Later Influence calculates cost-based performance metrics automatically as incentives are fulfilled. This article explains how costs are calculated and where to find cost data. For an overview of incentive types and fulfillment, see Incentives Overview.

What Counts as a Cost

Only Fulfilled incentives are included in cost calculations. Pending, Ready, Draft, and Rejected incentives are excluded. This ensures that only paid, completed deliverables are reflected in your metrics.

Both the Value (retail value) and Cost (actual cost to your brand) fields are tracked separately. Only the Cost field feeds into performance metrics. This allows you to record both the creator-facing value and the amount you spend. 

Cost Metrics

Cost Per Engagement (CPE): total incentive cost ÷ total engagements from bound content.

Cost Per 1,000 Impressions (CPM): total incentive cost ÷ total impressions × 1,000.

Cost Per Post (CPP): total incentive cost ÷ number of bound posts.

These metrics refresh automatically as incentives are fulfilled and as content performance data updates.

Where to Find Cost Data

Campaign Performance Report: shows cost metrics for a specific campaign — total cost, CPE, CPM, CPP, and estimated ROI. Accessible from the Performance tab within any campaign.

Reports section: aggregates cost data across multiple campaigns. Go to Reports → Overview and filter by campaign(s) and date range.

Incentives tab: the fulfillment table shows the cost and value of every incentive, filterable by campaign, type, and status. Export from here for detailed cost breakdowns.

Program-level exports: see Export Options for how to export cost data alongside campaign and influencer details.

Incentive Cost vs. Budget

The incentive cost recorded in Later reflects the actual cost field you entered when creating the incentive — not the campaign budget set in the Marketing Plan. Budget tracking (planned vs. actual spend) is available in the Budgets tab. See Incentive Spending: Budgets Tab.