What Does It Mean to Lead a Sales Team Effectively?

Those who lead a sales team inspire people toward a shared vision and empower them to achieve it, while those who manage a sales team focus on overseeing daily operations and processes. Sales leadership focuses on motivation, culture, and long-term growth, playing a central role in driving sales team performance metrics and results.

Leaders define success, align metrics with company goals, and provide coaching, tools, and incentives that enable reps to meet and exceed benchmarks consistently. This alignment ensures performance is measurable, targets are achievable, and progress is sustained over time. Effective leaders possess a combination of sales leadership strategies that balance proactive leadership with reactive management.

Proactive leadership anticipates trends, forecasts accurately, and drives innovation. By contrast, reactive management responds quickly to challenges and shifting opportunities. Striking the right balance keeps the team adaptable while maintaining a clear path toward long-term success.

Additional Reading

Best Sales Performance Management Software of 2025

See List

The role of a sales leader in setting goals and driving performance

A sales leader connects individual performance, team objectives, and the company’s growth strategy when setting sales goals that motivate the team and support revenue goals. This requires an understanding of the company’s growth strategy and a strategic alignment with the sales compensation plan essential to driving company objectives.

Top-performing leaders also leverage sales goal tracking software like QuotaPath to drive quota attainment tracking and maintain high motivation.

For instance, David Thai, RevOps Team Lead at Augury said, “Our reps love the forecasting earnings feature… it does kind of drive a little bit more of incentive for them to kind of differentiate, you know, pitch harder… that’s really an invaluable driver of morale and just understanding how you make money at the end of the day.”

Similarly, Rootly’s Director of Sales, Andre King, shared that, “Visibility into their earnings has changed what the reps are pushing for… showing your reps how much more they can make on longer contracts changed how they sell.”

By combining strategic alignment with tools that make progress and earnings transparent, sales leaders can turn targets into tangible motivators, driving individual and team performance.

Coaching vs. managing: why leadership style matters

A sales leader’s style also shapes more than daily operations.

It influences team performance, engagement, and long-term growth. Leaders who lean too heavily on managing may hit short-term targets but risk missing opportunities to develop skills, foster innovation, and retain top talent.

Coaching, on the other hand, builds capability and confidence, equipping reps to consistently improve their performance.

Directive and developmental coaching are two distinct coaching styles that leaders can draw from depending on the situation. While directive coaching diagnoses the issue and prescribes the solution, Developmental coaching uses questions to guide reps toward their own solutions, building independence and adaptability.

Pairing both styles with effective sales enablement equips leaders with the tools and training to make coaching more impactful and sustainable.

How to Set Achievable Sales Targets For Your Team

Setting sales targets that inspire performance without overwhelming your team is a balancing act. The following steps will help you create achievable, data-driven goals that align with business priorities and keep your reps focused on what matters most.

Aligning individual goals with company objectives

Drive sales productivity by ensuring every rep’s targets contribute directly to the company’s broader growth strategy. Establish this alignment with a North Star Metric (NSM) — a clear, measurable indicator that reflects how the business creates value and grows over time. Tying individual goals to the NSM gives reps a common focal point and understanding of how their day-to-day activities influence the organization’s success.

This approach not only keeps priorities consistent across the team but also strengthens collaboration between sales and other functions, as everyone works toward the same overarching objective.

Using historical performance data to forecast accurately

Once individual goals are aligned with company objectives, use past performance data to set targets that are both ambitious and attainable. Review historical sales results, conversion rates, and pipeline metrics to identify realistic benchmarks and spot trends that can inform your projections. Using historical performance data offers valuable insights, greater forecasting accuracy, and enables informed sales target decisions.

How compensation plans influence target setting

Target setting defines what sales teams are expected to achieve, such as quota, revenue, or retention. Sales compensation plans provide the incentives tied to those targets. For target setting to be credible and effective, leadership needs to: model possible outcomes, forecast payout risk, and test comp plan behaviors ahead of rollout.  

For instance, the QuotaPath compensation management platform helps streamline these processes, eliminating manual calculations.

The impact of compensation on behavior:

Compensation structures directly influence how sales reps prioritize their efforts and approach their work.

Incentive Alignment

• Sales reps are more likely to focus on activities that directly lead to rewards.
• Accelerators (e.g., higher payouts after hitting quota) boost effort late in the quarter.

Increased Deal Volume & Size

• Reps push to close more deals or larger deals when payout potential is visible.
• Clear line-of-sight to earnings encourages proactive selling.

Healthy Competition

• Transparent compensation structures (with visibility tools like QuotaPath) drive reps to outperform peers.

Deal Structuring & Prioritization

• Reps favor product lines, contract lengths, or account types with higher payout multipliers.
• Example: Incentives for multi-year contracts lead to more long-term deals sold.

Pipeline Management

• Reps become more disciplined in tracking and updating CRM data if it affects payouts.

Quota Attainment Strategies

• Compensation plans can drive behaviors like:
  • Pulling deals forward to hit quota.
  • Sandbagging if accelerators are poorly structured.
  • Gaming plans (if not well-designed).
    
    

How QuotaPath users simulate and adjust plan modeling.

Our customers use QuotaPath to easily model and test compensation plans before launching them.

For instance, NeuroFlow requested a tool to mock up and run compensation scenarios, and QuotaPath’s Draft Plans feature was born.

As NeuroFlow’s Systems Operations Manager, Genevieve Moss-Hawkins explained, “Really early on, we provided feedback about wanting to mock up a plan and run scenarios without using the production environment… During our time as customers, QuotaPath built and released Draft Plans. We’ve used it for at least one year of commission planning.”

Whistic also leverages QuotaPath to simplify their compensation management process. “We just finished up year-end for 2024 kickoff for 2025, so there was a lot of modeling exercises and a lot of planning. I think the modeling and kind of the more planning element is something that still is a little new, but improving,” said Taggart Befus, Revenue Operations Manager at Whistic

Best Practices For Motivating Your Sales Team

Motivation is the fuel that keeps a sales team performing at its best. These best practices will help you sustain high energy, boost engagement, and inspire reps to meet or exceed their targets consistently.

Leveraging incentives and commission structures

Commission tracking software, such as QuotaPath, drives better performance by providing sales reps with real-time visibility into how their activities translate into earnings. That transparency clarifies incentives, boosts motivation, and reduces disputes so reps can stay focused on selling.

McKinsey found that companies that focus on their people’s performance are 4.2 times more likely to outperform their peers, realizing an average 30 percent higher revenue growth and experiencing attrition five percentage points lower.

“The sales team loves having the ability to see their pipeline, forecast potential commissions, and understand exactly when they’ll get paid…QuotaPath keeps them motivated and eliminates the back-and-forth,” said Genevieve.

Recognizing and rewarding consistent performance

Simple practices like peer recognition, monthly awards, or shout-outs in team meetings are effective ways to motivate sales team members, reinforce desired behaviors, and sustain momentum.

According to Gallup, employees who don’t feel adequately recognized are twice as likely to say they’ll quit in the next year — underscoring the link between recognition and retention. By making recognition timely, authentic, and tailored to individual preferences, leaders can boost morale, strengthen loyalty, and encourage reps to keep performing at their best.

Building a transparent and supportive culture

Transparency is crucial to the success and effectiveness of your sales compensation plan.

Compensation transparency fosters trust, enhances plan adoption, and boosts sales team motivation. There are fewer commission disputes and better morale when reps understand how they earn incentives and have visibility into payout calculations. Ways to incorporate compensation transparency include: 

• Enabling reps to approve their commissions in a multi-level approval workflow
• Locking plan data once it’s approved
• Providing deal-level traceability of payments to reps
• Giving reps access to earnings dashboards
• Providing an automated dispute process

What To Do When Your Team Is Not Hitting Targets

Even top-performing teams face slow periods or missed goals. Here’s how to identify the root causes, adjust your strategy, and keep morale strong when your team is falling short.

Identifying root causes (pipeline, process, compensation issues)

Before making changes to your sales strategy or compensation plan, pinpoint the factors preventing your team from hitting targets by examining key performance indicators and market conditions.

Look at: 

• Sales activity metrics: Calls, emails, demos—are reps putting in the work?
• Pipeline health: Are there enough qualified opportunities at each stage?
• Conversion rates: Identify where deals are falling off.
• Quota and compensation alignment: Are goals realistic and incentivizing the right behavior?
• Market and competitive changes: Has something shifted externally?

To determine if it’s time to change your comp plan, Ryan Macia, CFO at Osano, recommends you start evaluating comp plans when there’s a misalignment between actual performance and plan expectations.  Then, once you’ve identified a gap, Anne Pao, Founder & CEO at Ignite Consulting, suggests engaging the sales team to understand what they find confusing or demotivating about the plan.

Adjusting goals and expectations strategically

When performance falls short, adjust goals and expectations in a way that refocuses the team while still driving toward overall business objectives. 

• Coach and re-skill: Prioritize training and individualized coaching.
• Refine targeting: Ensure reps are focused on the right ICPs and segments.
• Optimize the sales process: Remove friction and clarify next steps at each stage.
• Adjust comp plans if needed: Ensure they’re driving desired outcomes.
• Collaborate with marketing: Improve lead quality and nurture support.

Communicating setbacks without damaging morale

When reps aren’t achieving sales targets, the way leaders communicate can mean the difference between a motivated rebound and a drop in morale. Combining transparency, empathy, and ownership helps maintain trust and keep the team engaged. Be clear about the challenges, acknowledge the team’s efforts, and share the plan for moving forward, showing that setbacks are a shared responsibility and an opportunity to improve together.

