How cashback is calculated
_This article's section starts at 0:00 in the video._
This is the full reference for the cashback engine: exactly how DollarBack turns an order into a credit amount. If a customer's credit ever looks "wrong", the answer is on this page, usually in discounts, program competition, or a cap.
The pipeline at a glance
For every qualifying order, DollarBack:
Checks eligibility gates: if any fails, no math runs.
Computes a base amount per order line: line price minus discounts.
Deducts portions paid with store credit or gift cards, per your settings.
Lets your programs compete for each line: one winner per line.
Applies the winning program's value, then caps, rounding, and currency.
Everything below is per line item; cashback is never computed on the order as one lump.
Step 1: Eligibility gates
Before any calculation:
Excluded customer tags: tagged customers earn nothing (Exclude customers from earning).
Sales channels: a program restricted to specific channels (web, POS, draft orders) skips orders from other channels.
Program date windows: a program outside its start/end dates doesn't participate.
Frequency limits: a customer who has hit a program's limit is skipped by that program.
Step 2: The base amount, per line
The base for each line is the line price minus that line's discount allocations:
A discount targeted at a product reduces that line's base directly.
An order-level discount (e.g. a 10%-off code) is spread proportionally across all lines, so every line's base shrinks by the same ratio. Every discount reduces cashback; there is no way to earn on the discounted-away amount.
Order total vs order subtotal. Your global Base cashback on setting decides what counts:
Order Total
Included
Included only if Include shipping costs is on
Order Subtotal
Excluded
Excluded
In total mode, each line is scaled by the tax-inclusive ratio so that the per-line amounts still sum to the checkout total.
Step 3: Store credit and gift cards are deducted first
No cashback on cashback. Store credit spent on the order is deducted proportionally from every line before calculation, governed by the When a customer pays with store credit setting:
No cashback
Any store-credit use disqualifies the order entirely
Cashback on full order amount
Credit-paid portion still earns
Cashback on amount paid with real money only
Only the non-credit portion earns (the default mental model: no cashback on cashback)
Gift cards have two separate knobs:
When a customer pays with gift cards: no cashback / full order amount / non-gift-card portion only.
Give cashback when customers purchase gift card products: when off, gift-card product lines are removed from the calculation entirely.
Defaults and exact labels: Settings.
Step 4: Which program claims each line
Competition is winner-takes-all per line. Programs never stack:
Specific programs run first, in specificity order: variant → product → collection. A line claimed by a specific program is excluded from your all-products program.
If two programs still match the same line, the higher cashback wins for that line.
Different lines in one order can be claimed by different programs.
Order goals pick the highest threshold met: a $75/$150 ladder pays only the $150 reward on a $160 order, never both. When a goal program targets specific products, variants, or collections, only spend on the matching lines (after discounts) counts toward the threshold, and the reward is calculated on that same spend; see Set up purchase cashback.
Tier multipliers are snapshotted per order. If the customer is in a loyalty tier with a multiplier, the multiplier in force at calculation time is applied and recorded on the order. Changing tier settings later never retroactively changes past orders' cashback. See Link cashback programs to tiers.
Step 5: Value, caps, and rounding
Percentage programs apply their rate to the line's base.
Fixed-value programs multiply the amount by the line's quantity (2 units = 2 × the fixed credit), and each line's cashback is clamped so it never exceeds what the customer actually paid for that line.
Maximum cashback per order: if the order's total cashback exceeds the global cap, all programs and lines are scaled down proportionally, preserving their relative shares. Nothing is dropped; everything shrinks together.
Rounding: amounts are truncated to 4 decimal places internally, and the last line absorbs the remainder so the total stays exact to the cent. If Round up cashback is on, the final total is rounded up to the nearest whole number as the very last step.
Multi-currency
Amounts are tracked in both your shop currency and the order's presentment currency. Fixed-value cashback converts using the order's own conversion rate (presentment ÷ shop), not today's market rate.
The credit lands in the customer's resolved currency, so a customer shopping your EUR market is credited in EUR.
Worked example (3-line cart with a discount code)
Settings: base = Order Subtotal, no cap, round-up off. Programs: 5% on all products and 10% on the "Serums" collection.
The customer's cart, with a 10%-off order code applied ($12.40 spread proportionally across $124 of items):
Serum 30 ml × 1 (Serums)
$58.00
−$5.80
$52.20
10% (specific claims the line)
$5.22
Gel cleanser × 2
$48.00
−$4.80
$43.20
5% (all products)
$2.16
Lip butter trio × 1
$18.00
−$1.80
$16.20
5% (all products)
$0.81
Total
$124.00
−$12.40
$111.60
$8.19
Points to notice:
The serum earned 10%, not 10% + 5%; the specific program claimed the line and excluded it from the all-products program.
Every line's base was reduced by its share of the order-level code before any percentage applied.
With Round up cashback on, the customer would receive $9.00 instead of $8.19.
If a $5.00 Maximum cashback per order were set, each line would scale by 5 ÷ 8.19 (≈ $3.19 / $1.32 / $0.49).
When the credit actually arrives
Calculation and issuance are separate: the trigger event (created / paid / fulfilled) and the holding period decide when the customer can spend the result; see When credit is issued. Refunds and order edits recalculate as a diff against what was issued; see Refunds, cancellations & order edits.
Common issues
"The customer earned less than my percentage": a discount code, store-credit payment, or gift card reduced the base; recheck Steps 2–3.
"Two programs should both apply": they never stack; one wins per line (Step 4).
"No credit at all": walk the gates in Step 1, then A customer didn't receive cashback.
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