Frequently Asked Questions: Retail Incentives Reports on the Microsoft Partner Dashboard

Detailed materials can be found at: https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/partner-center/understand-incentive-payouts

The following FAQs have been customised to Retail

Once you are enrolled, any future payments made through the new process for that program will be visible in the Dashboard.

To get started: click on the Payout Icon on the right of the top menu bar to choose between Transaction History and Payments

Payments: is the summary level providing the total paid, the payment date and payment reference number. The summary information and graphics present the information in USD but the details by payment displayed beneath the chart provide the value in both payment currency and USD.

From the details by payment reference you can click to VIEW the transaction detail behind each payment or DOWNLOAD the PDF of a payment remittance letter.

The explanation of the fields displayed can be found at:

https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/partner-center/understand-incentive-payouts#payments-page

Transaction History will provide the line item level details for payments.

Note while on the home page the display is in USD you can click on export to get a very detailed report which you can download. Filters can be applied at the MPNID level, Payment ID, Payment Status. The time filter options can be seen to the right of the Filter – to choose between 3/6/12/36 months or for a custom period.

Note: The Export data page does not refresh on its own. You may need to refresh the page manually to see the most recent data including that the file is ready to download.

From both the Earnings / Payments tabs you can download a Transactions report per Earning / Payment period which will provide more detail about the earnings/payments.

On the Payments tab there are two sections, one for upcoming and recent payments and the other for Statements

1. Transactions Report – this is a zipped file providing all line items associated with the payment for that earning period.
   • The column titled “Transaction Reference ID” will identify which Program or Offer and period applies to that line item
   • The Product columns will identify the Product Family or SKU which earned the incentive.
   • The Transaction Amount will show the total earned for that Product which is the Earning Rate multiplied by the Quantity.
   • Note if the Earning type is Rebate Adjustment there are no details provided in the report.
2. Payment Remittance – this is a PDF showing the total paid in payment currency along with the payment date and payment ID or reference number. It can be downloaded from the Payment page.

This zipped file will provide a break-down of each payment between the quarterly or monthly programs and offers (special deals / promotions) by product family or SKU included in the claim. 

Key fields include:

• Earning Amount = total value for that line item.  This is based on the product of the Earning rate by the Quantity.
  • Earning rate is the amount of incentive earned per unit
  • Quantity is the number of units which earned an incentive.  For some tiered programs this is just displayed as 1 as the qty x rate is not applicable.
• Payment status shows if it was paid or not (unprocessed)
• Part number / SKU number is the specific product which earned the incentive if applicable.
• Product Name is the Product Family which earned the incentive, e.g. Office Home and Student / Xbox One X 1TB Console
• ExternalReferenceId will specify which program or offer the line item relates to and the time period such as Q2 or March.   Example: FY19 - OFFICE ATTACH PROGRAM - Monthly-PayCycle: May
• ExternalReferenceIdLabel differentiates if the line item is for a Program like Office Attach or an Offer like a Black Friday promotion.

The full explanation of fields included in the download can be found at https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/partner-center/understand-incentive-payouts#transaction-history-page

Tip: create a simple pivot pulling in the “ExternalReferenceID” and the EarningAmount and any other fields you wish to include in a summary view.

The filter criteria can be confusing. It defaults to three months of data (3m) but if a payment included an older offer or quarterly payment where the quarter start was more than three months prior then those line items will not be included in the export. Expand your time period and try again.

Note even if you filter for a specific payment ID the time filter will also apply and therefore you may be missing some line items.

Notes: You’ll only see data for MPN IDs and programs that you’re associated with. If you want to access additional data, see your Incentives administrator.

When you access the export page from either the Payments or Transaction history page, your filters do not carry through. You’ll need to redo them on the Export data page.

For any earnings PRIOR to enrolling in Partner Dashboard but to be paid AFTER you enrolled, a different payment process is used by Microsoft which will result in those payments showing up as Adjustments in the reports.

Example: Company enrolled in April and the Q3 payment is made in May for Q3. As the earnings period (Q3 = January – March) is prior to the enrolment date in May those payments will be shown as Adjustments.

The detailed transaction report will show this as Earning Type = Rebate Adjustment

Note for adjustment payments the reports don’t provide the detailed breakdown with product or program/offer information.

For Retail programs multiple levers are used and hence the report shows how the earnings are divided across those.