Problem
You expect referral fees on a case, but your Referral Partner Dashboard shows no earnings for it. The case may appear in your Cases view, yet the Earnings view either omits it entirely or shows zero referral revenue.
Likely causes
Attribution depends mainly on the client attribution status and the case creation source. A mismatch between these is the most frequent reason fees are missing.
# | Cause | What happened |
1 | Non-attributed client, case created outside your integration | The client already existed in Debitura before you linked them (IsAttributedClient = FALSE). Only cases submitted through your integration (Starter or Full) generate fees. Cases the client creates directly in the Debitura web app, via CSV import, or through other channels do not qualify. |
2 | Client link not yet approved | With the Full Integration, when you called the client creation endpoint for an existing Debitura client, the system returned a 409 conflict and created a pending link request. Debitura does not email that approval URL to the client: your platform must deliver it from the response. With the Starter Integration, Debitura emails one approval invitation to the user you submitted with the collection request, and the same approval link is the collection request's link; no case is created before the client approves. Either way, until the client approves, no link exists, so no cases are attributed to you. |
3 | Client onboarding not complete | A new client received a 202 response (onboarding pending). The client has not yet signed the Standard Debt Collection Agreement. Cases remain in a pending state and attribution is not finalized until onboarding completes. |
4 | Client link was archived or deleted | The link between your platform and the client was archived after the case was created but before a payment generated a payout. An active, non-archived link must exist at payout-creation time for fees to be applied. |
5 | Case created before the link existed | The client created the case in Debitura before your link was established. Attribution is forward-looking only: cases created before the link carry no referral attribution. |
Self-serve checks
Open your Referral Partner Dashboard and work through these checks in order.
1. Confirm the client link exists and is active
Go to the Clients tab.
Search for the client by company name or external tenant ID.
Verify the client appears in the list. If the client is missing, the link was never created or was not approved.
Check the Onboarding Status column. If it shows Pending, the client has not completed the SDCA signing flow. Direct them to the onboarding URL shown in the table.
2. Check the attribution type
In the same Clients tab, look at the Attribution Status column for the client.
If it shows Attributed: all eligible cases from this client should generate fees regardless of how they were created. Each case earns at the rate stored on it under your rate plan, which can be 0% (for example, on the Link plan, a new case created on or after the third anniversary of the client's link to you). You also earn no referral share on payments received while your own firm is the collection partner on the case.
If it shows Non-Attributed: only cases submitted through your integration (Starter or Full) generate fees. Cases the client creates directly in the Debitura web app will not produce referral revenue for you.
3. Verify the case appears in your dashboard
Go to the Cases tab.
Search for the case by reference number, debtor name, or client name.
If the case does not appear at all, it was likely created outside your integration (and the client is non-attributed), or the link did not exist when the case was created.
4. Check the earnings for the case
Go to the Earnings tab.
Search for the case reference.
If the case appears with a referral fee amount, attribution is working. The fee may still be in the Unrecognized stage if the collection partner's commission on the payment is not yet settled. See Revenue sharing and financial reconciliation for details on revenue stages.
If the case does not appear in Earnings at all, attribution was not applied to this case.
How to resolve each cause
Cause | Resolution |
Non-attributed client, wrong creation source | Ensure cases are submitted through your integration (Starter or Full). Cases created by the client directly in the Debitura web app will not generate fees for non-attributed clients. See Referral program overview for the full attribution rules. |
Link not approved | The client must approve the link request. With the Full Integration, Debitura does not email the approval link: your platform must deliver the approval URL returned in the 409 response (by redirect, an in-app prompt or your own email). Confirm it was delivered, then ask the client to open it and complete the approval. The approval window is configurable per partner (default 7 days, up to 30); your developer can confirm what your partnership is set to. If a Full Integration request has expired you will have received a |
Onboarding not complete | Direct the client to the onboarding URL visible in your Dashboard's Clients tab. They need to sign the SDCA before cases can proceed. See Customer signup / activation issues for more help. |
Link archived or deleted | Contact Debitura support. Only Debitura can un-archive a link or investigate why it was archived. |
Case created before link existed | Attribution is forward-looking only. Pre-existing cases cannot be retroactively attributed. Future cases created after the link is active will generate fees according to the attribution rules. |
Escalation
If the checks above do not resolve the issue, contact Debitura's partnerships team at [email protected]. Include the following information to speed up the investigation:
Case reference number (e.g., DEB-12345)
Client company name and your external tenant ID for the client
How the case was created (through your integration, or another method)
Expected outcome (e.g., "I expected referral fees because the client is attributed")
What you observed in the Dashboard (e.g., "Case appears in Cases tab but not in Earnings tab")
Debitura will investigate the attribution logic, verify the link status, and confirm whether the case's creation source qualifies for referral fees. Disputes should be raised within 30 days of the relevant reporting period.