How QuotaPath Helps You Lead Your Team To Sales Success

The right tools make it easier to lead a sales team toward hitting and surpassing their goals. QuotaPath provides the visibility, automation, and insights necessary to align compensation with strategy, boost motivation, and drive consistent results.

Automate compensation to reduce admin overhead

When you automate sales commissions, you free up valuable time, reduce calculation errors, and eliminate the inefficiencies of manual spreadsheets.

Augury experienced this firsthand after implementing QuotaPath.

“It used to take the full 45 days to do quarterly commissions. Now it takes 15 days or less,” said David.

Align comp plans with strategic business goals

Compensation plans should motivate sales teams and drive the attainment of business objectives. QuotaPath supports leadership in achieving this with dynamic modeling tools and plan performance reports, enabling them to forecast outcomes, test plan scenarios, and adjust incentives in real time.

These insights help sales leadership ensure comp plans remain aligned with evolving business goals, while motivating reps to focus on the activities that deliver the highest strategic impact.

Increase transparency and boost sales motivation

Visibility into earnings is a powerful motivator, and QuotaPath delivers it through real-time dashboards and deal-level payout details. This transparency builds trust, reduces disputes, and keeps reps engaged in achieving their targets.

Actabl’s adoption of QuotaPath improved trust and rep engagement.

“Some reps trust me and never log in. Others are super users who flag things, check their status, and use it regularly. And they love it because of the visibility,” Actabl’s Director of Revenue Operations, Kenza Sebbar, shared. 

See how QuotaPath helps you lead your team in achieving sales targets. Schedule time with a team member today.

The shift is on: Sales comp is following the usage-based pricing model.

Usage-based pricing has been the conversation in SaaS and fintech for the last few years. Now, sales comp plans are catching up.

At a recent private event with Insight Partners portfolio companies, the momentum was clear:

• 19% are already on a usage-based pricing model
• 17% are piloting or testing
• 48% are actively exploring
• Only 17% are still just learning
  

This model works beautifully when customer spend ties directly to operational metrics (think: data volume, payment transactions, or API calls). But changing how you price often means rethinking how you pay your sales team. 

That’s where things get tricky.

Report: Usage-Based Compensation Plans

Turning customer consumption into revenue requires rethinking sales compensation. In this report, learn when usage-based comp works, design frameworks, payout strategies, and five anonymized examples from high-growth teams.

View Report

That’s why we created our Usage-Based Compensation Plans: Trends, Models & Examples from High-Growth Revenue Teams Report. 

It’s a deep dive into the state of usage-based comp today, who’s using it, what’s working, what’s not, and the exact plan structures teams are putting in place. Packed with benchmarks, best practices, and anonymized examples, it’s designed to help you decide if (and how) this model could work for you.

Why We Built This Report

We wanted to cut through the noise and give Revenue and RevOps leaders real-world insights from leaders who’ve been in the trenches.

We analyzed dozens of compensation consultation calls, spoke with industry leaders, and pulled in external benchmarks to answer:

• When does a usage-based comp plan make sense (and when doesn’t it)?
• What are the top challenges, and how do teams solve them?
• What frameworks work best?
• What do actual usage-based comp plans look like?

What You’ll Learn

In this report, you’ll find:

• Adoption trends: 60% of SaaS companies use some form of usage-based pricing (OpenView, 2023).
• Common pain points: Forecasting accuracy, delayed revenue realization, clawbacks, and rep motivation.
• Best practices: Hybrid payout models, quota credit vs. payout separation, and onboarding-aligned incentives.
• Five anonymized comp plan examples spanning fintech, infrastructure SaaS, SMB SaaS, and more.
  

A Few Nuggets We Couldn’t Keep to Ourselves

• Hybrid structures are where it’s at. Most successful teams blend forecast-based payouts with true-ups tied to actual usage.
  
• Quota credit ≠ payout timing. Giving full quota credit at close (even if payouts drip over time) keeps reps engaged without draining cash.
  
• Early usage is everything. When reps drive onboarding and adoption, usage ramps faster, benefiting both the customer and the business.
  

Ready to See the Full Report?

If you’re considering or already navigating a usage-based pricing or compensation model, this report will give you the frameworks, examples, and pitfalls to watch for so you can build a plan that motivates your team and protects your bottom line.

Read Report Now.

A sales compensation clawback occurs when a company recovers commissions previously paid to a representative, typically because a customer cancels, requests a refund, or fails to pay within a defined period. While clawbacks are widely disliked, they serve a critical purpose: protecting the business financially, discouraging fraud or misrepresentation, and motivating reps to prioritize high-quality, long-term customers.

To be considered fair, every clawback policy should include three essentials:

• A defined timeframe, within 3–4 months of the sale, for example
• Clear triggers like cancellations, refunds, or non-payment
• Transparent terms, such as a signed clause in the compensation plan, a clear recovery method (usually future commission deductions), and visibility for reps to monitor clawback risk.

In this article, we’re sharing five best practices for creating fair, transparent, and enforceable clawback policies that protect your bottom line while maintaining rep trust and motivation.

Here we go!

1. Set a Clear and Reasonable Timeframe

Every clawback policy should include a defined timeframe; the simpler, the better.

A clear and reasonable clawback window makes the policy easier to understand and implement, while preventing confusion or resentment among reps. A 3–4 month period post-sale is generally considered standard and fair.

According to HubSpot’s The Ultimate Guide to Sales Compensation, “If a customer cancels their plan one to four months after signing up, the salesperson who sold it to them is forced to give back their commission payment. This ensures reps focus their time and attention on businesses that can really benefit from the product.”

Predictability and simplicity should take precedence over punitive timelines.

Long or ambiguous clawback periods can create anxiety and distrust, especially when reps don’t know when a deal is officially “safe.” A short, well-defined window protects the business financially while enabling reps to plan their earnings and focus on closing more high-quality deals without tracking clawback risk indefinitely.

Download Our Free Sales Commission Agreement

2. Apply Clawbacks to Commission, Not Quota

When a deal falls through, companies have two primary options for clawbacks: recover the commission dollars or revoke the quota credit. While both approaches are technically viable, clawing back only the commission is widely considered the fairer and more effective option.

Quota clawbacks are overly punitive and demotivating for reps. If a rep is forced to “re-earn” quota credit for a churned deal, they may enter the next month or quarter already behind — a position that can feel insurmountable. This kind of policy affects rep morale and may drive shadow accounting, sandbagging, or other behaviors that undermine performance and trust.

By limiting clawbacks to commissions, companies protect their revenue without jeopardizing rep motivation or creating unnecessary friction. It’s a cleaner, more predictable process that encourages reps to keep selling, even when the occasional deal doesn’t stick.

3. Include Clear Language in Comp Plans

A clawback provision is only enforceable if it’s clearly written and acknowledged. That’s why it’s critical to include a specific clawback clause in your sales compensation plans. This clause should be clear and unambiguous, leaving no room for doubt about when and how commissions may be recovered.

For instance, this sample clause sets clear expectations: “Any commissions paid on deals that are refunded or canceled within four months will be deducted from future payouts.”

This language defines both the trigger (refund or cancellation) and the timeframe (four months), while also specifying the recovery method (deduction from future payouts). To avoid misunderstandings, it’s essential to include this clawback provision in a written compensation plan that requires the representative’s acknowledgement to confirm they’ve read and understood the terms.

Leverage our downloadable AE compensation policy and SDR compensation policy templates as a starting point for writing the clawback provision portion of your sales commission agreements.

4. Use CRM and Compensation Software to Automate Clawbacks

Clawbacks can create unnecessary administrative overhead if handled manually. However, compensation tools like QuotaPath streamline the process by automatically detecting clawback-eligible deals from CRMs like Salesforce or HubSpot and adjusting commissions accordingly.

With filters and time-based automations, you can flag deals that fall within a clawback window, apply the correct deductions, and track everything in one system. This streamlines the process, reducing manual oversight and saving time while minimizing errors.

As Prefect’s finance team shared, “We cut our time spent on commissions calculations by 50%+ and have enjoyed providing real-time transparency to our sales reps and technical pre-sales team.” Automating clawbacks lightens the load for finance and builds trust by giving reps instant visibility into their earnings and potential clawback risk.

5. Communicate Clawbacks Transparently with Reps

Clawbacks are easier to accept and less likely to cause frustration when reps know precisely when and why they occur. That’s why transparency is key. Show them in rep-facing dashboards that indicate which deals are at risk of clawback, when the clawback window ends, and whether a clawback has been applied. Use visuals and calculators to help reps forecast clawback risks, such as when a deal churns or a payment hasn’t been made.

Poor communication around clawbacks can quickly erode trust. On the other hand, a clear and intuitive UI that displays clawback data in real-time builds morale. When reps feel informed and in control, they’re more likely to stay motivated and focused on closing lasting deals.

Final Thoughts

Clawbacks are only fair when they’re clear, limited in scope, and enforced consistently. Although clawbacks are unpopular, businesses benefit from including them in compensation plan documents, as they mitigate revenue risk, motivate reps, and align them on prioritizing specific deals.

The right tools make all the difference. By automating clawback detection and recovery, you can reduce manual work, mitigate revenue risk, and give reps real-time visibility into their earnings.

Automate clawback management. Try QuotaPath for free or schedule a demo.

