How do you calculate commission?

Multiply each sale by the commission rate. On the flat method, 1,000 at 5% is 50.00. The worksheet prints every multiplication, with its tier when the sheet has tiers, adds the lines for the period, and shows the sales total beside the commission.

What is the difference between marginal and all-sales tiered commission?

Take 5% on the first 1,000 and 10% after that, on a 2,000 period. Marginal pays each rate only on the part of the total inside its tier: 1,000 x 5% + 1,000 x 10% = 150.00. All-sales takes the tier the period total reaches and applies its rate to everything: 2,000 x 10% = 200.00. A tiered sheet shows its own method's total, with the other method's figure beneath it labelled as a comparison.

How are tiers applied when a sale crosses a threshold?

On the marginal method, sales are added to a running total in the order they are entered. A sale that carries the total across a tier boundary is split into pieces, one per tier, each at its own rate. In the starting example the second sale takes the total from 6,500.00 to 14,500.00, so it is worked as 3,500.00 x 4% plus 4,500.00 x 6%. The per-sale lines add up to the commission on the whole period.

How does a commission split work here?

Write a percentage after a sale's amount, such as 12000 60%. The split multiplies that sale's commission line, so 750.00 x 60% = 450.00, and the readout shows the total after splits and how much the splits took off. The full sale amount still counts toward the tiers.

Why is my tier table rejected?

Tier 1 must start at 0, each later tier must start exactly where the one before it ends, every end must be above its start, and the last tier, and only the last, leaves its end blank to mean "and up". A gap would leave part of the total with no rate and an overlap would give it two, so both are refused with a message naming the tiers involved. To pay nothing on the first part of the total, make tier 1 a 0% tier. A table holds up to 20 tiers.

How are cents rounded?

Amounts are held as whole cents and rates to four decimal places, and every product is exact. Commission cents are rounded half up on the running total rather than line by line, so the lines add up to exactly the period commission; when that moves a line by a cent from its own rounding, the line shows its exact product and says so. A split share is its line's commission times the split, rounded half up on that line.

Are the starting rates a real commission plan?

No. The 4%, 6% and 8% tiers at 10,000 and 25,000, the 5% flat rate and the four sample sales are placeholders so the first screen shows a worked sheet, and they are labelled as examples until they are changed. The worksheet uses only the rates entered and knows nothing about any employer's plan, contract, taxes or deductions.

What can I paste into the sales list?

One sale per line: the amount, then an optional split with its % sign, then an optional label, separated by spaces, tabs or semicolons, so spreadsheet columns in that order paste straight in. Amounts may carry thousands commas, up to two decimal places and one leading dollar, pound, euro, rupee or yen sign, which is ignored. Negative amounts are refused. A sheet takes up to 5,000 sales, and the draft is saved in this browser only.

Commission Calculator

Enter your own rate table and a list of sales, and every sale gets its own line of arithmetic. Marginal tiers are applied to the running period total in the order the sales are entered, so a sale that crosses a tier boundary is worked in pieces and the lines add up to exactly the commission on the whole period. A flat rate and an all-sales tier method sit beside it, always labelled apart; a tier table with a gap or an overlap is refused, and the sheet exports as CSV.

rate tableMarginal, example rates

Marginal tiers: each tier's rate applies only to the part of the running period total inside that tier.

Example rates: placeholders, not any employer's plan. Replace them with the rates in your own plan.

Tier 1

Tier 2

Tier 3

tiers meet, no gap or overlap: valid. Tiers count the running period total.

Sales, one per line (example sales)

The amount, then an optional split such as 60%, then an optional label, separated by spaces, tabs or semicolons. Marginal tiers take sales in this order.

worksheet4 sales, every line

Marginal tiers: each tier's rate applies only to the part of the running period total inside that tier.

Tier 1: 0.00 to 10,000.00 at 4%
Tier 2: 10,000.00 to 25,000.00 at 6%
Tier 3: 25,000.00 and up at 8%

16,500.00260.00
running total 0.00 to 6,500.00
6,500.00 x 4% (tier 1) = 260.00
28,000.00410.00
running total 6,500.00 to 14,500.00
3,500.00 x 4% (tier 1) = 140.00
4,500.00 x 6% (tier 2) = 270.00
312,000.00750.00
running total 14,500.00 to 26,500.00
10,500.00 x 6% (tier 2) = 630.00
1,500.00 x 8% (tier 3) = 120.00
split 60%: 750.00 x 60% = 450.00
43,500.00280.00
running total 26,500.00 to 30,000.00
3,500.00 x 8% (tier 3) = 280.00

sales: 30,000.00
commission, marginal: 1,700.00
after the splits: 1,400.00

All-sales tier, for comparison, not added to the total above: 30,000.00 reaches tier 3, 8% of all = 2,400.00

Sales total

30,000.00

Marginal commission

1,700.00

Split on sale 3

-300.00

After the splits

1,400.00

Worked checks

Three fixed examples, run through the same arithmetic as the sheet above.

