A referrer that's missing from the CDA, listed twice, or carrying the wrong address is almost always one of three things — a location setting, a double entry, or a stale contact. Here's how to tell them apart.
The Referral Is Rolled Into the Brokerage's Payable
The CDA shows one lump sum going to your brokerage instead of a separate line for the referrer. That's a setting, not a mistake in your entry: your location's Commission & CDA Settings are telling escrow to send referral money to your brokerage, and you disburse it from there.
It's a legitimate way to run — some offices prefer to hold the check and pay referrers themselves. If you'd rather escrow pay them directly, turn that setting off:
- Click [Gear] in the upper-right corner, then [Admin / Settings].
- Click [Manage Locations] in the left menu.
- Click the ⚙️ next to the location, then [Commission & CDA Settings].
- Under CDA Payability Settings, uncheck the referral commission box — the one saying escrow, title, or the attorney should send referral commission to your brokerage.
- Click [Save Settings].
New CDAs will list each referrer as their own payable. Only a master admin can change this, and it applies to that location alone.
One Office's CDAs Look Different from Another's
Commission & CDA Settings are configured per location, so two offices in the same account can produce CDAs with different payable structures. If one location splits referrers out and another doesn't, compare their payability settings rather than looking for a difference in how the transactions were entered.
The Setting Changed but the CDA Didn't
Changing a payability setting affects CDAs generated afterward — it doesn't reach back and rewrite ones that already exist.
To bring an existing transaction in line:
- Open the transaction and click [Update Commissions] in the left menu.
- Click [Calculate & Continue] through each section, leaving the figures as they are.
- Click [Save Commissions].
The CDA regenerates using the current settings, with the referrer's payable in the right place.
The Same Company Appears Twice as a Payable
A cooperating brokerage listed twice usually means it was entered in two places: once in the Referral Commissions section and again in Co-op Brokerage Commission & Special Instructions. Both produce a payable, so the CDA pays them twice.
Pick one. If the money is a referral, keep the Referral Commissions entry and clear the amount and company details from the co-op fields, then save commissions again.
The Referrer's Address Is Wrong on the CDA
The address printed under a referrer's name comes from their contact record on the transaction, not from anything typed on the commission form. Correcting it on the CDA means correcting the contact first, then re-entering commissions so the CDA picks up the change. There are steps for this on the External Referrers article.
Still Stuck?
If the CDA still isn't showing the referrer the way you need it to, email help@paperlesspipeline.com with the transaction and what the CDA should say. Tell us which location it's in — that's usually the first thing we check.
Learn More
An external referrer is a brokerage, agent, or partner outside your company that earns a piece of the deal. Name them on the transaction, split the referral between them, and tell escrow who to pay.