Sales compensation cliffs, aka thresholds where reps earn nothing until they hit a certain level of quota, are a relic of a bygone era. And they’re still showing up in comp plans today. 

But should they?

In a recent viral LinkedIn post, Ryan Milligan, our VP of Sales, Marketing, and RevOps, called out the outdated logic behind cliffs. His take? “I’m not a fan.”

And neither are most GTM leaders.

“A comp plan should always tell a rep to close a deal today,” said Ryan. 

He explained the common argument for cliffs: that reps should “feel it” if they don’t hit 70% of their quota.

But, “feel it” shouldn’t mean zero earnings.

Because when a rep realizes they’ll earn nothing for closing a deal late in the quarter, their incentive shifts away from helping the company and toward sandbagging until next quarter.

The Hidden Cost of Cliffs: Sandbagging & Rep Attrition

Cliffs don’t just punish underperformance. They distort behavior.

Matt Green, CRO at Sales Assembly, said in a comment, “The moment a rep realizes there’s zero payout under a threshold, they stop optimizing for revenue and start optimizing for optics.”

These optics, holding back deals, discounting, or even manipulating pipeline, cost your business real revenue. Jordan Kennedy, CEO at Jump, added that even leadership comp plans with cliffs risk backfiring.

“I’ve seen this in leadership plans as well… no reason to have it,” said Jordan.

And Lindsay Rios, a fractional GTM leader, pointed out a cultural risk

“Cliffs won’t change underperformance… but they will make a person feel like they aren’t valuable unless they sell a certain amount, which is not a culture I’m interested in building,” said Lindsay.

5 of the Most Problematic Comp Plans

Does your plan frustrate reps more than reward?

Take Me to Blog

A Better Way: Retroactive Accelerators

Instead of commission floors, Ryan proposed a tiered approach that offers some commission for early efforts and rewards higher performance retroactively once thresholds are met.

This hybrid model:

• Provides reps with motivation to close in-quarter
• Offers the “dopamine hit” of milestone attainment
• Reduces the risk of pipeline gaming
  

“If I’m at 60% at the end of the quarter, I have zero motivation to close a deal that gets me to 65%. But if I earn something for that, I’m closing it today,” said Ryan.

Report: Ramping Comp Plans

We surveyed revenue leaders from 114 organizations across industries to get a pulse on the most common strategies, payout structures, and ramping time frames.

View Report

Why Finance Should Care

For finance leaders, cliffs might seem like an efficiency play, holding back comp for sub-par performance. But the real cost is in lost pipeline momentum, future churn from demoralized reps, and operational drag from deal reshuffling.

As Barry Flanagan, VP of Sales at eG Innovations, said “If they get nothing if they don’t make 70%, they absolutely will sandbag… which is bad for the company.”

Plus, when you factor in recruiting, onboarding, and ramp time, replacing one demotivated rep is often more expensive than just paying fair, performance-based compensation in the first place.

Final Thoughts

Cliffs not only hurt reps, they also hurt revenue. They reduce trust in comp plans, distort sales behavior, and make it harder for finance teams to forecast earnings and CAC.

If your goal is efficiency, alignment, and growth, then leave cliffs behind.

Want to explore better comp plans? Book a demo with QuotaPath and learn how you can ditch cliffs, model what-if scenarios, and build a comp structure that motivates without surprises

Accurate commission payouts are essential for rep retention, motivation, trust, and productivity. Yet many businesses struggle with how to pay commissions consistently and promptly, while ensuring compliance.

Our latest guide shares how to pay commissions seamlessly and accurately, discussing structuring payment terms, payment processing steps, automation, and best practices.

Why Accurate Commission Payouts Matter

Let’s start by exploring the real cost of mistakes and the business benefits of getting payouts right.

The cost of payout errors and rep disputes

Even minor commission payout errors can lead to significant consequences. Our 2024 Sales Compensation Plan Report revealed that 22% of reps experience at least one commission dispute annually, and 9% of sales reps have quit their job over payout mistakes. In addition to the financial cost of rep turnover, the consequences of payroll errors include reduced rep trust and morale.

Inaccurate or delayed payments can harm morale, distract teams from closing new business, and undermine your entire compensation strategy. Poor sales commission accuracy affects rep paychecks, threatening your ability to retain top performers and drive revenue consistently.

Commission disputes are also a symptom of inefficient or manual workflows. Without an automated system or clear documentation process, reps lack visibility into how they’re paid. This reduces the understanding and effectiveness of the rep compensation plan, causing frustration. Automating payouts and surfacing an audit trail for every transaction helps prevent these issues.

The business case for getting commissions right

An accurate, transparent, and automated commission process has its benefits. It reduces manual admin work, improves payout accuracy, and builds trust between sales and finance.

A compensation automation platform like QuotaPath automates the entire sales compensation process, providing reps with access to their plans, payouts, and pipeline earnings forecasts — all in one place.

This prevents rep turnover and boosts motivation. Getting commission payouts right also ensures sales compensation compliance with state, federal, and accounting rules and standards like ASC 606 while supporting year-end reporting with clean, audit-ready records. Maintaining audit trails simplifies audits and builds confidence with leadership and investors.

This level of compensation transparency aligns finance and sales around clear compensation data, improving forecasting, quota setting, and resource planning.

How to Structure Commission Payment Terms

Establishing clear payment terms is the foundation of a successful commission strategy by deciding when to pay and setting easy-to-understand eligibility rules.

Deal signed vs. invoice paid – what to consider

Weigh cash flow implications alongside rep satisfaction and motivation when deciding how and when to pay commissions. Paying commissions when a deal is signed keeps sales reps engaged and energized by reinforcing their success. However, tying payouts to invoice payment helps stabilize cash flow and reduce financial risk when managing tight margins or variable revenue timing, such as monthly or annual subscriptions.

Some organizations delay payouts until they’ve received funds from the customer, or layer in payout rules and a clawback policy to protect against cancellations or non-payment. Others adopt a hybrid approach, offering higher commission rates for upfront payments or staggered incentives to motivate reps without compromising the business’s bottom line.

Choosing the right sales commission terms is about finding a balance. A structure that supports company sustainability and rewards reps fairly, driving performance while avoiding operational strain.

Setting payment schedules and eligibility rules

Once payment timing is decided, set a consistent commission payment schedule and clearly communicate eligibility. Reps should have clarity around payout timelines and deal eligibility criteria such as signed agreements, active customer status, or cleared invoices.

Eligibility rules also help protect against disputes and ensure compliance. For instance, QuotaPath allows users to set and enforce custom eligibility criteria through features like payout eligibility, which automates payment logic such as “eligible when invoice paid” or “eligible after deal start date.” Clearly documenting and communicating eligibility and clawback policies increases rep trust and ensures fair, consistent execution.

Step-by-Step Process to Pay Sales Commissions

After structuring commission payment terms, follow these five steps to build a reliable, repeatable commission process that scales.

Step 1: Approve deals and verify data

The first step in a smooth sales compensation workflow is verifying that deals that trigger commissions are valid. That means confirming commission approval with accurate deal data from your CRM, validating close dates, contract terms, and eligibility status before any calculations begin.

Step 2: Automate calculations using comp plans

Manual spreadsheets can slow things down and introduce costly errors. Using commission payout software to automate payouts based on predefined commission plans saves time while increasing accuracy and scalability.

Step 3: Schedule and send payouts

Establish a clear commission payment schedule and use automation tools to send payouts consistently. Align your payout cadence with payroll and finance systems to reduce confusion and avoid delays.

Step 4: Ensure audit-readiness and visibility

Keep records organized and transparent with audit-ready reports. Software like QuotaPath makes it easy to track earnings history, applied rates, and payout timing — building trust and preparing you for audits or financial reviews.

Step 5: Resolve disputes (if any)

Even with automation, questions and concerns may arise. Set up a clear process for dispute resolution, including in-platform communication, version control, and approval tracking, to quickly resolve issues and maintain rep confidence.

Maintain compliance and integrate with finance systems

Why Use Commission Payment Software Like QuotaPath

Manual commission workflows are slow, error-prone, and hard to scale. Here’s how QuotaPath automates payouts, builds rep trust, and ensures finance and sales stay aligned.

Automate complex payment workflows

QuotaPath, sales compensation software allows commission process automation, from deal approval to payroll sync. This level of automation eliminates spreadsheets and human errors, reduces administrative burden, and accelerates automated sales payouts. Instead of spending hours manually calculating commissions, revenue teams can build logic-driven workflows that automatically pull data from CRMs and push earnings directly into payroll systems.

Increase rep trust with transparency and control

QuotaPath empowers reps to control their income through real-time earnings visibility and intuitive dashboards. With access to their pipeline, attainment progress, and current payouts, reps can see how each deal impacts their pay. Self-serve breakdowns and dispute tools also enable reps to flag issues, track resolution, and clear up misunderstandings. These QuotaPath features build pay transparency into the compensation process, improving motivation and trust.

Accurate, compliant commission reporting is critical for every finance team. QuotaPath supports GAAP compliance, which aligns payouts with ASC 606 and ASC 340 accounting standards, helping you track, capitalize, and amortize commission expenses properly.

Integrations with leading platforms like Rippling, QuickBooks, and Salesforce enable seamless payroll integration and real-time syncing of compensation data across departments. By eliminating silos and centralizing commission logic, QuotaPath helps teams stay aligned and audit-ready.

