Michael sold a red corvette to Prince. Working at a dealership who pays their employees based on sales, Michael receives a certain commission for the red corvette he sold. This commission must go through several channels for a check to land in Michael’s hands. This is where tracking commissions will help ensure the sales reps are compensated accurately. Helping even further, commission tracking software can help automate the process of calculating and tracking sales and performance-based compensation.
What is a Commission?
In simple terms, a commission or compensation is a payment that an employee makes based on a sale. The commission varies on how often they sell, how much they sell, and how well they perform. This tactic motivates salespeople, recruiters, stockbrokers, and other commission-based employees to sell more products or services, drive sales, and reward employees for strong performance. There are seven common types of sales commissions that can be tracked:
- Salary plus commission: received in addition to a base salary
- Straight commission: strictly used as income
- Draw against commission: a specific amount of money at the start of their work; selling more becomes commission, selling less must be given back
- Residual commission: earned after the client makes their first purchase
- Graduated commission: distributed according to the number of sales
- Bonus commission: given to those who have exceeded sales expectations
- Variable commission: changes based on factors established by the company
Three Most Common Ways to Track Commissions
Why should you track commissions? Well, Michael needs to get paid accurately for all the sales he did for the specific period. Tracking commissions also prevents hassles between employers and sales teams on their payouts. There are a few ways to track your commissions – some more tedious than others, but you can determine for yourself which path is right for you.
Manually
Sticky notes, printed templates, gridded notebooks – manual tracking is useful for tracking simple compensation plans. However, there are many cons to manually tracking commissions.
Excel Spreadsheets
Moving up from a pen and paper are Excel spreadsheets. A quick Google search results in plenty of templated Excel spreadsheets to choose from. Since 99% of the population knows how to use Excel, it is an easy solution for many businesses, but it’s not perfect.
Rockton Pricing Management: A Commission Tracking Software
If you are using an ERP system, a commission tracking software can be a much more efficient tool than Excel or sticky notes. Most commission tracking software can seamlessly connect to whatever system you are using. Rockton Pricing Management, a tool to help you track commissions, royalties, price adjustments, and more, could be the right commission tracking software if you are using Acumatica or Dynamics GP.
Which is the Right Commission Tracking Software for You?
That is for you to decide. We hope that this gave you some insight into the different ways you can track commissions, and which one will fit your business needs best. If you are interested in learning more about our commission tracking software for Acumatica or Dynamics GP, feel free to check out Rockton Pricing Management by browsing its features or booking a demo to see it for yourself.
