> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.myfundingmachine.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Understanding Referral Counts

> How total referrals, applicant and client statuses, and client conversion fit together.

A partner's **Referral summary** shows three counts:

| Count | Meaning |
| - | - |
| **Total referred** | All distinct contacts attributed to this partner. |
| **Applicants** | Referred people who have not yet reached client status in Funding Machine. |
| **Clients** | Referred people recognized as clients from their agreement, pipeline, processing, or funding records, including those still awaiting funding. |

**Applicants + Clients = Total referred.** Each person appears in one status at a time. Conversion moves someone from Applicants to Clients without increasing the total. The overview and the two tabs use the same classification, including applicants without a pipeline marker.

Signing is the normal business transition from applicant to client. Funding Machine also recognizes existing client-pipeline records, processing submissions, and eligible funding plans when a completed agreement is not stored. The client count describes their status; it does not verify a signature. Check the agreement date and documents for that evidence.

**Client conversion** is shown separately: Clients divided by Total referred. For example, 15 referrals split into 7 applicants and 8 clients have a 53% client conversion rate. There is no Referred-to-Applicants conversion percentage.

## Why the CRM lead count can differ

Funding Machine combines CRM Affiliate Manager relationships with referral-link attribution and commission evidence. A contact with the partner's referral link can appear before the CRM records an affiliate lead relationship. When that relationship is added, the same Contact ID is counted once, not twice. See [Referral tracking](/operators/partners/referral-tracking).

## Counts while loading

A trailing **+** marks a lower bound. Use **Load more referrals** to include additional contacts. Counts and the conversion rate describe the loaded contacts until all referral pages have loaded.


This documentation is built and hosted on [Mintlify](https://mintlify.com), a developer documentation platform.