Commission Payout Best Practices

These best practices will ensure every part of your commission program, from payment rules to dispute resolution, supports accuracy, compliance, and trust.

Always define clear payment rules: Clear, consistent rules around payout timing, eligibility, and clawbacks reduce confusion, prevent disputes, and set expectations that increase rep motivation and confidence.

Use a system that scales with your team: As compensation plans grow more complex and headcount increases, scalable systems ensure payout accuracy, reduce manual errors, and keep your sales compensation management process efficient and consistent.

Communicate openly with reps: Build rep confidence and reduce confusion through regular updates, clear documentation, and proactive rep communication around earnings and policies.

Ensure compliance and audit support: Align your commission processes with standards like ASC 606 and maintain clean records to support audits and financial reviews — essential for long-term payout accuracy and trust.

Track and resolve disputes quickly: A fast, visible resolution process minimizes tension and helps preserve morale, especially when reps can flag issues and track status in-platform.

Paying commissions correctly is a business-critical process. By aligning your payment terms, workflows, and software tools, you can minimize errors, ensure compliance, and motivate your team with confidence.

To automate your entire commission payout process with QuotaPath, book time with our team today.

Let’s talk about the impact incentives have on seller motivation.

Sales compensation is one of the most powerful behavioral tools in your revenue engine. Unfortunately, many revenue leaders overlook its full potential, focusing attention elsewhere, on pipeline health, forecast accuracy, sales onboarding, deal velocity, hiring plans, and CRM hygiene.

These are all essential priorities. But when comp is treated as a back-office function instead of a front-line lever, teams miss a massive opportunity: seller motivation in real time.

Your reps don’t live in dashboards or strategy docs. They live in the question: “What will I earn if I close this deal?”

That’s why visibility into earnings actually serves as a performance driver. 

…when comp is treated as a back-office function instead of a front-line lever, teams miss a massive opportunity: seller motivation in real time.

Compensation isn’t something you report on. It’s something you use.

Our blog below highlights how real QuotaPath customers have leveraged the power of comp plans paired with visibility to drive sales motivation and selling behaviors. 

Enjoy the read!

Visibility is Motivation in Motion

First, let’s call out that reps won’t chase what they can’t see. 

When sellers understand not just what they’ve earned, but what’s possible, it creates energy and focus.

This was exactly the challenge Augury set out to solve. 

Augury is a machine health and diagnostics platform that helps manufacturers predict and prevent equipment failure using AI-driven insights. With a GTM team of 20+ and a nuanced compensation plan designed to drive specific selling behaviors, visibility into earnings was essential.

“My reps love the forecasting earnings feature… they know our compensation plan and how the math works. That’s really an invaluable driver of morale,” said David Thai, Revenue Operations Team Lead, at Augury, in an interview.

Before implementing QuotaPath, commissions lived in spreadsheets, and quarterly payout cycles could take up to 45 days to complete. The process was manual, error-prone, and time-consuming. 

Worse, reps had a limited understanding of how their payouts were calculated.

Augury turned to QuotaPath after a referral through their VC network. From day one, the buying decision was rooted in the need for transparency, automation, and a better experience for reps and finance alike.

“The biggest intangible is that [reps] feel like they know our compensation plan and how the math works behind the scenes of how they get paid. That’s really an invaluable driver of morale and understanding,” said David.

With QuotaPath, reps now log in regularly to forecast potential earnings, compare deal scenarios, and understand the upside of closing more—faster. And on the ops side, David and his team cut their commission cycle time from 45 days to under 15, while also unlocking deeper visibility into budget forecasting and accruals.

This results in stronger morale, faster adoption of comp plans, and a go-to-market team that’s selling with purpose and clarity.

From Deal Closer to Deal Strategist

Next, when you leverage comp plans to inspire motivation, you end up shifting selling behaviors. 

At Rootly, for example, showing reps their real-time earnings led to a re-prioritization on extending contract lengths.

“Visibility into their earnings has changed what the reps are pushing for… showing your reps how much more they can make on longer contracts changed how they sell,” said Andre King, Director of Sales, Rootly.

That’s because Rootly’s comp plans incentivized multi-year deals. 

By making those incentives clear in QuotaPath, reps began proactively selling longer-term contracts, leading to a 10% YoY increase in multi-year agreements. Comp plans become powerful when reps understand not just what’s rewarded, but why, and how to adjust strategy to win more.

Real-Time = Real Trust

Trust is built when nothing is hidden. And, in sales, trust is a performance driver. 

When reps believe in the systems around them, they spend less time questioning their pay and more time closing deals.

Yet, when commission calculations live in spreadsheets and Slack threads, it creates a black-box experience that erodes confidence and fuels friction between sales and finance.

Commission tools like QuotaPath change that dynamic by making trust operational.

Warmly is a prime example. 

As their team scaled from three to over 30 reps, leadership knew the old spreadsheet system couldn’t keep up—and more importantly, it couldn’t foster the confidence reps needed to stay focused.

“QuotaPath helped us create a culture of trust. Reps can see exactly what they’ll earn as they close deals,” said Keegan Otter, Head of Revenue, Warmly

With QuotaPath’s real-time dashboards, reps now have full visibility into earnings, down to the deal level. They no longer rely on backchannel conversations or end-of-month surprises. This clarity builds alignment with finance and the business outcomes leadership wants to drive.

And at Whistic, transparency unlocked efficiency. 

Their team previously toggled between tools and fielded constant questions from reps. QuotaPath streamlined the experience with intuitive rep dashboards and built-in flagging tools.

“Reps don’t have to ask constant questions, and they can flag discrepancies directly in the system,” said Taggart Befus, Revenue Operations Manager, Whistic.

This led to reps trusting the system, the calculation of their earnings, and of leadership as a result. 

Additionally, Whistic leadership gained some newly found free time when they reduced commission processing time from seven hours per cycle to just thirty minutes.

Trust, in this context, isn’t abstract. It’s measurable. It’s scalable. And it starts with visibility.

Seeing the Finish Line, Selling to Win

Sales momentum and seller motivation often hinge on the final stretch, those last days of the quarter when every rep is weighing whether to chase one more deal. With QuotaPath, they don’t have to guess whether it’s worth it…they know.

Real-time earnings forecasting brings clarity to crunch time.

“It gives the team that extra bit of juice they need at the end of the quarter to hopefully go sell one or two extra deals,” said James Hall, EVP of Revenue, Gappify

Gappify’s sales team uses QuotaPath to model earnings dynamically as they move through the quarter. Reps can see how close they are to hitting accelerators or unlocking spiffs, and they push harder because they understand the payoff.

At NeuroFlow, the impact has been similar. Reps don’t just see what they’re making, they see why and how.

“They love… seeing their pipeline, forecast potential commissions, and understand exactly how payouts are calculated,” said Genevieve Moss-Hawkins, Systems Operations Manager, NeuroFlow.

By combining pacing visibility with earnings modeling, QuotaPath helps sellers focus their time where it matters most. That means stronger quarter-end pushes, fewer surprises, and more reps selling to win through the end of quota cycles. 

Scaling Visibility Across Teams & Geos

The final point we want to discuss involves scaling. 

As organizations grow, so do the variables: more roles, more currencies, more geographies, and more ways reps can (and should) earn. Without the right infrastructure, this complexity can erode clarity and trust.

Wazoku is proof that visibility scales.

“We want people to see their projected earnings. We want to make it competitive,” said Sarah Counts, COO, Wazoku

Operating across both the U.S. and the U.K., Wazoku manages 30 users, 13 comp plans, and multi-currency payouts, all through QuotaPath integrated with HubSpot. With clean workflows, customizable team views, and centralized data, Wazoku ensures every rep, regardless of location, has the same access to motivation-driving visibility.

“QuotaPath has made my job way easier. It’s made things more transparent, and our comp plans are way more organized,” said Sarah.

That’s what you get with QuotaPath:  flexible architecture that supports regional nuances while keeping the bigger picture aligned. This is important because whether you’re running one team or five across continents, sales transparency shouldn’t get lost in translation.

The New Standard of Seller Motivation

Thanks for reading. QuotaPath customers are transforming the way their teams sell.

Visibility isn’t a perk. It’s the new standard.

When sellers understand how their pipeline translates to earnings, they take ownership of their goals. They forecast smarter, ask fewer questions, and work the deals that make the biggest impact, not just the ones that close fastest.

From startups to scale-ups, the message is the same: Transparency drives trust. Trust drives performance.

Ready to transform your team’s motivation with real-time commission tracking? Schedule a demo to see how QuotaPath drives performance through visibility.

For the third year in a row, QuotaPath has been named to HubSpot’s Essential Apps for Sales, a curated collection of must-have integrations designed to help HubSpot users sell smarter, faster, and with more confidence.

Read Full List

This recognition is a badge of honor and proof that our customers are seeing real impact from how we help unify their sales process inside HubSpot, eliminating fragmented tools and giving teams a complete view of their pipeline.

“Our sales managers and reps are more productive, our accounting is error-free, and the whole system flows better,” said Eric Baum, CEO of Bluleadz, a customer of QuotaPath and HubSpot. “The QuotaPath integration with HubSpot has transformed our operations.”

We continue to build on this momentum with two powerful new product launches that will further enhance your HubSpot experience: the Attainment App Card and Earnings App Object.

Watch our video below and read on to learn more.

Earnings App Object: Centralized Commission Insights

Our first big launch, the Earnings App Object, brings component-level earnings data into HubSpot as a native object.

