# Firm referral attribution policy FAQ | SourceX

Canonical: https://refer.sourcex.si/guides/the-referral-attribution-faq-for-a-multi-partner-firm
Last updated: 2026-11-05

SourceX credits one partner per company: the first valid introduction of a company new to SourceX, once that company submits a verified application within 90 days. A firm's policy cannot create, split or move that credit. It can decide who in the firm submits, under which signed agreement, and how colleagues avoid colliding. Write the policy around that line, settle internal claims before anyone writes to a CEO, and send what only SourceX's records can answer to its duplicate review.

Firms with many partners meet attribution questions that a solo introducer never does: two colleagues who both know a client's CEO, an associate with a personal account, a client group with five entities. Most of those questions have an owner. The trouble starts when a firm answers one that belongs to SourceX, or leaves one of its own unanswered.

## Five deciders, and why the firm controls one of them

Every attribution question in a firm lands with one of five deciders. The firm's own policy is only one.

| Decider | What it settles | Where it is written |
|---|---|---|
| The firm's policy | Who may submit, under which account; the internal claim register; how colleagues' claims are ranked; how any reward is shared inside the firm | The firm's referral policy and its partnership or employment documents |
| The signed Channel Partner Agreement | Who the Partner is, an individual or an entity named with its type and jurisdiction; what an introduction record contains; the reward formula, base and floor in Schedule A | The signed agreement and its Schedule A |
| SourceX's published terms | First valid introduction, the 90-day window, one partner per company, duplicates | The program terms, Version 2026-10-22.2, since replaced by version 2026-11-04 |
| SourceX's duplicate review | Anything that turns on SourceX's own records or on contested evidence between partners | SourceX's decision, explained with reference codes and status |
| Professional rules | Whether a licensed professional may accept a reward for a particular client, and what must be disclosed | State boards and professional bodies |

Firms that already run conflict checks will recognize the shape. The comment to the ABA's Model Rule 1.7 says a lawyer should adopt reasonable procedures, appropriate for the size and type of firm and practice, to determine the persons and issues involved. A referral claim register scales the same way: a six-person practice can keep it in a shared sheet, while a firm of two hundred needs a mandatory check before any introduction leaves the building. Accounting firms have a further test on attest clients, set out in the [CPA firm referral fee policy template](/resources/cpa-firm-referral-fee-policy-template) and in [whether a CPA partner's personal referral fee is a firm matter](/questions/cpa-firm-partner-personal-referral-fee); lawyers should start with [whether lawyers can accept referral fees](/questions/can-lawyers-accept-referral-fees).

## Rebuild the firm's side of the timeline

A dispute inside a firm usually turns on a date nobody wrote down: when a colleague first claimed the company. Put every event on one line, with who holds the record.

| Event | The record | Who holds it |
|---|---|---|
| The firm, or the individual, signs the Channel Partner Agreement | A signing record naming the Party, the authorized signatory, the document version and the date | The signer and SourceX |
| A colleague claims a company internally | A register entry with the date, legal name, website domain and the claimant | The firm only |
| The client relationship partner agrees to the approach | An email or register note | The firm only |
| The CEO agrees to be introduced | An email recording the opt-in | The firm |
| The written introduction and portal submission | The sent email and the portal timestamp | The firm and SourceX |
| The company applies | The application record | SourceX |
| Any earlier contact between SourceX and the company | SourceX's own records | SourceX only |

The last row matters most and is the one the firm cannot see. Under the terms, if SourceX already had the company as a lead or account, or had any email correspondence with it before the firm's introduction, that is a relationship, and the company is a duplicate however good the firm's records are.

## The internal attribution question pack

Fourteen questions, in the order a firm meets them. The third column says who answers; where it is not the firm, the policy should quote the answer rather than invent one.

| # | Question | Who answers | The answer, or the term that governs it |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Is the Partner the firm or an individual professional? | The firm chooses; the signed agreement records it | The agreement names an individual or an entity, and the signatory represents authority to bind it; see [firm or individual credit](/questions/who-gets-referral-credit-firm-or-individual) |
| 2 | Can several colleagues work under the firm's agreement? | The agreement, then SourceX | The agreement lets a Party share confidential information with employees who need it and makes it responsible for their compliance; the terms do not describe multi-user accounts, so ask SourceX how colleagues' submissions are recorded |
| 3 | Who receives any reward? | The signed agreement | The Partner, once it has given accurate identity, payment and tax details; internal sharing is the firm's own matter |
| 4 | May this professional accept a reward for this client at all? | Professional rules and firm counsel | Checked before the claim is logged, not after the deal |
| 5 | Is the company already claimed inside the firm? | The firm's register | Search by legal name and domain, then log a dated claim |
| 6 | Does the colleague who spotted the fit own the client relationship? | The firm's policy | The relationship owner asks the CEO; the spotter's register entry still records who found it |
| 7 | Is the company one entity or part of a group? | The firm for its register; SourceX for credit | A parent and its subsidiaries count as one company, so the USD 50,000 floor applies once across the group; credit for separate entities in one group is decided in SourceX's duplicate review |
| 8 | Has the company dealt with SourceX before? | SourceX | Any earlier application, lead, account or email correspondence makes it a duplicate; the firm can ask the CEO, but only SourceX can check |
| 9 | Has the CEO agreed, in writing? | The firm's practice | Introductions made without the decision maker's knowledge are usually not a fit; the CEO authorizes a licensing discussion |
| 10 | What must the introduction record contain? | The signed agreement | Company, domain, Partner, opportunity, introduction method and timestamps; an oral introduction is confirmed in writing |
| 11 | When does the clock start, and what if it runs out? | Schedule A and the terms | A verified application must follow within 90 days of the recorded introduction; a lapsed introduction is not credited, and a later one is judged in duplicate review |
| 12 | Two colleagues claim the same company | The firm, if both acted under one agreement; SourceX, if two partner accounts submitted | One Partner means the firm's policy ranks them; two partners means the first valid introduction is credited |
| 13 | A colleague leaves with an open referral | The signed agreement | Credit follows the Partner named in it; assignment must not defeat existing attribution or payment rights; see [when a partner changes employers](/guides/a-partner-changes-employers-who-owns-the-active-referral) |
| 14 | Someone outside the firm introduced the same company | SourceX's duplicate review | Decided from dated records; partners never receive access to other partners' records |

