Influencer Marketing: Payments Overview

Payments transforms a manual, fragmented process into a unified financial workflow that keeps your creator partnerships moving at the speed of social. By integrating payouts directly into Sprout’s campaign workflow, you eliminate the need for tedious manual vendor onboarding, enabling you to execute payments faster so you can focus on what matters most. Whether you need the enterprise-grade offering of Lumanu, the quick flexibility of PayPal, or just need to manually add Off-Platform payments made outside of our campaigns, our solution gives you total visibility into your spend while ensuring your creators are paid quickly and accurately. 

Adding PayPal and Lumanu as Providers 

1. From the home screen, click on your Profile in the bottom left (aka the initials). 
2. Click Integrations.
3. Select Enable under the provider of your choice.

Note: Before enabling Lumanu, a signed Lumanu contract and login credentials are required. You will need your Lumanu account credentials to connect your workspace in the integration settings. If you have not yet signed a contract with Lumanu, please contact influencersupport@sproutsocial.com for instructions on how to begin the process.

Accessing the Payments Dashboard

1. From the home screen, click More.
2. Click Payments. 

Setup a Creator with a Provider

Before a creator can accept a payment, they must be set up with a provider.

1. From within a Campaign:
   1. Click on the creator within the Creators tab
   2. In the creator’s profile, scroll down on the right hand bar to the Payments Component.
      1. Under Vendor Status, you will see their setup status. If the indicator circle is grey, the creator hasn’t been invited to setup. If the circle is yellow, the creator has been invited to but has not completed setup. If the circle is green, the creator has completed the setup for that provider. (Lumanu / PayPal) 

3. Click on Pay. 

2. Once in a New Payment:
   1. Select your provider of choice at the top (Lumanu, PayPal, Off-Platform).
   2. Under Creator Information, there is a prompt to send a templated message if a creator’s Vendor Status is either grey or yellow. Click Send Instructions. This will send them a message to complete their payment provider setup.

If a creator is not receiving instructions, they can also complete their setup from their Settings in the Creator Hub by going to their Payments page. 

Paying with PayPal

PayPal is designed for teams that prioritize speed and self-service for one-off or low-volume creator payments. It allows you to connect an existing business account in minutes and send payments to creators in over 200 countries.

• Setup: Connect your PayPal business account via the Integrations menu; no separate contract is required.
• Onboard: Creators enter their PayPal email address in the Creator Hub to activate their vendor status.
• Fund: Pay each creator individually using your existing PayPal balance, linked bank account, or credit card.
• Release: Sprout redirects you to a secure PayPal checkout to finalize the payment, which is then tracked automatically in your dashboard.
• Compliance: PayPal automatically handles 1099-K reporting for qualifying US-based payments.

Paying with Lumanu

Lumanu is the best choice for organizations requiring enterprise-level AP infrastructure and global tax compliance. It serves as a single vendor, meaning your finance team only needs to manage one vendor record (Lumanu) rather than individual records for every creator. 

Additionally, Lumanu supports the entire tax lifecycle (including W9/W8 collection and 1099/1042-S generation) while providing dedicated creator support, handling all banking and setup inquiries so your team doesn't have to.

• Setup: Finalize a separate Lumanu agreement (typically 2–3 weeks) and map your currency-specific Lumanu workspaces to Sprout.
• Onboard: Creators securely submit their tax and banking details upon Lumanu sign-up. connected, they are ready for all future campaigns.
• Fund: Generate a formal invoice directly in Sprout to top up your Lumanu workspace via ACH or wire transfer.
  • A 3% transaction fee is applied at the time of funding and appears as a line item on the invoice. You can either gross up the invoice to account for the fee (e.g. send $103 to net $100 in your wallet) or absorb it from the funded amount (e.g. send $100 and have $97 available to pay creators).

• Release: Once your wallet is funded, release payments to specific creators directly from the Sprout UI.

For the full list of 200+ countries Lumanu supports for payouts, Lumanu Support

Tracking Off-Platform Payments

What it's best for:

• Recording payouts that happened outside the platform
• Keeping a complete audit trail in one place

Maintain a complete audit trail by recording payments made outside the campaign workflow directly in your dashboard. Simply select Off-Platform as the provider in the Payments Component flow, enter the transaction details, and Mark as Paid once the external transfer is complete. 

You can keep Draft records and later mark them as completed when the external transfer goes through. These payments appear alongside other providers for unified reporting, ensuring every creator payout remains visible in your dashboard.

Which Provider is Right for You?

Choose Lumanu to scale globally and simplify Finance operations:

• Simplify your AP workflow by using Lumanu as your single vendor for all creators
• Automate international tax compliance including W8 collection, 1042-S generation, and global tax ID validation for 200+ countries
• Maintain budget precision by tracking payments from different cost centers or divisions in dedicated workspaces
• Execute high-volume payouts with the security of dedicated bank accounts that are never pooled with other brands

Choose PayPal for quick, one-off needs:

• Speed up one-off payments with a familiar, self-service tool that activates in minutes
• Manage US-based programs that don't require formal invoicing or international tax handling
  • Note: PayPal is available in 200+ countries in 25 currencies. While PayPal handles 1099-K forms for qualifying US payments, your team is still responsible for international compliance (W8 collection and 1042-S filings).

Payment Status Definitions

All payment providers share a unified set of statuses across the Payments Dashboard so you can interpret payout progress at a glance:

• Draft: Created but not sent yet. Used for planning and approvals. This status is internal only and is not visible to creators.
• Pending: Sent and processing by the provider.
• Completed: Confirmed paid (or marked completed for Off-Platform payments).
• Error: Payment or update failed. Needs action from your team.
• Refunded / Partially Refunded: PayPal-only behavior where applicable.

All statuses except Draft are also reflected in what the creator sees in Creator Hub.

Payments Dashboard

To access the Payments Dashboard, click More in the left-side navigation bar then select Payments.

The Payments Dashboard is your command center for all payout activity. It provides real-time visibility into total payments processed, creator onboarding status, and Lumanu wallet balances. Finance teams can use this view to review audit trails, manage approvals at scale, and export CSV reports for reconciliation. 

See also: Payments Dashboard, Payment Flows, How to Fund Lumanu Wallet, Creator Hub Payments