> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://ctracker-docs.keywordrush.com/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://ctracker-docs.keywordrush.com/how-cashback-works/what-the-plugin-never-does.md).

# What the plugin never does

Short and blunt, because it decides how you run your site.

### It never moves money

There is no payment gateway, no wallet, no transfer, no card details, no connection to your bank. Cashback Tracker cannot send a member a penny, and it cannot spend anything of yours.

What it does is keep the books: who is owed what, why, and whether you have paid them yet.

### A payout request is a record, not a payment

When a member requests a payout, nothing happens financially. A row appears in `Cashback Tracker` → `Payouts` saying *this member asked for this amount by this method*.

**You send the money yourself** — PayPal, bank transfer, gift card, store credit, whatever you have agreed — using whatever tool you normally use. Then you come back and mark the request paid, which writes it into the member's history.

The plugin's job is making sure you know exactly what to send, to whom, and that you cannot accidentally pay it twice.

### It does not check that the network paid you

The plugin knows what a network **reported**. It has no way to see your bank account and no way to confirm the network's payment ever arrived.

An order marked approved means the network says it will pay you. If it never does, that is a conversation between you and the network — the plugin will still show the member's cashback as available.

This is what the [holding period](/how-cashback-works/order-statuses-and-holding-period.md) is for, if you would rather not pay a member before the money has actually reached you.

### It does not handle tax, invoicing or identity

No VAT, no tax forms, no invoices, no identity checks, no anti-fraud screening on your members.

If your country expects you to report payments to individuals, or to verify who they are before paying them, that is yours to handle. The plugin gives you the record you would need; it does not know what your obligations are.

### Why it is built this way

Every one of these is a deliberate absence.

Money that a plugin can move is money a plugin can move **wrongly** — a bad update, a compromised admin account, a bug in code you did not write. Keeping the payment step in your hands means the worst a fault can do is show you a wrong number, which you can check before sending anything.

It also means you are never locked into a payment provider, and never waiting on the plugin to support the one you want to use. If you can send money by it, you can pay members by it.

The trade is real and worth stating plainly: **paying members is manual work**, and it stays manual as you grow. Batch payouts and payment exports make it faster, but somebody still presses send. Budget for that before you promise same-day payouts on your homepage.

### Related

* [Handling a payout request](/members-and-payouts/handling-a-payout-request.md)
* [Payout methods and the minimum](/members-and-payouts/payout-methods.md)
* [The cashback ledger](/how-cashback-works/the-cashback-ledger.md)