Getting Started

Refinery Payouts splits each WooCommerce order’s revenue across one or more Stripe Connected accounts. Use it to pay vendors, instructors, partners, contractors, or any third party who earns a share of a sale — automatically, the moment payment completes.

How it works

The plugin sits on top of Stripe Connect and uses the standard account type (vendors manage their own Stripe dashboard). When an order is paid, the plugin reads the line items, matches each one against your Commission Rules, and creates a Stripe Transfer from your platform balance to each eligible Transfer Account. Refunds are reversed automatically and prorated to the refund amount.

Requirements

• WordPress 5.0 or higher
• WooCommerce 3.0 or higher
• PHP 7.4 or higher
• SSL certificate (required by Stripe)
• A Stripe account with Connect enabled
• An active Refinery Payouts license key

Installing the plugin

1. Download the plugin ZIP from your Refinery account dashboard.
2. In WP Admin, go to Plugins → Add New → Upload Plugin.
3. Choose the ZIP file and click Install Now, then Activate.

On activation, the plugin creates the wp_refinery_payouts_logs table and registers the Commission Rules and Transfer Accounts custom post types.

Activating the license

1. Navigate to Refinery Payouts → Settings → License.
2. Enter the license key from the Refinery account dashboard.
3. Click Activate.

An active license enables automatic plugin updates and access to support. Without it, the plugin keeps working but no longer receives updates.

Five-minute checklist

1. Connect your Stripe account in Refinery Payouts → Settings → Stripe (start in test mode).
2. Add a Transfer Account for each payee and send the onboarding invitation.
3. Create at least one Commission Rule that maps a product (or category, or the whole store) to a Transfer Account.
4. Place a test order in WooCommerce. Confirm a transfer appears in your Stripe dashboard and in Refinery Payouts → Logs.
5. Switch to live mode and process a small live order before relying on it for production payouts.

Compatibility

• High-Performance Order Storage (HPOS) — Fully supported.
• WooCommerce Subscriptions — Each renewal triggers transfers using the rules in effect at renewal time.
• Block and classic checkout — Both supported. Transfers fire on woocommerce_payment_complete regardless of checkout type.
• Any payment gateway — Works with Stripe, but also any gateway whose charge can be referenced via source_transaction.