This means you can now:

• Track commissions spend and trends: Report on total earnings by deal, rep, or team and monitor commissions as a percent of revenue over time
• Evaluate incentive impact: Compare earnings by deal size, type, or product sold. See which compensation components drive the most performance, and track manager comp based on rep earnings.
• Prioritize high-impact deals: Identify high-efficiency deals by earnings per dollar sold and analyze cost of sales by contract length or segment

Attainment App Card: Quota Progress Where You Work

In addition to our Earnings App Object, we also launched a new app card.

Now, with our Attainment App Card, reps can see their quota progress in real time, directly on deal pages.

No switching tabs. No manual tracking. 

Just a clear, visual bar graph showing overall attainment against quota in real time.

This instant visibility helps reps self-check progress, understand how each deal impacts their goals, including forecasted views, and course-correct faster. Managers can use the same view to coach more effectively and improve forecasting accuracy.

Our Attainment App Card joins our existing Earnings App Card, which gives reps and managers instant access to commission data without leaving HubSpot. Together, these app cards provide a complete performance view, earnings and attainment side by side, right where your team works.

With earnings data centralized in HubSpot, RevOps teams can analyze commission trends, evaluate incentive impact, and prioritize the deals that drive the most performance—all without leaving the CRM.

Why This Matters for You

With Essential Apps recognition and these two new capabilities, QuotaPath is doubling down on our mission: helping sales teams stay focused, motivated, and aligned with company goals.

• Reps get clarity on where they stand and what’s needed to hit quota
• Managers get better coaching tools and forecasting accuracy
• RevOps leaders get richer data to optimize comp plans and drive revenue growth
  

We’re adding features, yes, but most importantly, we’re removing friction from your workflow so you can move faster and sell smarter.

See It in Action at INBOUND

Both the Attainment App Card and Earnings App Object are making their debut at HubSpot’s INBOUND conference. If you’re there, stop by our booth (#22) to see why we’re a 2025 HubSpot Sales Essential App. Ask questions, get hands-on with the new tools, see a live demo… and maybe play a round of roulette!

For everyone else, you can book a demo here to see how these launches and our award-winning HubSpot integration can impact your team.

Commission cycles and burnout for RevOps teams?

Name a better duo.

How “fondly” we remember those long nights spent untangling spreadsheets. Endless back-and-forth with finance. A string of rep payout questions when the check drops.

All for a process that’s more reactive than strategic.

But for a growing group of RevOps leaders, that story is changing. 

With commission automation, they’ve moved from burnout to buy-in, reclaiming their time, restoring trust with their reps, and turning compensation into a lever for growth instead of a source of stress.

At Augury, for example, commissions once stretched across 45 grueling days after each quarter.

“Now, on average, it takes us about 15 days, maybe even less,” said their RevOps Team Lead David Thai. With around 20 GTM employees, that’s a full month of time back…every quarter.

Whistic, too, went from 5 to 7 hours per commission cycle down to just 30 minutes. 

“Taking that from 5, 6, 7 hours every commission cycle down to half an hour has been an immense time savings,” said Taggart Befus, Revenue Operations Manager. That’s not just time saved, it’s operational breathing room.”

And at Warmly, the ROI has shown up on the balance sheet. 

“If you take my salary, plus our CEO’s and BizOps lead’s, and factor in the time we used to spend troubleshooting commissions, QuotaPath has saved us thousands of dollars each month,” said Keegan Otter, Head of Revenue.

The takeaway: Commission automation delivers efficiency while giving RevOps leaders their time back, creating alignment with finance and sales, and finally shifting comp from a pain point to a performance driver.

How This is Possible

Time savings don’t just appear out of thin air, however.

The shift from chaos to clarity happens when the right tools remove the manual work, adapt to your team’s structure, and scale alongside your business. 

Here’s how QuotaPath customers made that possible:

Flexible, Self-Managed Comp Plans

At Core Imaging, President Randy Laufersky went from spreadsheet mayhem to fully managing comp plans in under an hour.“Before, I used to always go to our CSM and say, ‘Here’s what I need changed.’ But now I can update all the comp plans myself.  I think I had everyone done inside a half hour,” he said. “What used to take days now takes less than an hour.”

Supporting Complex Team Structures

Wazoku operates across the U.S. and U.K. with 30 commissionable users, 13 comp plans, and multi-currency payouts. QuotaPath handled all of it, no spreadsheet wizardry required.

“Our CFO is a whiz with Excel. He can do it all. The problem is that spreadsheets aren’t scalable,” said COO Sarah Counts. “QuotaPath made my job way easier. It’s made things more transparent, and our comp plans are way more organized.”

Scalable for Rapid Growth

At Warmly, what started as a manageable process for three reps ballooned into an unmanageable one for 35. QuotaPath made it easy to scale comp structures as headcount grew, without adding complexity.

“We needed something built for early-stage companies that would scale with us,” said Keegan. “QuotaPath became a ‘set and forget’ tool that we trust, even as we’ve added new plans and reps.”

Fast Onboarding and Responsive Support

Of course, none of this is possible without an effective onboarding and implementation process.

At Actabl, their RevOps leader Kenza onboarded with six comp plans and a looming deadline to finalize both current and next year’s plans. With hands-on help from QuotaPath’s team, they built, launched, and iterated quickly.

“We had November to finalize 2023 and build 2024. Our CSM helped us strategize and adjust,  and that made all the difference,” Kenza shared. “Now, I only think about commissions when it’s time to submit to payroll or plan for next year.”

It’s Not Just RevOps Benefitting

While RevOps may feel the most immediate relief from commission automation, they’re far from the only team that gains. 

Sales, Finance, and even Leadership have benefited from faster, more accurate, and more transparent processes. 

Here’s what changes when QuotaPath replaces spreadsheets:

“QuotaPath helped us create a culture of trust. Reps can see exactly what they’ll earn as they close deals, which keeps them motivated and focused on the right outcomes,” said Keegan.

Your Turn

We know you’re experiencing burnout. So let us help you alleviate this area while also helping your team gain trust, visibility, alignment, and motivation when it comes to commissions and incentives.

To learn more, schedule time with our team. 

When designed well, a sales comp plan is a powerful tool for motivating AEs, aligning behavior with company goals, and driving predictable revenue growth. 

When a bad comp plan is, well… bad… it can do the opposite… encouraging gaming, demotivating your team, blowing up budgets, and even driving your best reps to competitors.

Over the years, we’ve seen our fair share of head-scratcher comp plans, some of which seemed like they were built to frustrate reps rather than reward them. To save you the pain, we’ve compiled five of the most problematic AE comp plans we’ve ever seen, complete with examples and the math behind why they don’t work.

If your plan looks anything like these, it might be time to make some changes.

1. Capped Commission Comp Plans

First up is a capped commission plan, or as we like to call it, a rep turnover machine. 

Imagine telling your top performer that no matter how much they sell, they’ll stop getting paid commissions after a certain point. That’s exactly what happens with capped commission plans.

Example: An AE earns 10% commission on all closed-won deals, but commissions are capped at $25,000 per year.

• Scenario:
  
  • Quota: $500,000 ARR
  • 10% commission rate → Uncapped, they’d earn $50,000 at 100% quota.
  • Cap: $25,000 means they stop earning commissions after $250,000 in bookings.
  • If they sell $800,000 ARR, they still earn only $25,000 in commissions instead of $80,000.
    
• Why it’s problematic:
  
  • Disincentivizes selling after the cap is reached.
  • Encourages sandbagging deals into the next comp period.
  • Top performers feel punished instead of rewarded.
  • Can cause attrition of your best AEs.

Caps don’t just hurt motivation; they hurt your company’s bottom line by removing any reason for reps to keep pushing once they’ve hit the ceiling.

You can bet they’ll be on the hunt for an uncapped sales role. 

2. Cliff at 60%

Up next is a cliff, or commission floor.

A cliff is meant to drive performance, but when it’s set too high, it becomes a brick wall.

Example: An AE only earns commission if they reach 60% of quota.

• Scenario:
  
  • Quota: $600,000 ARR
  • Commission rate: 8%
  • If they sell $350,000 ARR (≈ 58% of quota), they earn $0 commission.
  • If they sell $370,000 ARR (≈ 62% of quota), they suddenly earn $29,600 in commissions.
    
• Why it’s problematic:
  
  • Creates massive pressure at the end of the quarter to cross the cliff.
  • Makes earnings volatile and unpredictable for reps.
  • Can demotivate reps early in the year if they fall behind.
  • Leads to desperation discounting to push deals over the cliff.

Instead of inspiring hard work, high cliffs often push reps to make bad decisions just to survive the quarter.

3. Overly Aggressive Accelerators with No Threshold

Now, this one would have your reps singing your praises. Your Finance team? Not so much.

Accelerators can be powerful motivators, but without the right guardrails, they can break your comp budget in a single quarter.

Example: AE earns 8% commission normally but jumps to 30% commission on every dollar sold above 100% of quota — with no minimum performance threshold.

• Scenario:
  
  • Quota: $600,000 ARR
  • Commission rate: 8% until 100% quota → 30% afterwards.
  • If they close a $300,000 deal early in the year, they’re already halfway to quota.
  • Then, if they close a $400,000 deal next, $100,000 of that is at 30%, giving them $30,000 in one shot.
    
