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A conversion count tells you how often an action happened. Revenue and cost tell you whether that action was profitable. Configure them separately so a free registration, a paid order, and a commission expense do not all produce the same accounting result. An event action answers three questions: should this event count as a conversion, what revenue does it record, and what cost does it record? A fourth input, value, can hold a measurement such as units sold without changing revenue.

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Pick the revenue source

The Revenue selector is available in Advanced. Simple already uses From incoming event and hides this selector. For a network that pays a flat fee and has no payout macro, a fixed amount is sufficient. For variable order values, pass the amount in the incoming event and select From incoming event. A missing or invalid incoming payout becomes zero with From incoming event. The event can still count as a conversion, so a conversion count with zero revenue is a reason to inspect the amount rather than immediately blaming attribution. Metricanic displays money in USD. The incoming endpoint does not use a currency parameter to convert amounts. Convert money in the sending system when needed and keep revenue and cost on the same currency basis.

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Decide whether there is an additional event cost

An event cost is added to tracked visit cost when its cost contribution is enabled. If you already record the full ad bill as traffic cost, adding the same bill again through an event action would overstate your spending. Revenue share uses the event’s calculated revenue. A fixed revenue of USD 20 with an incoming payout of USD 24.50 and a 30% share produces USD 6 event cost. It does not use 30% of the discarded incoming amount.

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Send a percentage of revenue to a partner

Use the calculated event cost in an outgoing postback when a partner should receive a share of each payout. Set Revenue to From incoming event, set Event cost to Revenue share (%), and enter 50 for half. Put {event_cost} in the amount parameter of Destination URL. For an incoming payout=100, Metricanic records USD 100 event revenue, calculates USD 50 event cost, and sends 50 through {event_cost}. Using {payout} in that same URL would send 100. This setup normally includes the USD 50 in overall Cost, reducing Profit. Use it for a real commission or expense. Changing only the amount disclosed to a receiver is a different requirement from recording a cost. See Send 50% of revenue in an outgoing postback for the URL example, verification steps, and limits.

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Set up a purchase with a commission

Suppose one order earns USD 20 and costs a 30% commission. The visitor also cost USD 0.50 in traffic spending.
  1. Edit the campaign’s purchase event in Events and rules.
  2. Enable Count as conversion.
  3. Set Revenue to From incoming event.
  4. Set Event cost to Revenue share (%) and enter 30.
  5. Save the campaign.
  6. Send a new purchase event with payout=20 and a stable transaction ID.
  7. Open a report containing that visit and add Revenue, Cost, Profit, and the event’s indexed amount columns.
For this isolated visit and purchase, expect: The difference between Cost 1 and Cost is the USD 0.50 visit expense. The indexed event column is useful for checking the commission calculation independently of traffic spending.

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Understand inclusion in totals

Selecting a revenue or cost mode normally enables its contribution to the corresponding overall total. Imported actions can carry a different inclusion setting. For those actions, the full editor shows Include in revenue metrics or Include in cost metrics. These controls are not shown for an ordinary action whose inclusion follows its selected mode. The event’s Affects Revenue and Affects Cost fields show the resulting flags in Events. Revenue N and Cost N show recorded amounts for Event ID N, including amounts excluded from overall totals. Revenue and Cost use the contribution flags. Count as conversion controls counts independently of both amounts. This separation lets you keep a stage’s recorded payout visible without adding it twice to campaign revenue. For example, if the network sends the full order amount at both order creation and payment, decide which stage contributes to overall revenue. A manual cost correction changes the aggregate cost calculation for its campaign period. It can make Cost differ from both raw amounts and the sum of indexed event costs.

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Keep quantity separate from money

For a two-item order, send:
After processing, Value 1 increases by 2. Two such orders give Value 1 = 4, not an average of two. Use a custom metric, such as ifnull(value1 / event1, 0), when you want units per recorded order event.

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When the amounts are unexpected

  • Fixed revenue ignores the sender’s amount: this is the purpose of fixed mode. Choose incoming revenue for variable payout.
  • A conversion has no revenue: check the numeric payout, revenue mode, inclusion flag, and winning rule.
  • Overall cost exceeds event cost: inspect traffic cost and other contributing events.
  • Revenue exists without conversions: inspect Count as conversion. Monetary contribution can be intentional without a conversion count.
  • A refund did not reduce revenue: the incoming endpoint does not accept negative payout as a refund or update an earlier order by status.
See Metric dictionary for how the resulting amounts affect CPA, ROI, and profit margin.