Event-Based Referral Tracking
Event-based referral tracking is a model where your application sends explicit attribution and business events. Eligibility and earnings are derived from those events. Payment-coupled tools infer referrals from a billing provider instead.
TinyRefs follows this model by recording attribution explicitly and evaluating referral eligibility from the events you send.
This page defines the model, explains why it exists, and shows when it fits a SaaS referral program.
What event-based means in practice
Events are explicit signals sent by the application. A referral is not inferred from a payment feed. Instead, attribution and business milestones are sent directly, and the system evaluates those facts deterministically.
Explicit signals
Your application sends the events that matter: signup attribution, subscription changes, invoice payments, or custom milestones. The model does not infer behavior without events.
Deterministic outcomes
The same events and rules always produce the same eligibility and earnings results. This keeps reporting and audits consistent.
Conceptual flow
Why traditional tracking falls short
Payment-coupled and marketing-led systems work for simple programs. They often break down when conversion timelines and eligibility rules are more complex.
Trials and delayed conversions
Many referrals begin with a trial. Eligibility often depends on what happens after the trial ends.
Refunds and reversals
Payment-only verification can over-credit when a payment is refunded or reversed. Event-driven rules can account for those states.
Non-payment milestones
Some programs verify based on activation or usage. These are business events, not billing events.
How event-based tracking works at a high level
The model is a lifecycle. Attribution is recorded once, events arrive over time, rules are evaluated, and earnings are written to a ledger that powers reporting.
Attribution
A user signs up with a referral code. Your app sends an attribution event that links the customer to the referrer.
Events over time
Your application sends business events as they occur. These events can span days or months.
Rule evaluation
Eligibility rules are checked against the event history. When conditions are met, an earning is recorded.
Ledger and reporting
Earnings are written to a ledger. Reports and exports are derived from those ledger entries. Payouts are handled externally.
For how eligibility rules work, see custom referral rules.
What this model enables
Event-based tracking makes it possible to match referral credit to real business timelines and billing systems.
Delayed eligibility
Credit can be earned after N billing cycles or after a milestone event. For example, eligibility can start after the third renewal.
Percentage-based earnings
Earnings can be tied to invoices over time. A referrer might earn 1 percent of each invoice for 6 months.
Complex SaaS lifecycles
Trials, upgrades, and pauses are part of the event stream. For example, a referral can pause during a suspension and resume later.
Decoupling from billing providers
Events come from your application, not from a single payment provider. For example, you can send events from Stripe and a custom invoicing system.
See an example in referral after billing cycles.
When this approach is a good fit
Event-based referral tracking fits teams that already model their business as a sequence of events and need referral verification to follow that timeline.
SaaS and subscriptions
Referrals often depend on retention, renewals, or milestones rather than a single payment.
Long or variable conversion timelines
Eligibility can be delayed by weeks or months. Events capture that timeline precisely.
Existing billing logic
You already have systems that know when invoices are paid or contracts are active. Event-based tracking uses those signals.
For SaaS-specific context, see SaaS referral tracking.
When it is not a good fit
Some referral programs do not need event-driven verification.
Influencer payouts
If you need a marketing platform with payout automation, this is the wrong model.
Simple affiliate programs
Programs tied directly to payments do not need event-driven rules.
Turnkey payouts
If you want payouts handled end to end, this model does not provide it.
Related features and examples
If this model fits, these pages go deeper into attribution, rules, and reporting.
Referral attribution
Attribution is recorded explicitly at signup. See referral attribution API.
Custom eligibility rules
Rules determine when a referral becomes eligible. See custom referral rules.
Reporting and exports
Earnings are recorded in a ledger and surfaced as reports. See referral reporting.