Playbook for agency owners

How to design a TikTok LIVE agency bonus structure

To design a TikTok LIVE agency bonus structure, decide what you want to reward, choose whether pay follows levels or diamonds, set the conditions a creator must clear, keep separate deals rare and visible, and test every rule on real creators' months before anyone is told. CN Creator App gives an owner the building blocks for that (levels, pay rules with conditions, per-creator exceptions, a preview and a payout ledger) and leaves every rate to the owner.

Last updated 5 November 2026

On this page

This page is about the decisions behind a creator bonus, not the numbers: it quotes no rate, because the right one depends on the agency's margins, markets and creators. Use it as a checklist before you open the Bonus screen. The step-by-step mechanics are on the pay rules page.

The decisions at a glance

Nine decisions make up a bonus structure. Each row says what to ask and where the answer goes in the app.

Decision	The question to answer	Where it goes in the app
What you reward	Volume, steady attendance, growth, or a mix of them?	Each becomes a pay rule on the Bonus screen.
What pay follows	Does pay follow the levels or the diamonds?	The Bonus screen asks which way the agency pays. It may suggest an answer from your rules, but it never saves a guess.
The conditions	What must a creator clear before a rule pays them?	"Only when" on each rule: a diamond floor or ceiling, valid days, LIVE hours, a minimum level, tier status.
What each level pays	Should every level pay, and should a higher level always pay more?	The levels screen: five activeness levels, TikTok fixes the gates, the owner sets what each pays.
An extra for holding or climbing	Do you reward a creator who keeps a tier, one who climbs, or neither?	Two extras on the levels screen, "Maintained" and "Ranked up".
Separate deals	Who is on their own arrangement, and should that replace the rules entirely?	An exception set on the creator's own profile.
Who sees pay	Which staff see pay, whose, and do creators see their own figures?	Payout access for each person, and the "Show Bonus to creators" switch.
Proof before publishing	How will you know a rule says what you meant?	The Bonus screen prices the rules on three creators from your roster as you change them.
The record	Where will the month stay on file once people are paid?	The payout ledger, which is read-only. Payment happens outside the app.

The building blocks

Every agency bonus is made of the same few parts. Agencies differ in how they combine them, which is why CN Creator App has no fixed formula.

Levels. A ladder a creator climbs by being consistent. In CN Creator App there are five activeness levels. TikTok fixes the gate for each one, which is a number of valid days and LIVE hours, so the owner does not argue with the ladder and only decides what each level pays.
Rules that follow levels or diamonds. A rule takes a percentage of a figure the app has read, such as diamonds. The percentage can follow the creator's level or be one the owner types. Rules that apply to the same creator are added together.
A valid-days gate. A condition on a rule, so that a creator who streamed a lot on a few days is not paid the same as one who showed up regularly. The same place holds the other conditions: a diamond floor or ceiling, LIVE hours, a minimum level, and tier status.
Exceptions for single creators. A creator can be moved off the rules onto a fixed share or a fixed monthly amount of the owner's choosing. The exception replaces the rules for that creator.
An extra for holding or climbing. A creator whose tier status TikTok marks as Maintained or Ranked up can earn an extra on top of their share. The owner sets what each is worth, and Ranked up replaces Maintained, never both.
Staff visibility of pay. Who in the team can see pay is a design decision too. It is set for each person: none, their own roster or the whole agency.

Questions to answer before you write a rule

Write the answers down first. A rule built on an unanswered question is the one you will rewrite after the first month.

What behaviour do you want more of: more diamonds, more days on LIVE, longer LIVEs, or creators moving up?
What does your agency already promise creators, in messages or in writing? Your first rules should say what you already say, or you will create two versions of the truth.
Do you pay by level, by diamonds, or by both? Pick one as the spine and treat the other as an add-on.
Which creators should the rules not apply to, and why? If the answer is a long list, the rules are wrong, not the creators.
What must a creator do to qualify, and is that gate one you can explain in a sentence?
Should a creator who stays at a level earn something extra, and should one who climbs earn more than one who stays?
Can you tell a creator in one sentence what they will be paid for, without a spreadsheet?
Who has to see these numbers to do their job, and who should never see them?
What happens when a creator is not read yet? Will you wait, or promise something the data cannot back?
When a rule changes, how will creators hear about it before the figures move?

Common mistakes, as questions to ask yourself

None of these is about a particular rate. They are the questions owners tend to ask only after the first payout month.

Do two of your rules both apply to the same creator, so that the creator is paid twice for one thing? Rules that apply are added together, and the Bonus screen warns when two rows overlap.
Does any level pay nothing, and is that on purpose? The levels screen flags a level with no share so that it is a decision and not an accident.
Did you set a gate by guesswork when TikTok already fixes the level gates? Use TikTok's gates for the levels and keep your own conditions for the rules.
Is a creator you have not yet read being treated as owed nothing? A dash means not priced yet, which is different from zero.
Have you given someone whole-agency payout access when their own roster was enough? That is the widest setting and it opens the pay screens.
Have exceptions piled up until the exceptions are the structure? An exception replaces the rules and takes no extra for holding or climbing, so every one is a small second system.
Did you hide the Bonus from creators without thinking about the ledger? Switching it off also stops the Bonus being added to the payout ledger.
Are you changing a rule in the middle of the month without telling anyone? Saved rules apply to every creator from the next read of the figures.
Is the record only in a chat or a spreadsheet? Without one monthly list of who is owed what, a dispute is one person's memory against another's.

