Can a fee-only financial planner accept a referral fee?

Does a referral reward break the fee-only label?

It can. The CFP Board defines fee-only by what compensation a planner may receive, and NAPFA's fee-only standard is likewise built on the absence of commissions and sales-related pay. Whether a given referral payment counts as sales-related compensation depends on the current wording of each definition, which is not reproduced here. Both organizations update their wording, so read the current text before relying on this summary. The practical rule is simple: if a reward is contingent on a client buying or doing something because you referred them, treat it as suspect for a fee-only planner.

This is general information, not legal, tax or financial advice. Confirm with your own counsel, compliance officer or professional body before acting.

How a SourceX reward looks through a fee-only lens

A planner's client who owns a business may hold years of operational records that AI developers want to license. If you introduce that business to SourceX and the deal closes and is paid, SourceX may pay you a reward from its own fee. The client's company is not charged for your reward. Even so, the money arrives because of a referral, and that is the feature fee-only standards look at.

Three ways to handle it

1. Decline the reward. Make the introduction as a courtesy, tell the client you receive nothing, and keep your label intact. SourceX's program terms govern what is possible, so ask before assuming a partner can waive a reward.
2. Take the reward and stop using the label. Some planners move to a description such as fee-based or fee-and-reward, but that has marketing and regulatory consequences. Do this only after compliance and your standard-setter have weighed in.
3. Route it elsewhere. A separate, unaffiliated business that you do not control may be the partner instead. Be careful: a structure built to avoid the definition can look like exactly that, and regulators and clients will ask what you really receive.

What disclosure still has to happen

Even if you decline the reward, tell the client that you are making an introduction and that you may have relationships with the other party. If you keep any benefit, put the arrangement in writing before the introduction. The same instinct runs through other professions, such as tax preparers and management consultants, who are asked to make third-party pay visible to the client.

For any public mention of the program, the FTC's Endorsement Guides FAQ explains that a connection between a recommender and the marketer that consumers would not expect should be disclosed clearly and conspicuously. That obligation is separate from the fee-only definitions.

How rewards work if you do proceed

Partners earn 25% of the eligible platform fees SourceX actually collects from the referred company's licensing deals, capped at $100,000 per referred company. The reward is paid only after the buyer pays and SourceX receives its fee; an introduction, meeting or signed agreement alone does not trigger payment, and no reward is guaranteed. The reward is a share of SourceX's fee and never reduces what the company receives.

When to leave it alone

• Your engagement letters promise that you receive compensation only from clients.
• The client is an individual without an operating company; the program needs a US company with 50+ full-time employees at peak (contractors excluded).
• You cannot get a written answer from compliance or your standard-setter.

If you are unsure whether the client's company fits, the company fit checker offers a preliminary, non-binding screen with no contact details required.

Next step

Send the CFP Board or NAPFA a one-paragraph description of the arrangement and ask for a written view. If the answer works for you, register as a partner. Intermediaries who sell businesses meet a similar question about third-party pay, and referral opportunities for business brokers shows how that audience frames it.