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Läs på svenska →Agency referral fees: what's standard in 2026
BY FARSHAD · CLEARFORM · 2 MIN READ · UPDATED 2026-08-22
In short
The standard referral fee for professional services in 2026 is 10–20% of the first project's value, paid once, when the client pays their first invoice. Recurring arrangements (5–10% of ongoing revenue, usually capped at 12 months) exist but are rarer and harder to administer. Anything above 25% starts distorting who gets recommended.
What is a standard agency referral fee?
Percentage should scale inversely with the work you did: a warm, qualified, pre-sold introduction earns the top of the range; a name and an email address earns the bottom.
| MODEL | TYPICAL RANGE | WHEN IT FITS |
|---|---|---|
| One-time, % of first project | 10–20% | The default. Simple, self-closing, no ongoing admin |
| One-time flat fee | 2,000–10,000 SEK | Predictable project sizes, or when % is awkward to disclose |
| Recurring share | 5–10% for 6–12 months | Retainer businesses where value builds over time |
| Reciprocal, no money | 0% | Two firms with steady two-way flow — often the healthiest of all |
What must a referral agreement include?
- The percentage or amount, and what it's a percentage **of** (net fees, excluding VAT, pass-through costs and third-party spend)
- The trigger: signed contract, or — better — client's first payment received
- The window: a lead counts as yours if it converts within, say, 6–12 months of introduction
- Who owns the client relationship afterwards, and whether the referrer is kept informed
- What happens on repeat business: usually first project only, stated explicitly
- How it's invoiced: the partner invoices the fee, with VAT, on normal terms
Terms worth refusing
- Fees on lifetime revenue with no cap — administratively toxic and it eventually poisons the relationship
- Payment on 'signed proposal' rather than money received — you get paid for deals that collapse
- Exclusivity clauses that stop you referring elsewhere in the same category
- Anything undisclosed that the end client would feel deceived by if they learned of it
How ClearForm handles it
ClearForm agrees the fee before any introduction, pay on the client's first invoice, and keep it to the first engagement. The client never pays more because a referral happened — that's the whole point of the model: our recommendation has to be the honest one, or the model breaks.
Frequently asked questions
01What percentage should I charge for referring a client?
10–20% of first project value is the professional-services norm. Charge toward 20% when you've qualified the lead and vouched for the partner; toward 10% when you simply passed a name along.
02One-time or recurring referral fee?
One-time, unless the business is a retainer model. Recurring fees require tracking someone else's revenue for years, which creates friction and suspicion out of proportion to the money.
03Do I have to tell the client about the fee?
You don't usually have to volunteer it in unregulated services, but you should never deny it, and the recommendation must be one you'd make for free. If a fee would change who you recommend, the fee is too big.
04How does VAT work on referral fees in Sweden?
A referral fee is a normal taxable service between businesses: invoice it with 25% VAT domestically, and apply reverse charge rules for EU B2B. Your accountant will treat it as ordinary revenue.
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