Creator Payouts & Adding Funds

For brands and agencies paying creators through Cruva campaigns.

The short version

Cruva brokers the payout: you add money to your balance, then you release payouts to creators manually once a campaign completes. Money does not automatically flow to creators when you add funds or when they enter their bank details. You click Pay on each eligible creator.

How payouts work, step by step

1. Add funds to your Cruva balance (see below). The balance load can take up to 5 business days to process and appear.

2. Run the campaign to completion. Cruva keeps a campaign active for a grace period after its end date (default 3 days, configurable — and can be disabled, in which case payouts open at the end date) because TikTok data lags.

3. When the campaign is Completed and creators are eligible, payout buttons appear next to each creator under Creator Community → Campaigns → [your campaign].

4. Click Pay on each creator to release their payout via the campaign's payout method.

Payout buttons appear once the grace period ends.

Manual vs automated

• Manual (default). You release each payout yourself from the campaign page. This is the current behavior for most campaigns.
• Automated. Cruva has been building automatic payouts through Stripe Connect. Older campaigns paid out via PayPal manually.

Payout methods you can set on a campaign:

• PayPal — Use: Legacy only — used by some older campaigns. New campaigns can't select PayPal.
• Stripe — Use: Cash payouts via Stripe Connect. Some campaigns require the creator to finish Stripe setup before joining.
• None — Use: Prize-only campaigns (physical/non-cash rewards). No money moves through Cruva.

Adding funds to your balance

You add funds so you have a balance to pay creators from. The balance is separate from your subscription billing.

Once added, a balance load shows as pending until it clears (up to 5 business days). A pending load can be cancelled or refunded if you added it by mistake.

Why I added funds but still can't pay creators

Almost always one of these:

• The balance is still pending (up to 5 business days to clear).
• The campaign isn't Completed yet — payout buttons only appear on completed campaigns, and campaigns stay active through the 3-day grace period after the end date.
• The payout method is `none` (a prize campaign has no cash rails).

Receipts and payment history

The Payments page (Creator Community → Payments, /dashboard/community/payments) shows balances owed across active and completed campaigns, plus a history of past payouts so you can audit what went out, to whom, and via which method.

Bank support by region

Creator payouts depend on Cruva's payment provider (Stripe) and its US-based pool account.

• Brazil is supported. For non-USD markets like Brazil, you enter amounts in the local currency (BRL); Cruva converts to USD to process and converts back to local currency at payout time — the same cross-currency flow used for other non-USD markets (e.g. Mexico).

Tax and 1099 handling

Flat-fee / per-video payouts outside a contest

If you want to pay creators a flat amount per video rather than run a contest, set up a Retainer campaign for the per-video amount instead of a contest. Retainers track only videos posted after the campaign is created — they are not retroactive.