• Why it’s problematic:
  
  • Can cause “quota gaming” — AE front-loads or lucks into one big deal, then coasts the rest of the year.
  • Unfair to reps in territories without mega-deal potential.
  • Can blow up your comp budget unexpectedly.

Without thresholds, aggressive accelerators risk rewarding luck over skill and leave finance teams scrambling to cover unplanned payouts.

4. Single-Rate Comp Plan with No Quota

Ever hear of a plan with no quota? This is more common for a startup’s first comp plan because there’s no historical data to build a quota from. But for any other stage, a comp plan without a quota is like driving without a speedometer.

Example: AE earns a flat 12% commission on all closed-won ARR, no quota, no accelerators, no decelerators.

• Scenario:
  
  • One AE closes $200,000 ARR → $24,000 commission
  • Another closes $900,000 ARR → $108,000 commission.
  • No target, no performance benchmarks — just pay on whatever comes in.
    
• Why it’s problematic:
  
  • No performance expectations tied to pay
  • Rewards “order takers” the same as hustlers.
  • Impossible to forecast OTE payouts and budget.
  • Can mask underperformance.

Without quotas, there’s a lack of accountability and no way to tell whether your team is truly delivering against business goals.

5. “Winner Takes All” Tournament-Style Plan

Last up is a “winners” comp plan.

Turning sales into a high-stakes game might seem fun, until you realize how many good reps it drives away.

Example: The top AE each quarter earns a $50,000 bonus, everyone else earns nothing in bonus commissions.

• Scenario:
  
  • All AEs have a $700,000 ARR quota.
  • Q1 Results:
    
    • Rep A: $800,000 ARR → Wins $50,000 bonus.
    • Rep B: $790,000 ARR → No bonus.
    • Rep C: $780,000 ARR → No bonus.
      
• Why it’s problematic:
  
  • Breeds resentment and kills collaboration.
  • Can cause extreme short-term behavior: discounting, territory poaching, deal stealing.
  • Demotivates solid performers who narrowly miss first place.
  • Leads to rep attrition after repeated near-misses.

Healthy competition is good, but in a winner-takes-all world, you lose far more than you gain.

FInal Thoughts

Sales comp plans should reward consistent performance, motivate reps to keep selling, and align with company goals… not create chaos, resentment, or financial unpredictability. 

The five examples above illustrate how poorly designed plans can backfire, even when they seem enticing on paper.

If your AE plan has caps, cliffs, extreme accelerators, no quotas, or “winner takes all” elements, it may be time to rethink the structure. Your goal is to create a plan that’s simple, fair, transparent, and motivating, and that drives both company growth and rep satisfaction. To learn more, talk to our team today.

Tracking commissions manually may work initially, but it doesn’t scale well. For many sales teams, spreadsheets are the default solution. However, they quickly become time-consuming, error-prone, and difficult to manage as compensation plans become more complex. If you’ve ever spent hours updating a sales payout calculator spreadsheet, cross-referencing CRM data, or resolving payout disputes, you’re not alone.

That’s why QuotaPath has created a free, downloadable commission tracker. Designed with small teams in mind, this Google Sheet template streamlines the capture of deal data, calculation of earnings, and tracking of attainment.

Download Your Sales Commission Tracking Template

Using a sales commission spreadsheet offers several benefits. It simplifies payout tracking for small teams, especially when you’re managing just a handful of reps or compensation plans. The template is easy to customize and scale as your team, products, or plan structures evolve. It’s also a great starting point before moving to automation, allowing you to get organized and establish a foundation before upgrading to a dedicated platform.

This template is versatile enough to support a range of use cases, including sales rep commission logs, manual commission tracking, and sales incentive tracking.

Understanding the Template’s Structure

The spreadsheet includes three key tabs that organize your commission data and calculations:

• Deals tab: includes close date, rep name, deal value
• Monthly Totals tab: aggregates commissions
• Home tab: shows total earnings vs. quota

Definitions of key terms:

Base Salary: A fixed amount paid to a salesperson regularly, typically bi-weekly or monthly, regardless of performance.

Commission Rate: The percentage of sales revenue a rep earns as variable pay for closed deals.

Quota / Quota Frequency: The sales target a rep is expected to hit within a defined timeframe, such as monthly, quarterly, or annually. Quota frequency determines how often performance is measured and commissions are calculated.

On-Target Earnings (OTE): The total compensation a rep can expect if they achieve 100% of their quota. OTE includes both base salary and projected commissions and is often used to communicate a role’s full earning potential.

How to Customize for Your Team

This template is designed to be flexible and easily adapted to match your team’s compensation structure. Start by adjusting the quota period to (monthly vs quarterly). If you use monthly quotas instead of quarterly, update the column headers and any related formulas in the Home and Monthly Totals tabs to align with that time frame.

If your team earns different rates based on the products or SKUs they sell, adjust the commission rates per product or SKU by adding new columns to the Deals tab. Input the appropriate rate for each product type and update the formula used to calculate commissions to pull from the correct field.

Build performance incentives into the spreadsheet, such as accelerators and bonus logic, by inserting conditional logic that increases a rep’s commission rate or creates a bonus payout as designated milestones are hit. These can be customized using IF statements and lookup tables within the existing worksheet structure.

These tips for keeping your sales commission tracker up to date will increase accuracy and ease of use.

Use data validation and dropdowns to limit free-form inputs and ensure consistent formatting across fields, such as product names, quota periods, or rep roles. Freeze panes for better UX, allowing key headers and identifiers to remain visible as you scroll through growing datasets. To quickly surface performance insights, add conditional formatting to highlight top earners.

How to Integrate

Connecting your CRM or spreadsheet to QuotaPath can significantly reduce manual work and streamline the commission tracking process. If you’re currently exporting deal data from a CRM like Salesforce or HubSpot, you can import that data into the template for commission calculations and performance tracking.

Another Template: Commission Payment Agreement

We’ve also got a free download to borrow for your commission payment agreement, a document that you and your reps sign acknowledging thecompensation plan, commission payment terms, sales targets and commissions, dispute resolution procedures, and legal considerations.

Download Commission Payment Agreement Template

For a more automated experience, QuotaPath’s Google Sheets integration enables you to sync deal stages and payout data automatically from your spreadsheet. To get started, navigate to the Integrations section within your QuotaPath workspace. Select the Google Sheets integration card, connect your Google account, and share your spreadsheet link. Then, you can set your sync schedule and map your deal data.

Mapping deal data from your CRM into the appropriate fields, such as deal amount, close date, and rep email, is as easy as selecting from drop-down menus. This tells QuotaPath where to pull data for each field. For more detailed instructions, visit the Google Sheets integration help page.

Tips For Accurate Commission Tracking

Even with a solid template in place, it’s easy for manual errors or process gaps to throw off your commission calculations. These best practices will help spreadsheet users maintain accuracy and avoid common pitfalls.

Use data validation and dropdowns: Prevent formatting issues and inconsistent entries by limiting input options in key fields. Dropdowns make it easier for users to follow naming conventions and reduce the risk of typos or duplicate values.

Freeze headers for easier navigation: Errors may increase as your deal data grows. Freezing the top row helps keep field names visible while scrolling, reducing confusion and mistakes during updates or reviews.

Avoid overly complex formulas: While commission tracking Excels and Google Sheets support advanced logic, complicated formulas can be hard to audit and easy to break. Keep calculations simple and well-documented, especially if multiple team members are managing the sheet.

Maintain version control: Create regular backups and clearly label versions of your spreadsheet to track changes over time. This helps prevent data loss, facilitates easier troubleshooting of errors, and provides a paper trail for audits or approvals.

Highlight errors or missed commissions with conditional formatting: Use visual cues to flag blank fields, missing data, or unusually high or low commissions. This makes discrepancies easier to spot and correct before payouts are finalized, avoiding the consequences of payroll errors.

Managing Payouts

Once commissions have been calculated, the next step is processing payouts, which can often become complicated. Using a spreadsheet for end-of-month commissions typically involves locking the file to prevent changes, duplicating individual tabs or files for each rep, and creating a master version for leadership and finance to review.

To ensure accuracy, each payout must be cross-checked against CRM data, deal records, and other spreadsheets used by RevOps or Finance. This often requires reconciling discrepancies, verifying close dates and payment statuses, and manually approving each line item. Add in layers of leadership sign-off, and what started as a simple spreadsheet becomes a multi-step, time-consuming workflow.

Even for small teams, this process can eat up hours. However, for growing organizations, the manual steps increase the risk of overpayments, missed commissions, and delays. One formula error or version control mishap can have ripple effects that impact rep trust and payroll accuracy.

This works, but there’s a better way…

How to Achieve Commission Tracking Automation

If your manual process has become too time-consuming and prone to errors, it may be time to consider commission tracking software. QuotaPath’s automation platform eliminates the headaches of spreadsheets with a centralized, transparent, and scalable platform built for accuracy and efficiency.

With QuotaPath, you get accurate, real-time commission tracking from your CRM. No more chasing down deal details or manually updating totals. As deals progress through the funnel, earnings and attainment automatically sync to your compensation plans.

Your reps also gain visibility through transparent dashboards, where they can track commission earnings and quota progress, and understand how each deal contributes to their earnings. This clarity reduces questions and builds trust.

For operations and finance teams, QuotaPath supports multi-tiered approvals and payout workflows, streamlining the handoff between departments and reducing the risk of errors. And when it’s time to process payroll, you can sync directly to your payroll provider, closing the loop with speed and accuracy.