How to decide your bonus rules

Name what you reward. Write one line for each behaviour you want more of: volume, regular days on LIVE, longer LIVEs, climbing. If you cannot name it, do not pay for it.
Choose what pay follows. Decide whether pay follows the levels or the diamonds. In the app this is the first choice on the Bonus screen, headed "How you pay".
Set the conditions. For each rule, decide what a creator must clear first. In the app these are the "Only when" fields of a rule: a diamond floor or ceiling, valid days, LIVE hours, a minimum level and tier status.
Decide what each level pays. Open the levels screen, where TikTok has fixed the five gates, and set what each level pays. Decide at the same time what the extra for holding or climbing is worth, if anything.
List the exceptions. Write down who is on a separate deal and why. Set each one on the creator's own profile, as a fixed share or a fixed monthly amount.
Decide who sees what. Give each member of staff the payout access their job needs, and decide whether creators see their Bonus.
Try it on real creators. Open the preview that shows the lowest, a typical and the top month from your own roster, and change a rule until it pays what you meant. Do this before you save.
Save, tell creators, then read the ledger. Saving applies the rules to every creator from the next read. Tell your creators first. Each month, read the payout ledger and pay people outside the app.

Preview before you publish

A rule is easy to write and hard to judge. A percentage of diamonds means nothing until you see what it pays a creator you know, so the Bonus screen prices the rules on three creators from your own roster (a lowest month, a typical month and a top month) and updates them as you change a rule.

Look for three things: a creator who gets nothing and should not, a creator who gets far more than you meant, and a creator who shows as not priced yet. The last one means the figures have not been read, and it is shown as not priced, never as zero.

Nothing applies to anyone until you save. The levels screen likewise holds its edits until you press Save.

What the app does for each decision

CN Creator App does not decide any of this for you. It gives each decision a place to live and a way to check it.

A formula builder. Rules one by one, each a percentage of a figure the app has read, with conditions, switched on or off. The screen restates them in plain words so you can tell the team how the agency pays.
Five activeness levels. TikTok fixes the gates and the owner sets what each level pays, plus the extra for holding or climbing.
A preview on a real creator's month. The rules are worked out on three creators from your roster before you save.
Exceptions. A separate deal for one creator, set on that creator's profile.
A read-only payout ledger. Each month lists who is owed what, highest first. It is a record and there is nothing to mark as paid.
Payouts outside the app. The agency pays by bank transfer, wallet or whatever it already uses. The app never takes, sends or holds money.

If your agency runs the separate Creator incentives program, that program decides creators' Bonus while it is on, and the rules on the Bonus screen are not applied.

What it is not

Not a calculator. It does not tell an agency what to pay and states no rate of its own.
Not a payment service. The ledger is a record. The app never takes, sends, holds or processes money.
Not a TikTok product. It is made by an official TikTok LIVE agency partner and works with the agency's own Backstage account. TikTok and TikTok LIVE are trademarks of ByteDance Ltd.

Questions agency owners ask

How do I design a bonus structure for my TikTok LIVE agency?

Start with decisions, not numbers: what you want to reward, whether pay follows levels or diamonds, the conditions a creator must clear, who gets a separate deal and who sees the figures. Then write the rules one at a time and test them on real creators' months before you save. CN Creator App has a place for each of those decisions and quotes no rates.

Should I pay by level or by diamonds?

It depends on what you want to reward. Levels reward consistency, because TikTok fixes the gate for each level in valid days and LIVE hours. Diamonds reward volume. Pick one as the spine of the structure and use the other only as an add-on, and say which in plain words to your creators. The Bonus screen asks which way the agency pays and never saves a guess.

What conditions can a bonus rule have?

In CN Creator App each rule can be limited to creators who clear a diamond floor or ceiling, a number of valid days, a number of LIVE hours, a minimum level, or a tier status of Maintained or Ranked up. A blank condition means the rule has none.

What is a valid-days gate for?

It keeps pay tied to regular attendance rather than one big day. The levels carry TikTok's own gate, and a rule can add a valid-days condition of its own. Choose it as a rule you can explain to a creator in one sentence.

Should I give creators an extra for holding or climbing a tier?

That is the owner's choice and the app has no opinion. If you do, CN Creator App lets you set what Maintained and Ranked up are each worth. Ranked up replaces Maintained, never both, and a creator on a fixed share gets neither.

When should a creator get an exception?

Only for a real separate deal, such as a creator you recruited on different terms. An exception replaces the agency's rules for that creator, with no extra for holding or climbing, so too many of them become a second structure to maintain. Each is set on the creator's own profile.

How do I test a bonus structure before creators see it?

While you change the rules, the Bonus screen shows what three creators from your own roster would get this month: a lowest month, a typical month and a top month. Nothing applies to anyone until you save, and saved rules apply from the next read of the figures.

Who should be able to see pay?

Only people who need it for their job. In CN Creator App payout access is set for each person: none, their own roster or the whole agency. Whole-agency access also opens the formula and level screens, so grant it with care. The owner also decides whether creators see their own Bonus.

Does the app move the money or mark payouts as paid?

CN Creator App never takes, sends, holds or processes money. The payout ledger is read-only: it lists who is owed what each month, and the agency pays outside the app and has nothing to record there.

What does a creator see of the rules?

A creator opens My Bonus and sees their own level, their own share and how their month is worked out under your agency's formula. They see nothing about any other creator, and the owner can switch the Bonus off for creators. Switching it off also stops the Bonus being added to the ledger.

What if my structure does not fit the Bonus screen?

Tell support how your agency pays, at creatorapp@devignlb.com. A person answers, and the team will help you build it.

Where are the mechanics of the pay rules explained?

On the TikTok LIVE agency pay rules page, which walks through the Bonus screen, the preview and the payout ledger step by step. This page covers the decisions that come before them.

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