-fee) |
| 12 | An internal route for disputes about shares | SourceX reviews disputes about attribution, eligibility and reward decisions with the partner (section 7), not disputes inside the firm |

## One introduction, five ways the money arrives (Illustrative)

Illustrative. A 14-person operations consultancy is the partner of record. Its internal agreement, invented for this example, splits each reward it receives 50% to the colleague who knew the CEO, 30% to the engagement lead who owns the client relationship and 20% to the firm. The introduced company is a 300-person regional HVAC services group. Each row is a separate path from the same introduction, not a sequence.

| Case | What happens | Firm receives | Colleague who knew the CEO, 50% | Engagement lead, 30% | Firm, 20% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| A. As planned | The company is paid $160,000 on its first deal: USD 50,000 plus 5%, which beats 15% | $58,000 | $29,000 | $17,400 | $11,600 |
| B. Late, after a departure | As in A, but buyer funds clear months late and the originator has left by then | $58,000 | $29,000 or $0, by clause 8 | $17,400 | $11,600 or $40,600 |
| C. Repeat deal | After A, the company is paid $320,000 on a second deal first agreed within 12 months; the floor does not repeat, so the reward is 15% | $48,000 more | $24,000 | $14,400 | $9,600 |
| D. Cut after payment | Instead, the company's compensation on the first deal is lawfully cut from $160,000 to $120,000; the 5% element falls with it | $56,000 in all; $2,000 offset later | Less $1,000 | Less $600 | Less $400 |
| E. Never closes | The data is declined at the Closing Deadline | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 |

**Case B** is where firms without a written allocation argue. If shares vest when the firm receives the money and the person is still employed, the firm keeps the originator's $29,000; if shares vest when the introduction is recorded, the leaver is owed it on receipt. Either rule is defensible. Having none means deciding it after the money is visible, which is the worst moment.

**Case C** shows why fixed promises fail: anyone told "the second deal pays you what the first did" expected $29,000 and receives $24,000, because the floor is paid once and a repeat earns 15%. **Case D** shows why the right to net matters: the firm may already have paid $29,000, $17,400 and $11,600, and SourceX may offset the $2,000 against a later reward. The arithmetic of that recalculation is worked through in the [reversal examples](/guides/supplier-payout-reversal-referral-reward).

## Employees, owners and outside contributors

**Employees.** IRS Publication 15 lists bonuses and commissions among supplemental wages, payments to an employee that are not regular wages. A share passed to an employee is therefore normally a payroll item for the firm, not a side payment, and the firm's payroll provider or tax adviser decides the mechanics.

**Owners.** In a partnership or company owned by several principals, how a reward flows to the owners follows the firm's own governing documents. The allocation agreement should point to them rather than restate them.

**Outside contributors.** A freelancer or former colleague who made the warm introduction is not a party to the firm's agreement with SourceX, and SourceX pays only the partner. Any payment to them is the firm's own contract. Before sharing deal updates with them, check that they fall within the agreement's permitted recipients and are bound by confidentiality duties at least as protective as the firm's.

**Professional rules.** Accountants, lawyers and registered representatives can face rules on accepting or disclosing referral fees that apply to the firm and to individuals. Those rules sit on top of anything in this checklist; accounting firms can start from the [CPA firm referral fee policy template](/resources/cpa-firm-referral-fee-policy-template). The [co-broker comparison](/compare/co-broker-fee-split-business-broker) shows how a familiar split differs from this program. If the question is instead whether the firm should license its own records, the partner approvals involved are covered on the main site in [partner approvals for licensing firm data](https://sourcex.si/insights/partner-approvals-for-licensing-firm-data-what-your-agreement-says).

## Promises to keep out of internal emails

- "You will get $20,000 when they sign." No share exists until the reward is received.
- "Half of everything that company ever licenses is yours." Later deals count only inside the agreement's dates and the 12-month Repeat Window, at 15% with no floor.
- "SourceX will pay each of us directly." SourceX pays one partner.
- "Get a sample of their records so we can size it." Partners stay at metadata level: what records exist, how many, over how many years, in which system and who owns them.

The introduction has to be sound before any of this matters: a company whose full-time headcount reached 50 or more at peak, not counting contractors, with a documented operating history, the rights to license its records and a CEO who wants to talk.

## 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.

Sign the internal allocation first, then [register the firm for a partner link](/register), check each company against [who qualifies](/who-qualifies), and keep sections 4, 5 and 10 of the [program terms](/terms) attached to the allocation so every colleague reads the same rules.

## Sources

- https://refer.sourcex.si/terms
- https://sourcex.si/documents/partner/SourceX_Channel_Partner_Agreement_Sample.pdf
- https://www.irs.gov/publications/p15
- https://refer.sourcex.si/rewards