Partner Payouts & Referral Manager

Partner Payouts & Referral Manager

Shift4 (NYSE: FOUR) is boldly redefining commerce by simplifying complex payments ecosystems across the world. As the leader in commerce-enabling technology, Shift4 powers billions of transactions annually for hundreds of thousands of businesses in virtually every industry.

Position Summary

The Residuals & Bonus Manager oversees the calculation, reconciliation, distribution, and reporting of all residual payments, bonuses, incentives, and commission structures related to merchant accounts and sales partners. This role ensures accuracy, compliance, and transparency in financial payouts and plays a key part in supporting sales channels, ISO partners, agents, and internal stakeholders.

Key Responsibilities

Residuals Management

• Validate monthly residual payouts for ISOs, sales agents, referral partners, and internal stakeholders.
• Reconcile processor statements to internal systems to ensure accuracy.
• Validate merchant processing data, interchange fees, buy rates, markups, and revenue splits.
• Audit merchant accounts for rate changes, billing discrepancies, and adjustments.
• Maintain and update residual structures, split agreements, and partner contracts.
• Manage chargebacks, fees, and pass-through costs impacting monthly residual earnings.

Bonus & Incentive Programs

• Administer monthly, quarterly, and annual bonuses and performance-based incentives.
• Work with Sales Leadership to refine compensation structures and bonus models.
• Track and validate activity-based incentives (new accounts, volume milestones, portfolio growth, etc.).
• Identify anomalies or disputes related to bonuses or commissions and resolve them promptly.

Reporting & Analytics

• Prepare detailed financial reports on payouts, trends, margins, and profitability.
• Provide partners and management with transparent payout statements.
• Conduct variance analysis and identify areas for optimization.
• Support forecasting and budgeting related to commissions and residual revenue.

Systems & Process Management

• Maintain and enhance payout systems, compensation software, and data tools.
• Collaborate with Operations, Sales, and IT to streamline workflows and automate manual processes.
• Ensure data integrity across CRM, processing systems, and reporting platforms.

Stakeholder Support

• Respond to inquiries from agents, ISOs, sales reps, and leadership regarding compensation.
• Provide clear explanations of calculations, rate changes, and merchant activity affecting payouts.
• Support sales teams with pricing modeling and residual forecasting.

Qualifications

Required

• 35+ years of experience in merchant services, payments, or financial operations.
• Strong understanding of interchange, merchant pricing structures, and processor statement formats.
• Advanced Excel/Sheets skills (pivot tables, VLOOKUP/XLOOKUP, formulas, data cleaning).
• High attention to detail with excellent reconciliation and auditing skills.
• Strong analytical mindset and ability to explain complex payouts clearly.

Preferred

• Experience with residual/commission platforms (e.g., IRIS CRM, Tilled, Payrix, Stripe, or in-house systems).
• Familiarity with ISO/agent agreements and payment processing revenue models.
• Understanding of chargebacks, network fees, and merchant portfolio management.
• Background in Finance, Accounting, Business, or related fields.

Core Competencies

• Analytical thinking
• Accuracy & attention to detail
• Problem-solving
• Confidentiality and data integrity
• Communication & partner support
• Process improvement
• Time management, especially during payout cycles

Typical KPIs

• Accuracy rate of monthly payouts
• Timeliness of residual and bonus distribution
• Partner satisfaction (internal and external)
• Reduction of payout disputes or errors
• Automation and efficiency improvements in payout processes

We are an Equal Opportunity Employer and do not discriminate against any employee or applicant for employment because of race, color, sex, age, national origin, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity and/or expression, status as a veteran, and basis of disability or any other federal, state or local protected class.