PivotPlanit
Commission - Sales Orders

Commission on Final Order Values

Two options for reconciling sales order commissions with actual margins after month-end adjustments.

Overview

The Problem

Sales reps sometimes undercharge freight or forget to include credit card fees when taking orders. When DockBlocks reconciles these orders at month-end and adjusts the block price to capture the correct margin, the commission has already been calculated on the original (higher) values. This means DockBlocks overpays commission on the amount that should have been corrected. Promotions and free-freight offers make this problem worse, as the incentive to reduce commission-eligible margins is reduced.

Objective

The Goal

Calculate commissions on the final, corrected order values after month-end reconciliation of freight and credit card fees, so commissions are always based on actual margins. This allows DockBlocks to offer better promotions without overpaying reps on adjustments.

Options

Two Approaches

Approach A

Defer Commission Calculation

How it works: Run commission calculations only after the month-end sales order reconciliation is complete, once Stacy has finalized all freight and credit card fee adjustments.

Pros:

  • Simplest process change - no formula complexity in Zoho
  • No risk of recalculation errors if fields are edited
  • Clear audit trail - one calculation per month on finalized data

Cons:

  • Commissions run one week after month-end (later payout)
  • Manual timing coordination between Stacy's reconciliation and commission run
Approach B

Anchor Commission Formula to Final Values

How it works: Build the sales order commission formula to reference the final freight and credit card fee fields directly, so it self-corrects whenever those fields are updated.

Pros:

  • Automatic: commission updates whenever Stacy adjusts freight or fees
  • Can calculate commissions on any schedule - always accurate
  • More transparent: reps can see exact commission impact of adjustments

Cons:

  • Requires building and testing Zoho formulas for each commission logic branch
  • More moving parts if order values are edited mid-month for other reasons
  • More setup work upfront

Next Step

Pick Option A or B. Please send the finance template or formula shape you have sketched so we can build the Zoho side to match.

Note

Commission percentages and rates remain unchanged. This approach affects only when and on what value the commission is calculated, not the rate itself.