Supplier Payment Behavior & Claim Filing

Most commission-tracking tools treat every supplier the same way: log what you expect, wait for a statement, match it up. The real world is messier. Some suppliers pay automatically on a schedule. Some won't pay anything until you actively file a claim with them. Some pay eventually but only if you keep reminding them.

JourneyFuse lets you classify each supplier by their payment behavior — and then tells you exactly which commissions need your attention and why.

The Three Payment Behaviors

When editing a supplier in the directory, you pick one of three behaviors:

🟢 Auto-pay (default)

The supplier sends you monthly or bi-weekly statements automatically and deposits via ACH on a predictable schedule. You do nothing proactive — just wait for the money, then reconcile.

Examples: Sandals, Marriott, Hilton, Royal Caribbean, most major hotel chains and cruise lines.

Your job:

1. Supplier sends statement + payment
2. Drop the CSV on Inbox or record the payment manually
3. Match to expected commissions in the Match wizard

🔴 Claim required

The supplier will not pay until you actively file a claim after the trip ends. Usually via a portal, email, or claim form. If you forget to file, the commission is lost.

Examples: Abercrombie & Kent, Trafalgar Tours, many specialty DMCs and boutique tour operators.

Your job:

1. Trip ends
2. JourneyFuse moves the commission to Inbox → Needs filing and surfaces it on the Today page
3. You click File claim → follow supplier-specific instructions (portal, email, or form)
4. Mark the commission as filed with a reference number
5. Now wait for the payment like an auto-pay supplier

🟡 Needs reminders

The supplier pays eventually but is chronically late. No statements, no portal — just vague promises. You have to email them periodically to remind them.

Examples: Many independent hotels, small guesthouses, local DMCs.

Your job:

1. Trip ends
2. Wait the typical pay-lag window
3. Past that window, the commission shows up in Inbox → Stale expecteds
4. Bulk-select and chase → individual emails go out to each supplier
5. When payment arrives, match normally

Where to Set This

Commissions → Settings → Supplier payment behavior

You'll see a table with every supplier in your workspace. For each one, you can set:

Field	Description
Pays how?	Auto-pay / Claim required / Chase only
Pay-lag (d)	Average days from trip completion (or claim filing) to receiving payment. Used for forecasts and chase scheduling.
Submit via	For claim-required only: Portal / Email / Form / None
Portal URL or email	For claim-required only: The URL you'd open, or email address where claims go

Adding Instructions Per Supplier

Some suppliers have quirky claim-filing processes ("first click Commissions, then File Missing, then paste confirmation ..."). You can add Submission instructions to any claim-required supplier — these appear inside the File Claim dialog so whoever is filing has the steps right there.

Set instructions on the supplier's profile in /suppliers (not in Commissions Settings — this is a full supplier field, not a commissions-only one).

How Claim Filing Works

1. Trip ends

Once a booking's trip end date is in the past AND the supplier is classified as Claim required AND no submission has been logged yet, the commission automatically appears in:

• Today page: "To file" tile (top-left, rose when > 0)
• Inbox → Needs filing bucket (bucket #1, highest priority)

2. Open the File Claim dialog

Click File claim on any row. A dialog opens with:

• Commission details (trip, confirmation #, expected amount)
• The supplier's specific instructions (if you set them)
• Method picker: Portal / Email / Form / Manual
• For portal submissions: a big Open portal → button opens the URL in a new tab
• For email submissions: a pre-filled email draft with trip details and the supplier's email — click Copy to clipboard or Open in mail client
• Reference number field (optional but recommended)
• Notes field

3. File outside JourneyFuse + log back here

You'll do the actual filing in the supplier's portal, email client, or fax machine. When done, come back to JourneyFuse and hit Mark as filed.

4. What happens when you mark filed

• A commission_supplier_submissions record is written: who filed, when, method, reference number
• The commission's lifecycle advances from expected → submitted_to_supplier
• date_submitted = today
• An audit log entry fires: "supplier_submission_filed" — shows up forever in the commission's history
• The commission disappears from Needs filing bucket
• It shows up in Ledger → Submitted saved view, waiting for payment

The Audit Trail

Every submission leaves a paper trail:

• Commission drawer (Ledger or MyView) shows the filing event in the audit log with method + reference number + who filed
• Supplier submission history is queryable — future versions will add a per-supplier submission timeline showing all claims filed with that supplier and their outcomes

Real-World Example

Tyler (advisor) books a Whitfield family Tanzania Safari through A&K for October. Total package $25,000. Expected commission: 14% = $3,500.

October 22 — trip ends.

October 23 — Sarah's Today dashboard:

• To file tile reads: "$3,500 · 1 claim to submit" (rose tile, top-left)
• Sarah clicks the tile → lands on Inbox with Needs filing bucket pre-selected
• Sees: "Abercrombie & Kent · 1 claim · $3,500 expected · portal"

Sarah clicks File claim:

• Modal shows A&K's instructions: 1. Log into A&K travel agent portal 2. Click "Commissions" → "File Missing Commission" 3. Enter booking reference + travel dates 4. Attach invoice PDF if available 5. Save the confirmation number here
• Sarah clicks Open A&K portal → (opens in new tab)
• Follows the 5 steps in A&K's portal
• A&K gives her claim ID AK-2026-448291
• Back in the dialog, Sarah types AK-2026-448291 into the reference field
• Hits Mark as filed

Result:

• Commission moves to submitted_to_supplier status
• Ledger audit log shows: "Apr 23 · Sarah · supplier_submission_filed · method: portal · ref: AK-2026-448291"
• Needs filing bucket drops to 0
• Today tile updates: "To file: $0 · No claims pending"

60 days later (A&K's typical pay-lag): A&K's ACH hits Horizon's bank account. Sarah records it in Inbox → clicks Match → allocates $3,500 to Tyler's commission → pays Tyler 70% = $2,450 on next payday.

Without the claim-filing system, Sarah would have either:

• Forgotten to file and lost $3,500 entirely, OR
• Tracked it in a spreadsheet outside JourneyFuse with no audit trail

Why This Matters

Most competitors (Tern, TravelJoy, ClientBase, Sion) treat every supplier identically — they only track what you've received, not what you need to actively request. If you work with any claim-required suppliers, you've been managing that workflow manually.

JourneyFuse's supplier-behavior classification closes this gap:

• You see at a glance what needs you vs. what's passive
• Nothing slips through the cracks — trip ends, the commission auto-surfaces
• Audit trail proves you filed on date X with reference Y
• Team-friendly — any admin can file; the log shows who did what

Setting It Up for the First Time

1. Go to Commissions → Settings → Supplier payment behavior
2. You'll see every supplier defaulted to Auto-pay (safe starting point)
3. Search for your claim-required suppliers (A&K, specialty tour operators, smaller DMCs)
4. For each one: change to Claim required, set the submit via method + URL/email
5. Optionally tweak Pay-lag per supplier (A&K averages 60 days, Sandals averages 30)
6. Hit Save
7. From now on, any new commission from those suppliers will surface in Needs filing after the trip ends

Existing commissions with trips that already ended will also surface — giving you a chance to catch any claims you'd forgotten about.

Related

• Agency Commissions Dashboard — the six-tab overview
• Commission Reconciliation — what happens after the supplier pays
• Managing Suppliers — full supplier editor including these new fields