The Commissions screen is where you calculate, review, and manage commission payments for your sales team. It handles the complex math of commission calculations — tiered rates, bonuses, adjustments, and multi-period tracking — so you don’t have to do it in spreadsheets. If you manage sales compensation, this screen will save you hours every month.
Getting There
Navigate to Operations → Sales → Commissions in the left sidebar.
Key Features
Commission Periods
Commissions are organized by monthly periods. Each period represents a single month’s commission calculations. You can see all periods in a table with their status (draft, in progress, completed, closed) and total commission amounts.
Commission Calculation Wizard
The calculation wizard walks you through the commission calculation process step by step. It handles transaction assignment, employee review, amount calculations, attribute bonuses, and quarterly bonuses — all in a guided workflow.
Employee Commission Review
Review individual employee commission details, including line items for each transaction, bonus calculations, and adjustments. This transparency helps prevent disputes and builds trust with your sales team.
Period Detail View
Drill into any commission period to see the full breakdown: all employees, their transactions, calculated amounts, and status. The detail view includes an audit trail of any adjustments made.
Transaction Review
Review which transactions were included in commission calculations and how they were attributed. If there are questions about a specific deal or renewal, you can trace it through the calculation process.
Email Notifications
Send commission statements to employees via email. Each employee receives a detailed breakdown of their earnings for the period, promoting transparency and reducing compensation questions.
Commission Settings
Configure calculation parameters like attribution methods, currency, fiscal year settings, and more. These settings control how commissions are calculated across your organization.
Step-by-Step: Running Monthly Commissions
- Open or create the period — Navigate to the month you want to calculate commissions for.
- Launch the calculation wizard — Start the guided process to calculate commissions.
- Assign transactions — Review and confirm which transactions belong to which reps.
- Review employee calculations — Check each employee’s commission breakdown for accuracy.
- Apply adjustments — If any corrections are needed, make adjustments with documented reasons.
- Finalize the period — Once reviewed, complete the period to lock in the calculations.
- Send notifications — Email commission statements to employees.
💡 Tips & Best Practices
- Process commissions promptly — Run calculations within the first week of the following month to maintain trust and accuracy.
- Document every adjustment — Always include a reason when making adjustments. This creates an audit trail and prevents disputes.
- Review with managers first — Before sending statements to reps, have managers review their team’s calculations.
- Use the audit trail — If questions arise, use the approval logs and adjustment history to reconstruct what happened.
Frequently Asked Questions
How are commission rates determined?
Commission rates are defined in Commission Plans, which are assigned to employees through the Commission Plans screen. Plans can include tiered rates, bonuses, and attribute-based modifiers.
Can I recalculate commissions for a previous month?
Yes — you can reopen a completed period and recalculate. The system maintains history of all calculations so you can track changes.
What if a deal is attributed to the wrong rep?
Use the transaction assignment step in the calculation wizard to correct attribution. You can reassign transactions before finalizing the period.
How do quarterly bonuses work?
Quarterly bonuses are calculated based on cumulative performance over the quarter. The wizard includes a dedicated step for reviewing and applying quarterly bonus calculations.
Related Articles
- Commission Plans — Define commission structures
- Calculate Manager Commissions — Manager-level commission calculations
- Quotas — Track quota attainment
- Deals — Sales pipeline management