1,000 at 5%Flat
50.00
2,000, marginal 5% on the first 1,000 and 10% thereafter1,000.00 x 5% + 1,000.00 x 10%
150.00
Tier 1 ends at 10,000, tier 2 starts at 12,000a gap; an overlap is refused the same way
Rejected: Tier 1 ends at 10,000.00 and tier 2 starts at 12,000.00: a gap of 2,000.00 with no rate. Make tier 2 start where tier 1 ends.

Three methods, never mixed. Flat applies one rate to each sale. Marginal applies each tier's rate only to the part of the running total inside that tier, so a sale that crosses a boundary is worked in pieces. All-sales applies the rate of the tier the period total reaches to every sale and is always labelled as such. The starting rates are placeholders, not any employer's plan.

Common questions

How do you calculate commission?: Multiply each sale by the commission rate. On the flat method, 1,000 at 5% is 50.00. The worksheet prints every multiplication, with its tier when the sheet has tiers, adds the lines for the period, and shows the sales total beside the commission.
What is the difference between marginal and all-sales tiered commission?: Take 5% on the first 1,000 and 10% after that, on a 2,000 period. Marginal pays each rate only on the part of the total inside its tier: 1,000 x 5% + 1,000 x 10% = 150.00. All-sales takes the tier the period total reaches and applies its rate to everything: 2,000 x 10% = 200.00. A tiered sheet shows its own method's total, with the other method's figure beneath it labelled as a comparison.
How are tiers applied when a sale crosses a threshold?: On the marginal method, sales are added to a running total in the order they are entered. A sale that carries the total across a tier boundary is split into pieces, one per tier, each at its own rate. In the starting example the second sale takes the total from 6,500.00 to 14,500.00, so it is worked as 3,500.00 x 4% plus 4,500.00 x 6%. The per-sale lines add up to the commission on the whole period.
How does a commission split work here?: Write a percentage after a sale's amount, such as 12000 60%. The split multiplies that sale's commission line, so 750.00 x 60% = 450.00, and the readout shows the total after splits and how much the splits took off. The full sale amount still counts toward the tiers.
Why is my tier table rejected?: Tier 1 must start at 0, each later tier must start exactly where the one before it ends, every end must be above its start, and the last tier, and only the last, leaves its end blank to mean "and up". A gap would leave part of the total with no rate and an overlap would give it two, so both are refused with a message naming the tiers involved. To pay nothing on the first part of the total, make tier 1 a 0% tier. A table holds up to 20 tiers.
How are cents rounded?: Amounts are held as whole cents and rates to four decimal places, and every product is exact. Commission cents are rounded half up on the running total rather than line by line, so the lines add up to exactly the period commission; when that moves a line by a cent from its own rounding, the line shows its exact product and says so. A split share is its line's commission times the split, rounded half up on that line.
Are the starting rates a real commission plan?: No. The 4%, 6% and 8% tiers at 10,000 and 25,000, the 5% flat rate and the four sample sales are placeholders so the first screen shows a worked sheet, and they are labelled as examples until they are changed. The worksheet uses only the rates entered and knows nothing about any employer's plan, contract, taxes or deductions.
What can I paste into the sales list?: One sale per line: the amount, then an optional split with its % sign, then an optional label, separated by spaces, tabs or semicolons, so spreadsheet columns in that order paste straight in. Amounts may carry thousands commas, up to two decimal places and one leading dollar, pound, euro, rupee or yen sign, which is ignored. Negative amounts are refused. A sheet takes up to 5,000 sales, and the draft is saved in this browser only.

Exact integer arithmetic on the rates, tiers and splits you enter, with every multiplication shown: commission is rounded half up to the cent on the running total, and each split share half up on its own line. The starting rates are placeholders, not any employer's plan, and the sheet is arithmetic only: it knows nothing about your contract, taxes or deductions.