Commission schemes that do not start arguments
Every commission scheme looks fair in a good month. The arguments start over three questions: what the percentage is of, for which period, and who counted it.
In July we wrote that the right scheme is the one whose bad month you can defend. That still holds. This version adds how each of the three questions is answered once the numbers come from the system rather than from a notebook.
Of what: of what went through the till
Commission is counted from the sale lines at the till, not from the service in the calendar. A visit closed and paid is a line; a cancelled visit is none. A discount given means a percentage of what the client actually paid. A product sold earns its own rate, if the scheme has one. That ends the first argument: “you counted from the price list, and the client paid less”.
Seven schemes, and every change has a date
- Fixed monthly pay, or an hourly rate.
- A percentage of services, a percentage of products, or fixed pay plus a percentage.
- A tiered percentage, where the rate rises with the month’s service revenue.
- Pay per class, for trainers: per class taught, by the number of people who came.
A rate can also be set for a single service — colour at 40%, a cut at 35%. And the part that matters most: a change of terms is a new entry with a date, not an edited number. March is paid on the terms in force at the end of March, and a year later you can still see what changed and when. That ends the second argument: “but we agreed something else”.
One thing to know about tiers: the band is read on the month being paid. A month with two weeks off drops a band, so set the thresholds with that in mind, or agree what happens in a holiday month before it comes.
For which period: hours from the clock, days from the calendar
If someone clocks in, their hours come from the clock; if not, from the published rota. Unpaid leave is deducted by the working days of the month, not roughly. An advance for the first half of the month is half the month’s pay, and the remainder at the end is paid less the advance.
Almost every commission argument is two people holding different figures. Let them hold the same one.
Who counted: the system, and not everyone can see it
Each person sees their own payslip, line by line, in their own account. By default the receptionist sees nobody’s: the default member role has no access to payroll at all. That ends the third argument, the one that starts with “and Oksana knows what I earn”.
What we do not do
We do not pay wages and we do not file anything. Reference income tax, military levy and social contribution can be switched on to show an estimate — for you and your accountant, not a declaration. The system counts; you transfer the money. Payroll, people and the time clock are in both editions; time off, reviews and hiring come with Chain, and a Standard licence can add them as a group.