Most affiliate programs don't need dedicated software. They need a clear payout workflow, a place to track referrals, and a payment processor that doesn't eat your margin. If you're sending Stripe payouts manually and tracking referrals in a spreadsheet, you're not chaotic—you're efficient. But there's a ceiling. This playbook shows you how to build that ceiling higher before you hit it, and how to know when it's time to stop. The three-layer stack: spreadsheet, CRM, payment processor You need three things: a record of who referred whom, a calculation of what they're owed, and a way to pay them. A spreadsheet handles the first two; a payment processor handles the third. Your CRM sits in the middle, connecting referral source to customer revenue. Here's why this works at small to mid scale: Spreadsheet: Tracks affiliate identity, commission rate, total earned, and payout status. It's searchable, version-controlled (if you use Google Sheets or OneDrive), and needs no new login. CRM: Stores the customer record, links it to the referring affiliate (as a custom field or related contact), and tracks invoice or subscription value. This is your source of truth for revenue. Payment processor: Stripe or Wise for payouts. Direct bank transfer, no middleman. At 50+ affiliates, Stripe's payout fees (1% for US bank transfers, often higher for international) start to matter. Wise costs flat £1–2 per transfer but requires affiliate banking details upfront. The workflow is monthly: pull customer revenue from your CRM, calculate commissions in the spreadsheet, and batch-payout via Stripe or Wise. Commission math that doesn't bleed money Your commission structure decides whether affiliates stay or leave. The most common mistake is setting the rate without asking: "What's the margin protecting us if the affiliate spams or refers low-quality customers?" Start here: Service or SaaS: 20–30% of your gross margin, not revenue. If you sell at £100 with 60% margin (£60 profit), and affiliate commission is 25% of margin, the affiliate gets £15. You keep £45. This survives one bad referral. Product: 5–15% of sale price. Physical goods or lower-margin digital products can't afford 25% margin commission. Shopify affiliates earn 5–20%; Amazon Affiliates earn 1–10%. Recurring revenue: Tiered, not one-time. Pay 30% commission on the first three months, then 5% on months 4–12, then 0% after the customer has paid 12 months of subscription. This aligns the affiliate's incentive (acquire, not churn) with yours. Write this in the spreadsheet as a formula, not a manual lookup. If your commission rate changes—and it will—one cell update recalculates 50 affiliates' earnings. A tiered commission on recurring revenue stops affiliates from signing up customers and disappearing. They stay engaged because their payout depends on customer retention, not first-month churn. The spreadsheet schema that survives growth Your spreadsheet has three sheets: Affiliates, Referrals, and Payouts. Don't merge them. Separation is how you audit errors without rewriting formulas. Sheet 1: Affiliates Affiliate ID (unique identifier, e.g., "affiliate_001") Name Email Payment method (Stripe recipient ID, or bank details for Wise) Tax ID (SSN for US, ABN for Australia, NPWP for Indonesia—collected upfront) Commission rate (as % or formula reference) Status (active, inactive, suspended) Notes Sheet 2: Referrals Referral ID (unique) Affiliate ID (links to Sheet 1) Customer ID (links to your CRM) Customer name Referral date First invoice date Invoice value (£ or $) Commission earned (= Invoice value × Commission rate from Sheet 1) Payout date (blank until payout is sent) Status (pending, paid, disputed) Sheet 3: Payouts Payout ID (unique) Payout date (when you sent it) Affiliate ID Period (e.g., "Jan 2025") Total commission (sum of all referrals for this affiliate in this period) Amount paid (total commission minus any disputes or holds) Payment method used (Stripe or Wise) Receipt (transaction ID from processor) Link Sheet 2 and Sheet 3 with SUMIF or VLOOKUP formulas. When you add a new referral to Sheet 2, it automatically updates the affiliate's pending balance and the next payout total. Tax ID collection: Do it at sign-up, not at first payout If your affiliate is in the US, they'll want a 1099. Outside the US, tax rules vary sharply: SSN equivalents in Australia (ABN or TFN), Indonesia (NPWP), Malaysia (MyKad or SSM registration), and Singapore (NRIC or registration number for businesses) are not optional—they're required by law for affiliate payments. Collect this the day they sign up. Don't wait for the first payout. Here's why: You'll owe it to tax authorities if audited, even retroactively. Chasing it after months of referrals is friction: they've moved, forgotten, or gone silent. Some affiliates will refuse to provide it, and you'll have caught that before investing in the partnership. Use a simple sign-up form (Google Forms or a form in your AI website chat widget wo