See how QuotaPath’s compensation automation software helps growing teams automate sales commissions with confidence. Book a demo today.

Benefits of a Commission Platform

There are benefits to automating your commission process with a platform like QuotaPath. 

• Cleaner handoff between RevOps, Finance, and Sales.
• Reduces payout errors and manual work.
• Empowers reps with live visibility into earnings.
• Flexible for different compensation models.
• Audit-ready reporting and compliance.

Check out QuotaPath to start automating your commission process, or download your free commission tracking template until you’re ready.

At QuotaPath, we believe in building fair and logical compensation plans that drive growth for the organization and increase earnings for reps.

Fair plans give reps a true shot at hitting on-target earnings (OTEs).

So, what happens when reps go out on parental leave? Are they earning any incentive pay while they’re out with their new baby, like a percentage or an average? Is anyone keeping their pipeline warm, so it’s not empty upon their return? Are they coming back to a full quota while staring up at their team’s leaderboard from the very bottom?

Unfortunately, we found that the answers are often “No.”

That is why QuotaPath recently hosted the webinar, “Creating Fair Sales Leave Policies,” in collaboration with Women in Sales, so that every organization will eventually say “Yes” to all of those questions.

Our panelists included Kelly O’Halloran, Director of Content at QuotaPath, Allison Whalen, CEO and co-founder of Parentaly, Jessi Johanson, VP of Sales at Tilt, and Ryan Milligan, VP of RevOps, QuotaPath.

The panel discussed topics like best practices for sales leave policies, creating an effective return process, managing time off, and the importance of establishing clear and transparent policies.

Best Practices for Sales Leave Policies

The conversation began with the panelists discussing tips on developing effective sales parental leave policies and how to navigate related challenges.

How to Determine Incentive Pay During Leave

Ryan outlined best practices for determining incentive pay during leave, emphasizing the importance of clear policies and documentation.

“You want to have a completely clear policy for what is going to happen to pipeline based on stage, depth, and time to close. You have two types of pipeline: pipeline you expect to close while you’re on leave and pipeline you don’t expect to close but need to continue nurturing,” Ryan said.

“Typically, you want to give the bulk of the credit to the rep who did the work to prepare the pipeline to close. I advise senior leaders such as sales managers, directors, and CROs to step in and support the closing of that handful of ops. Then give your rep full credit for the work that they did to prepare those opportunities to close while they are on leave.”

Ryan continued, “For upstage pipeline, use a split policy where the rep going on leave gets a clear and determined amount of credit based on the depth of that pipeline before they go on leave.”

Conduct a review with the rep a month before they plan to go on leave, where you clearly document the open ops, their stage, and how compensation for each will be handled during leave, as well as what will happen when they return from leave.

Ryan also explained, “You should have a clear existing pipeline policy as well as a guaranteed variable component. Typically, orgs pay anywhere from a third to half of the variable guaranteed while a seller is on leave. That pairs with the commission the seller expects to receive on the deals forecasted to close while they’re on leave. This should get them as close as possible to full OTE based on the work they did prior to going on leave.”

According to Ryan, your leave policy is “a ramping plan in reverse. It’s a very clear, documented, and mutually agreed upon policy that both protects the cash needs of the business while protecting the relationship with the seller and preparing them to be successful when they return.”

Jessi shared her innovative approach of opening up a stretch assignment for her team to cover for an employee on leave, which worked well for her team.

“My Account Manager took a leave of absence for a full quarter. Gone are the days when Jessi is everyone’s backfill. We’re too big now, and I have too much going on. Things will fall through the cracks. So, we decided to try opening up a stretch assignment for anyone in the organization who wanted to apply.”

Jessi continued, “They were essentially her backfill, and we took away most of her other duties, except getting contracts renewed. We estimated it was half a day to a full day a week, and we would do a commission split. We posted the job internally, and I received six applications. I interviewed everyone and hired someone from my marketing team. It was super unexpected. He absolutely crushed it, and we have all on time renewals so far this quarter.”

Source Data/Examples from Like Companies

Allison discussed the importance of having a clear policy and using data from other companies to advocate for better leave policies.

“If you’re advocating that your company needs an explicit policy, try using information about what other companies are doing. Then you can say, Hey, this is something that we need to have as an organization,” Allison said. “There are enough examples from other companies that you can bring forward to say, which one do we think we want here? Although leadership at companies may want to do the right thing, it seems too difficult. So, using data and showing what other companies are doing is powerful.”

Jessi emphasized the need for managers to be educated on leave laws and to support their teams effectively during and after leave.

“Managers tend not to say anything if they don’t know what to say. And the worst way for your manager to show up is not to say anything to you. The worst-case scenario is they actually say something that they shouldn’t,” Jessi said.

“Consequently, some education on what they can and can’t say, some leave laws, what job protection means, and if they can communicate with an employee while they’re on leave. Things like that will help a manager know what the guardrails are and what they can and can’t do, so they can have these conversations with the employee, know they’re saying the right thing, or at least doing their best and not saying anything they shouldn’t.”

Returning to Work After Leave

After a thorough discussion about creating fair sales leave policies, the panelists’ conversation turned to best practices for successful return-to-work experiences that boost retention.

Jessi and Ryan discussed the importance of a clear ramp-up period for employees returning from leave, including the emotional support needed.

“You treat a person returning from leave in the same way you would when ramping a new hire,” Ryan said. And that needs to include the same quota credit, quota relief, training, and enablement for those returning from leave.

“We have a four-week ramp-up period for all employees that’s full-time pay for a part-time schedule,” according to Jessi, to ease the transition after parental leave. She continued, “One of the hardest things is emotionally supporting the employee when they’re back. The return isn’t hard because they’re returning, it’s hard because they’re scared that they’re not going to be able to get their pipeline back where it needs to be, close deals, and make money again.”

“I have not had a single person who couldn’t do it, but it’s so scary, especially when you’re great at your job, you’ve taken a break for the first time, and now you’re back. So, I spend a lot of my one-on-ones reassuring, supporting, talking through it, and really advocating for that person,” Jessi shared.

The Manager’s Role

Allison highlighted the role of managers in ensuring a smooth return to work, including setting up opportunities to maintain momentum and confidence.

The return-to-work experience is the most important thing for any manager. The worst feeling when you return to work in sales is that you’ve got this stale pipeline, like starting over.
At Parentally, we start preparing a month before a rep’s return from leave. “They’ll be so stressed if they have nothing. However, there are some great ways for sales managers to tee up opportunities, depending on the context and your sales cycle,” said Allison.

“For example, we just had someone return from leave,” Allison continued, “We had prepared by having our Head of Marketing set a bunch of meetings and conduct early-stage meetings so that when she came back, we were able to give her some new opportunities.”

Every manager should consider how they handle the return-to-work experience to help the rep get excited, feel like there’s momentum, and have something to work on. “It doesn’t need to be, here’s an entire beautiful pipeline for you to come back to,” Allison said. “But it should be here are a few exciting deals that we started that I’m giving to you as a confidence builder, an exciting thing. I think that goes a long way in helping people get their groove back.”

Ryan added, “If you have a faster sales cycle, like we tend to, and you have a mid-market or enterprise rep who’s coming back, give them a couple of quick SMB wins to get their confidence back.”

Transparency is Key

The panelists discuss the challenges of managing time off and the importance of transparency and flexibility in policies.

According to Allison, “Oftentimes, non-birth parents will game the system. For example, a rep knows a huge deal will hit while they’re on leave. If based on the numbers, they’d earn more by being in the seat when that deal hits, non-birth parents often come back for a week, so they are in the seat when the deal closes, so they get full credit. Then they go back out on leave, which creates cultural issues.”

Since non-birth parents aren’t usually able to do that because they’re on short-term disability,” Allison continued, “I still see it happen more often than you would expect.”

To avoid having this happen, Allison shares, “We see a lot of companies say you can’t split your leave, or you can split your leave, but it needs to be in chunks of four weeks at a time to limit its occurrence.” This prevents people from coming back for one week when the deal is going to close. However, it becomes a judgment call of whether it’s worth optimizing for that.

“The clear split policy is the best way to approach it as long as you, as the leader, and the employees are on the same page about when the splits are going to happen, how long they’re going to happen, and why. A lot of families use split leave to extend leave policies naturally until they have other paths to childcare,” Ryan added. “The rep must be back for long enough to get fully back in the seat before going back on leave again, due to ramp-up and ramp-down time. You must be clear about maximum splits or designated length of chunks.”

This is a Retention strategy

Additionally, Kelly and Ryan emphasized the need for organizations to prioritize leave policies as a way to retain top performers and ensure long-term success.

Sales teams are being asked to do more with fewer team members. For instance, the team that used to be 40 reps might now be 10, trying to drive as much revenue as possible. This is a reason why leaders should prioritize leave policies. Ryan suggests that they consider, “What if your top performing seller left tomorrow? It’s so much more painful for a 10-person team than a 40-person team.”

“That moment of returning from leave is a massive point of reflection for a person as to whether they think this company is the right fit for them in the long term, Ryan explained. “There’s a lot of emotion in that process since you’re potentially leaving your child, who you’ve been with for a while, in a different body of care. Plus, you’re staring at that leaderboard that you’re at the bottom of while you might have major confidence issues.”

That’s why it’s essential that you communicate to the seller that you have confidence in their ability to be very successful upon their return, and that you have a clear process in place to get them back up and running.