## Three timelines inside one firm (Illustrative)

Illustrative: an invented 60-person advisory firm, dates in 2027, current terms assumed throughout.

**Timeline A: two colleagues, one agreement.** The firm signed the Channel Partner Agreement as an entity on 5 January.

| Date | Event | Governing rule |
|---|---|---|
| 3 Feb | A tax partner logs a claim for a 180-person logistics client in the register | Firm policy, question 5 |
| 10 Feb | An advisory partner, who did not check the register, emails the CEO after the CEO agreed, and submits on the firm's account | Firm policy, question 12 |
| 24 Feb | The company applies, 14 days after the recorded introduction | Schedule A: within 90 days |

Both colleagues acted for the same Partner, so the one-partner rule is not engaged and nothing goes to SourceX. The firm's policy decides which colleague it recognizes; this firm's rule says the earlier register entry, so the tax partner is recorded as the originator.

**Timeline B: a personal account against the firm's.** A senior manager registered personally in November 2026. On 14 January she emails the CEO of a 240-person engineering client, who has agreed, and submits on her own account. On 20 January the engagement partner submits the same company on the firm's account. The company applies on 2 February. SourceX now sees two partners, and section 2 of the terms governs: the first valid introduction of a new company is credited, decided from dated records in duplicate review. The firm's December rule against personal accounts for client work is an employment matter between the firm and the manager. It does not decide SourceX's credit, and the terms describe no way to move credit between partners afterwards.

**Timeline C: a group with two front doors.** On 3 March a firm partner introduces the CEO of a 300-person holding group. On 9 March an outside consultant, a different partner, introduces the CEO of one of its operating subsidiaries. Both companies apply. SourceX counts a parent and its subsidiaries as one company, so the USD 50,000 floor applies once across the group. Illustrative arithmetic: if the group's first qualifying transaction paid an Actual Supplier Payout of USD 500,000, the reward would be USD 75,000, the greater of USD 50,000 plus 5% and 15%; a further qualifying transaction with any group entity first agreed within 12 months of that first Closing would pay 15% of its payout, with no floor and no cap. Whether the consultant can be credited for the subsidiary is not settled by the terms; SourceX decides it in duplicate review. The firm's register should hold the group as one row with every entity listed.

## Send SourceX only what its review needs

A conflict between colleagues under one agreement is the firm's to settle; send SourceX nothing. A conflict between two partners goes to the address Schedule A gives for disputes, hello@sourcex.si, with five items:

1. The company's legal name and website domain, and the group structure if one exists.
2. The signed agreement you submitted under, with its date and the Partner it names.
3. The unedited written introduction to the CEO, with its headers.
4. The portal submission reference and timestamp.
5. One line on the CEO's opt-in: the date, who spoke to whom, what was agreed.

Leave out client records, exports and anything belonging to the other partner. The agreement adds a rule worth copying into the firm's policy: a pending competing claim must be recorded and resolved in good faith, and a dispute must not erase original evidence. A standing log built from the [company introduction record template](/resources/a-company-introduction-record-template) keeps all five items in one place.

## What no firm policy can change

- **One partner per company.** A policy can rank colleagues; it cannot credit two partners for one company or divide a reward between them.
- **The 90-day window.** Internal delay does not extend it.
- **The duplicate rule.** A company that already had an application, relationship or earlier valid introduction with SourceX is not credited to a later partner, whatever the register says.
- **The reward terms.** The formula, base and floor change only through a signed Schedule A or an expressly agreed addendum.
- **Other partners' files.** Partners never see them, and a firm cannot ask for them.

The rules for preventing a collision before submission, across firms as well as inside one, are in [how to prevent duplicate claims before they reach SourceX](/guides/how-to-prevent-duplicate-claims-before-they-reach-sourcex). This internal FAQ is a different document from the FAQ a company gives its own staff when it licenses records, which SourceX publishes as a [data licensing FAQ template for employees](https://sourcex.si/templates/data-licensing-faq-for-employees).

## 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.

Decide which entity signs before the first colleague submits: [register as a partner](/register) under that name, check each client against [who qualifies](/who-qualifies), and quote sections 2, 3 and 7 of the [program terms](/terms) in the firm's policy; more attribution cases are in the [guides hub](/guides).

## Sources

- https://refer.sourcex.si/terms
- https://sourcex.si/documents/partner/SourceX_Channel_Partner_Agreement_Sample.pdf
- https://refer.sourcex.si/who-qualifies
- https://www.americanbar.org/groups/professional_responsibility/publications/model_rules_of_professional_conduct/rule_1_7_conflict_of_interest_current_clients/comment_on_rule_1_7/