I'm not sure if the earnings are instantly recorded on the
account page, but it is paid out monthly as mentioned by Hex
here. Several users with referrals had encountered problems of not being paid/earnings not being recorded, and this is what I
found. You'll see more threads about it on their forum.
I have a good experience on cryptopia since then. Though some users are having issues regarding support now (which is not only a problem on cryptopia but also on other exchanges) due to volume of users. Still, it's up to you if you want to try the exchange.