On the other hand, “if you want to be super pragmatic about it, it’s a math equation,” Ryan explained, “If you just stripped out half of your top performing sellers who all, went on leave in the next three or four years, what would that mean if you lost all of them because of a terrible leave policy? What would that mean for revenue, for performance, for Board reporting?”

Ryan added, “This makes it a smart, quantitative business decision to have a good leave policy for strong rep retention, long-term success of the business, and predictability of revenue.”

Kelly shared that she loved the mindset shift that occurred during the conversation, from less focus on let’s not have the sales rep be scared. The focus shifted to “Let’s have the sales leader be scared that they’re going to lose that sales rep for having a poor policy in place,” as Kelly described, “versus someone being scared to come back or to have a child, while being a sales professional.”

Recommended Reading

How to Support Your Moms Returning From Leave in Sales

Take Me to Blog

Q&A with Attendees

Next, the panelists responded to questions from attendees and wrapped up with additional comments.

The panelists addressed questions from the audience, including best practices for early-stage companies and ways to empower managers.

“Best practices across industries right now are typically 12 weeks and giving non-birthing parents as much time as well,” Jessi shared in reference to early-stage companies. “Then consider how the policy applies to OTE compared to base, and if you plan to have any guaranteed commission or variable comp.”

“I would be more focused on what to do, especially if they’re the only salesperson. Don’t put so much pressure on yourself to define a policy forever,” Allison added. “You are small, and you need to consider what’s best for the business, for this person, and what’s realistic.”

According to Ryan, you can empower managers with messaging about supporting new parents with a strong leave policy for their benefit and for retention to protect the business, which trickles all the way down to the person going on leave.

The panelists discussed the importance of top-down support for leave policies and the need for clear communication and education for managers.

“Your thoughts on parental leave must be top down from a CRO or management level to be successful and supported in terms of how a VP of sales, for example, could support her manager who has a team member going on leave,” Ryan said. “The conversation should come from a VP of sales or CRO to say we have these policies in place, because I know that if I don’t have a policy, I run the risk of losing a top performer tomorrow. This is especially true at an incredibly lean growth startup and hyper hyper-damaging to revenue predictability.”

“Managers also need help with things like, what am I supposed to do if I’m a person down? Sometimes we forget that most managers want to support people, but wonder, ‘Am I being held accountable to a team goal when my headcount is being cut?’ That’s when they need their manager to help with this,” according to Allison.

“For instance, they need more budget to bring in a backfill or spend more money on marketing. So, managers are also scared. They want to know, ‘How am I supposed to deliver business results?’”

Jessi added that support for managers includes “any kind of education, on leave, laws, things like FMLA, so they know how to effectively communicate with and support their teams before, during, and after leave.”

Importance of Flexibility & Support Upon Return

Lastly, the panelists share final thoughts on the importance of flexibility and support for new parents in sales roles.

Jessi talked about both flexibility and support for new parents as they return from leave. She explained, “The reasons you need time off as a parent are changing. It’s probably going to be because daycare is closed, your kid’s sick, or you have a doctor’s appointment.”

Reps get anxious because they’re new parents and didn’t know they would need all this random time off. “I tell my team, you are going to have days where you’re going to call me and say, I have to go pick up my kid from school, or they were up all night and have a fever, so they can’t work today,” Jessi said. “That’s okay. I know this is going to happen. I’m here for you. We’ll figure out coverage. I can jump on a call for you if I need to or somebody else can.”

“We got it,” Jessi continued, “but I don’t want them to suffer with that in silence and not be open with me about what they’re going through. So, I have those conversations early and often in the beginning, until they get comfortable with being super transparent with what’s going on and how I can help.”

Ryan explained that there are two ways to look at support in terms of parental leave. “I am supporting you because I care about you as a person and want you to have a great and fruitful pregnancy relationship with your child. I also think you are key to the success of this business quantitatively, so I’m investing in your leave and your return from leave, because it makes financial sense for this business.”

For support in building fair compensation plans, book a time with Ryan for a compensation plan consultation. To learn more about how QuotaPath automates commission tracking and payouts, schedule a demo.

For years, Augury’s RevOps team calculated commissions for 20 quota-carrying GTM employees the old-fashioned way: sprawling Excel spreadsheets.

The process involved countless manual checks that stretched 45 days each quarter. As RevOps Team Lead David Thai recalls, the lack of automation wasn’t just time-consuming; it created gaps in transparency for both sales leadership and finance.

Implementing QuotaPath changed that overnight.

By automating workflows and centralizing commission data, Augury condensed its commission preparation from a six-week slog to just 15 days (sometimes less), while giving account executives and CSMs real-time visibility into their earnings.

The result? A streamlined, auditable process that saves the team 25 days each quarter, drives rep engagement, improves forecasting accuracy, and elevates the overall compensation experience.

Give & Gets of Comp Plans

Learn how to maintain sales rep engagemen while making adjustments to your comp plan.

Take Me to Blog

The Challenge: Manual Processes and Limited Transparency

Managing commissions for 20 reps, of course, came with its challenges, especially due to the complexity of their compensation plans and the team’s limited Excel expertise.

Processing commissions was a huge time sink.

As David explained, “It originally took 45 days to do our quarterly commissions from start to finish due to all the processes and workflows we had to trigger, creating a lot of manual pains.”

“We had payment eligibility rules on a clunky master spreadsheet. Consequently, it took a long time for new team members to understand these calculations,” according to David. This limited their visibility into commission eligibility, budget forecasting, and finance alignment.

The Search for a Better Way

That’s when they turned to automation.

Augury’s VC portfolio partner recommended QuotaPath to David when he started investigating potential solutions. QuotaPath used a detailed process, “really mapping out the complexities of our comp plan, and showcasing nuanced and specific demos that fit our use-cases,” David said.

QuotaPath offered the flexibility necessary to match Augury’s complex compensation plans with robust modeling, workflows, and eligibility tracking. David said QuotaPath’s collaborative, customer-first mindset sealed the deal, as they worked together to ensure alignment across people, processes, and priorities.

Watch David’s full interview above.

The Solution: QuotaPath to Scale

David had explained the problems he wanted to solve as “twofold—a time problem, spending 45 days to do quarterly commissions, and a transparency problem for the finance and RevOps teams.”

Implementing QuotaPath addressed these issues.

Augury saw significant time savings.

“Now it takes 15 days or less,” said David.

Plus, he and his team have improved visibility into commission data and eligibility by eliminating the numerous steps required when payment eligibility data was maintained in a master spreadsheet.

Unlocking operational metrics provided easier audit-readiness and more streamlined collaboration across finance and RevOps.

“These were metrics we couldn’t even track before. Now we have transparency and reportability,” David said.

Augury also gained clearer visibility into forecasts and accruals after adopting QuotaPath.

“Now we have greater line of sight between budget forecasting and commission forecasting, both monthly and annually, when it comes to accruals,” said David. “QuotaPath truly unlocked capabilities that had been gaps for us in the past.”

Additionally, QuotaPath provided Augury with a platform that would also scale with them.

Sales Team Reception

How does sales feel? Pretty damn good.

The reps prefer QuotaPath over spreadsheets. 

“When you ask them, would you take this or an Excel sheet? They’ll say, QuotaPath 100% of the time,” David said. The reps enthusiastically adopted the forecasted earnings feature.

“They love being able to see how much they stand to gain,” David added.

This better understanding of their comp plans and incentive math boosts morale and motivation.  “They understand how they get paid, and it’s a huge morale driver. It motivates reps to differentiate and pitch harder,” said David.

ROI Calculator

Calculate the ROI of QuotaPath using our calculator.

Use Calculator

ROI & Results

Augury’s ROI includes time savings, increased operational capacity, and greater accuracy and confidence.

“We’ve saved 25 days per quarter,” David reported.

These time savings translate to what David calls “opportunity costs.” This additional operational capacity has been reallocated to strategic GTM tasks such as “scaling the business or developing GTM strategy to drive revenue bookings,” David shared.

Augury also gained improved accuracy and confidence as “QuotaPath helped us get line-of-sight into commission and budget forecasting monthly and annually,” David said. Additionally, better operational metrics visibility helped. “These were metrics we couldn’t even track before.”

David employs a holistic approach to measuring ROI, considering both tangible savings and the broader impact on team satisfaction and performance.

“We combine subjective and objective measures like rep feedback surveys and operational costs we’re reclaiming,” David said.

Support and Partnership Experience

David voiced high praise for QuotaPath’s support team, especially Tyler Rody (Account Manager), and Matt Kerlin (Customer Support Manager). “Tyler and Matt are phenomenal,” said David. “I’ve asked a million questions, and their response time, real-time support, and product knowledge have been incredible.”

Strong implementation support helped translate a nuanced comp plan into a working system “by providing efficient, solution-oriented suggestions,” as described by David. “They would hop on a call, do screen recordings, and walk me through everything in my instance of QuotaPath. It was immensely helpful!”

Looking Ahead

QuotaPath has become a critical part of Augury’s infrastructure. David said that he’d be “hard pressed to go back to spreadsheets.” And he added, “QuotaPath is a massive improvement in quality of life over here.”

QuotaPath has proved that it can support Augury as they grow and evolve. As David explained, “In the past two years we have added head count and the number of people on the variable compensation plan, and are seeing the scalability of QuotaPath in real time…our ability to do approval workflows, vet by plan, and break things out by component means we can be as open or granular as we want,” David said. 

To learn how QuotaPath can support your incentive management process, book time with our team here.