Sumline Affiliate Program Terms

1. Eligibility and approval

You must have a Sumline account and be at least 18 years old to apply. Applications are reviewed by hand and approval is at Sumline's sole discretion. We may decline an application without giving a reason.

You join as an independent contractor. Nothing in these terms creates an employment, partnership, joint venture or agency relationship, and you may not sign agreements, make commitments or incur costs on Sumline's behalf.

You are responsible for your own taxes on any commission you receive.

2. Affiliate links and attribution

On approval you receive a unique affiliate code. Your affiliate link adds that code to a Sumline URL, for example https://usesumline.com/?aff=yourcode.

Attribution is first touch and lasts 60 days. When a visitor arrives through your link, that code is stored in their browser for 60 days. If the same browser later arrives through a different affiliate link inside that window, the first code is kept. Attribution is recorded once the visitor creates a Sumline account, and it is then permanently attached to that account.

Attribution depends on the visitor's browser accepting local storage and on them completing signup in the same browser. Sumline is not able to credit referrals where tracking data was blocked, cleared or lost.

You may not alter, mask, cloak or wrap affiliate links in a way that hides that they are affiliate links, and you may not place your code on someone else's referral traffic.

3. Commission rate

Approved affiliates earn 30% of the net amount actually paid on each qualifying subscription invoice from a referred customer, in the currency of that invoice.

Commission is calculated on the amount Sumline collects, excluding taxes, credits, discounts and refunds. Sumline may set a different rate for an individual affiliate in writing; the rate shown on your affiliate dashboard is the rate that applies to you.

4. Eligible products

Commission is earned on paid recurring Sumline subscriptions — currently Estate Pro and the Partner plan — purchased by a referred customer.

Commission is not earned on the free tier, on one-off PDF report purchases, on API or MCP usage, on taxes, or on any amount that is refunded, credited or never collected.

5. Recurring commission treatment

Commission is recurring: you earn on each successful subscription payment a referred customer makes, for as long as their subscription stays active and the program remains in effect.

A commission is created only when Stripe confirms the invoice was genuinely paid. Failed, unpaid, voided and $0 invoices earn nothing. If a customer cancels and later resubscribes, resubscription payments are treated on the same basis as the original attribution.

6. Refunds, chargebacks and disputes

If a payment is refunded in whole or in part, a matching reversal is recorded against your commission balance. If a customer raises a chargeback or payment dispute and the funds are withdrawn, the related commission is reversed. If a dispute is later resolved in Sumline's favour and the funds are reinstated, the commission is reinstated.

Reversals may produce a negative balance. Negative amounts carry forward and are offset against future commissions before any payment is made.

Sumline may withhold or reverse commission on any transaction it reasonably believes to be fraudulent, self-referred, duplicated, or obtained in breach of these terms.

7. 30-day maturity period

Each commission matures 30 days after the payment that created it. Commission that has not matured is shown as pending and is not payable, because a payment can still be refunded or disputed inside that window.

Only matured, unpaid, positive-balance commission is included in a payout run.

8. Minimum payout

The minimum payout is $25 USD in matured commission. If your matured balance is below the minimum at the end of a payout run, it carries forward and is added to the next run.

9. Payment method and timing

Payouts are made by PayPal to the payout email on your affiliate profile. Payout runs are processed monthly, normally within the first 15 days of the following month, covering commission that matured on or before the end of the payout period.

You are responsible for keeping your payout email accurate. Sumline is not liable for payments sent to an incorrect address you supplied, and may pause a payout while it verifies account details.

Any PayPal or currency-conversion fees charged on the transfer are your responsibility unless Sumline states otherwise in writing.

10. Self-referrals

You may not use your own affiliate link for your own subscription. This includes accounts in your name, your business's name, your household, or any account you control or benefit from directly. Self-referrals are detected and voided, and repeated attempts are grounds for termination.

You may not offer cash rebates, kickbacks or other incentives that effectively pay a customer to sign up through your link.

11. Misleading claims

You may not make claims about Sumline that are inaccurate, exaggerated or unsupported. This includes inventing features, guaranteeing financial results, promising pricing or discounts Sumline does not offer, or implying that Sumline provides legal, tax, accounting, appraisal or investment advice.

Sumline's calculators are estimation tools. Do not present their output as a guarantee of a transaction outcome.

You may not present yourself as Sumline, as a Sumline employee, or as an official Sumline support channel. Use of the Sumline name and logo is limited to accurately promoting Sumline and may be withdrawn at any time.

12. Brand-keyword advertising

You may not bid on "Sumline", "usesumline", or close variants and misspellings as keywords on Google Ads, Microsoft/Bing Ads or any other search or app-store advertising platform, and you may not use them in ad display URLs.

You may not run ads that send traffic to a domain designed to look like Sumline's, and you may not register domains, subdomains, app names or social handles containing the Sumline name.

Paid advertising on content, email, social and video platforms — including YouTube, TikTok, Instagram, Facebook and LinkedIn — is allowed, provided it follows every other rule in these terms.

13. Spam and unlawful promotion

You may not promote Sumline through unsolicited bulk email or SMS, purchased contact lists, automated posting, forum or comment spam, coupon or cashback injection, browser extensions that rewrite links, adware, or any method that breaches the CAN-SPAM Act, the TCPA or any other applicable law.

You must honour opt-out requests immediately and comply with the terms of every platform you promote on.

14. Disclosure requirements

You must clearly and conspicuously disclose your affiliate relationship wherever you promote Sumline, in line with the FTC Endorsement Guides. The disclosure must be visible before or alongside the link — not buried in a footer, behind a click, or only in a description that requires expanding.

Plain wording such as "I earn a commission if you subscribe through my link" is sufficient.

15. Suspension and termination

You may leave the program at any time by asking us to close your affiliate account. Sumline may suspend or terminate an affiliate account at any time, with or without notice, including for breach of these terms, fraudulent or manipulated referrals, reputational risk, or prolonged inactivity.

On suspension, referral tracking and payouts pause while we review the account.

16. Treatment of earned commissions

If you leave the program voluntarily, or Sumline ends the program or your participation for reasons other than breach or fraud, commission already matured and validated at that date is paid on the next scheduled payout run, subject to the $25 minimum. Commission that has not yet matured is paid once it matures, provided the underlying payment is not refunded or disputed.

If your account is terminated for breach, fraud, self-referral or unlawful promotion, unpaid commission — matured or not — may be forfeited, and Sumline may reclaim commission already paid on the affected transactions.

Once you stop being an affiliate, no new commission is earned on future payments from customers you previously referred.

17. Changes to the program

Sumline may change these terms, the commission rate, the eligible products, the maturity period, the minimum payout or the payout method at any time. Material changes are published on this page with a new version number and effective date, and where practical we will notify active affiliates by email.

Changes apply to commission earned after the effective date; they do not retroactively reduce commission already earned and validated. Continuing to promote Sumline after a change takes effect means you accept the updated terms.

Sumline may end the affiliate program entirely on 30 days' notice, with earned commission treated under section 16.

18. Governing law

These Terms are governed by the laws of Queensland, Australia. The parties submit to the non-exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of Queensland and the Commonwealth of Australia.

19. General

The affiliate program is provided "as is". To the maximum extent permitted by law, Sumline is not liable for indirect, incidental or consequential losses, or for lost profits or anticipated commission, arising from your participation. Sumline's total liability to you under these terms is limited to the commission payable to you in the three months before the claim.

You may not transfer your affiliate account or your rights under these terms to anyone else without Sumline's written consent. If any part of these terms is found unenforceable, the rest continues to apply.

Questions about these terms: support@usesumline.com.