Affiliate Program Review Template: Year-End Process

Quick answer: An affiliate program review template helps you audit partners, commissions, and ROI so you can cut waste and scale what worked before next year.

Why a Year End Affiliate Review Matters

Most affiliate programs drift over time. Commissions stay the same, partners change behavior, and reporting habits get sloppy. A proper year end affiliate review gives you clarity before you lock in next year’s targets. It shows which partners actually drive profitable revenue, which ones only look good on volume, and where small changes can lift ROI without adding headcount or ad spend.

If you skip this step, you carry hidden inefficiencies into Q1. If you do it well, you start the year with a cleaner, sharper affiliate channel.

What to Prepare Before You Start

If you already run referrals alongside affiliates, pull both datasets. Many brands now manage both in one system. Affiliate platforms like ReferralCandy make this easier because referral and affiliate performance live in the same reporting view, which reduces mismatched numbers later.

The Affiliate Program Review Template

Use the sections below as a repeatable affiliate program review template. You can copy this into a doc or spreadsheet and reuse it every December.

1. Program Snapshot

This gives context before diving into partner-level data. If affiliate revenue grew but margin dropped, that signals commission or discount issues rather than traffic problems.

2. Partner Performance Breakdown

This is where many brands realize a small number of partners drive most of the value. It also highlights who deserves more attention next year.

If you want inspiration on how strong programs structure this, reviewing real referral and affiliate setups helps. This roundup of referral program examples shows how leading brands reward and surface their best partners.

3. Commission Structure Review

Flat commissions often make sense early on. As programs mature, tiered or new-customer-only commissions protect profit. Many brands move to this model after their first full year.

Partner ROI Evaluation Framework

A year-end affiliate review should go beyond revenue totals. Partner ROI evaluation looks at quality, not just volume.

Partners who bring fewer orders but higher-quality customers often outperform coupon or deal sites over time. These are the partners worth nurturing with higher commissions or early access offers.

If you want to tighten this analysis next year, pairing affiliate data with referral data helps. Brands that use both channels together often uncover overlaps and opportunities. This is where platforms that support both referral marketing and affiliate marketing in one system save hours during review season.

Audit Checklist: What to Fix Before January

This is the practical part of the affiliate program review template. Treat it as a clean-up list.

Tools to Support Your Review

If you already run referrals, extending that setup to affiliates often reduces complexity. ReferralCandy is commonly used this way because it supports both programs without separate dashboards or exports. That matters when doing year end reviews under time pressure.

Before committing to changes, it also helps to review costs. Checking the current pricing page keeps expectations aligned with finance when you propose scaling or restructuring commissions.

Launch / Optimise Checklist

This checklist is also a good moment to review your broader referral marketing setup so both channels move in the same direction.

FAQ

What is an affiliate program review template?

An affiliate program review template is a structured framework used to evaluate the performance of an affiliate program over a defined period, usually a year. It helps teams consistently review revenue, commissions, partner quality, and operational issues without relying on ad-hoc reports. By following a repeatable template, brands avoid focusing only on top-line sales and instead assess profitability, customer quality, and long-term impact. This makes planning for the next year more grounded and easier to explain internally.

How often should you run a year end affiliate review?

A full year end affiliate review should be done once per year, ideally in December or early January. However, the same template can be reused quarterly at a lighter level. Annual reviews focus on structural changes like commission models and partner pruning, while quarterly reviews catch issues earlier. Brands that only review once per year often miss gradual declines in partner quality or rising costs that could have been corrected sooner.

What metrics matter most in partner ROI evaluation?

Revenue alone is not enough. Partner ROI evaluation should include commissions paid, refund rates, new customer percentage, and average order value. These metrics show whether a partner drives profitable growth or just discounted volume. Looking at these together also prevents over-rewarding partners who rely heavily on coupons or last-click behavior. Over time, this approach leads to a smaller but more valuable affiliate roster.

Should affiliate and referral data be reviewed together?

Yes, reviewing them together gives a clearer picture of customer acquisition. Many customers interact with both channels, and separating them can hide overlaps or double incentives. When referrals and affiliates are managed in one platform, it becomes easier to compare costs, customer quality, and total impact. This combined view helps brands decide where to invest next year rather than growing channels in isolation.