• Fixed revenue-based commission spreadsheet
• Fixed profit-based commission spreadsheet
• Variable revenue-based commission spreadsheet
• Variable profit-based commission spreadsheet

Tired of manually generating & sending commission spreadsheets? Consider automating your sales commission program. Click here or scroll to the end of this page to learn more.

Fixed Revenue-Based Commission Spreadsheet

This sample spreadsheet is quite simple – it just multiplies revenue by a fixed, per-row commission rate. Simply enter a sales rep name, a revenue, and a commission rate. The spreadsheet will calculate the commission amount (column G). It will then subtract deductions (column H) and calculate payouts (column I). This spreadsheet also includes a pivot table showing sales commission totals per rep.

Fixed Profit-Based Commission Spreadsheet

The only change here is the addition of cost (column E), allowing the spreadsheet to calculate profit. In this example, a base cost is provided for each row. However, you could also use a catalog table lookup instead. To use this spreadsheet, enter a sales rep name, a revenue, a cost, and a commission rate. This spreadsheet will automatically calculate the commission amount (column H). It will then subtract deductions (column I) so as to calculate payouts (column J).

Variable Revenue-Based Commission Spreadsheet

In this case, we no longer want each row to specify its commission rate. Instead, we want to perform a lookup based on per-transaction revenue. In our example, higher sales prices result in higher commission rates (see the table in blue). This sample spreadsheet calculates the commission rate (column F) by performing a lookup based on the revenue (column D). You can click on column F cells to see the lookup formula.

Variable Profit-Based Commission Spreadsheet

This is similar to the spreadsheet above, except that the variable rate is based on profit instead of revenue. So, before performing our table lookup, we must subtract the cost. Typically, commission rates are higher when payouts are based on profit instead of revenue. An alternative is to calculate the margin percentage, and perform a lookup based on this percentage.

Should You Use Sales Commission Spreadsheets?

Sales commission spreadsheets are a good choice if you have a few reps and a simple sales commission structure. Otherwise, it’s probably time to use an automated solution such as Sales Cookie. Reasons to switch to a more automated solution include:

• You’re tired of generating one sales commission spreadsheet per rep
• You no longer want to constantly edit / re-distribute commission spreadsheets
• You’ve experienced calculation errors caused by hidden spreadsheet formulas
• Your reps spend too much time manually verifying spreadsheet payouts
• You want your reps to be able to view their commission statements online
• You want your reps to view goals / targets associated with commissions
• You want to calculate commissions in complex ways or have multiple plans
• You want to keep a detailed auditable history of sales commissions
• You want to ensure compliance with auditing standards

Using Sales Cookie, you can solve all of those issues. You will no longer need to manually generate sales commission spreadsheets. You will be able to easily manage and make changes to your incentive program. And each sales rep will get an online dashboard where they can review their sales commissions. Reps can still download their payouts as a commission spreadsheet if they want, but all versions are available online.

What type of calculation logic is used in sales commission spreadsheets?

Most sales commission spreadsheets use the following components:

• Pivot tables to review commissions by rep, customer, etc.
• Table lookups using Excel’s Lookup functions (ex: rate / catalog lookup)
• Typical additions and subtractions (ex: to calculate profit)

Once you master those, you should be able to create your own spreadsheet. There are plenty of great videos online about each one of those topics.

Which types of precautions are needed when using commission spreadsheets?

Here is a checklist when using spreadsheets to calculate and issue commissions:

• Audit all formulas used for calculation – make sure all multipliers are correct
• Double-check the recipient when sending any sales commission spreadsheet
• Protect sales commission spreadsheets with a password (unique to each rep)
• Before sending spreadsheets, delete rows for other reps (vs. just filtering data)
• Make a copy (and full backup) of each spreadsheet – ideally one per revision
• Name each commission spreadsheet to clearly identify the time period and rep
• Remember to refresh data (ex: pivot tables need to be refreshed to show the latest)
• Check that formulas haven’t been tampered with when receiving spreadsheets
• Check for hidden rows or “white text” when receiving commission spreadsheets

In Conclusion

We hope you’ve found those 4 sample sales commission spreadsheets useful. They do get the job done for simple scenarios. The main challenge is around generating a copy for each rep, managing different versions, and sending the right data to the right rep. For more advanced scenarios, or to eliminate sales commission spreadsheets altogether, visit us online!