In this article, we'll walk through how Admins can run a commission payout cycle from the Payouts page in QuotaPath and provide step-by-step guides on how to navigate each section. Visit this article for a product video walkthrough.
How to run a commissions payout cycle
Admins can prepare commissions for payout in three easy steps all from the Payouts page:
Approve earnings on deals
Schedule payout timing and frequency
Export CSV to upload into payroll
On the Payouts page, each of these three steps correspond to the three tabs at the top of the page:
In the following sections, we'll walk through how to complete each of the steps on the tabs in order to successfully complete a commissions payout cycle.
How to 'Approve' earnings
The first step to run a commissions payout cycle is to approve earnings on the 'Approve' tab in Payouts. The 'Approve' tab will only display members or deals with unapproved earnings, similar to a zero-inbox approach.
If you have turned off the approval workflow in your workspace preferences, approval is not required and you can continue on to the next step.
Below you'll find a detailed overview of the 'Approve' tab:
Filters: Use the Deal dates, Owners, Plans, Paths and Currency filter to adjust the data to view and approve.
Filtered Totals: View a summary of the earnings, approved earnings, and other deal values in the comp plans based on the selected filters.
View by: Choose whether to view data by 'Member' or by 'Deal' to approve.
Total Earnings: View a summary of the total earnings to be approved based on your filters and/or selected members or deals.
Approve All / Approve Selected Members or Deals: Click the 'Approve X Members' or 'Approve X Deals' button to approve all members or all deals, or all selected members or all selected deals.
Select Members / Deals: Check the box to select specific members or deals to approve.
Approve Member / Deal: Click the 'Approve' button to approve a single member or deal.
View Member's Deals: Click the Member row or the arrow to drill down to view the Member's deals.
Column Selector: Choose columns to add or remove from your view.
Record Selector: Choose the max number of members or deals to view at once.
How to schedule 'Payouts'
The second step to run a commissions payout cycle is to schedule the payout date and frequency on the 'Payout' tab in Payouts. The 'Payout' tab will only display members or deals with owed payouts, similar to a zero-inbox approach.
Below you'll find a detailed overview of the 'Payout' tab:
Filters: Use the Deal dates, Owners, Plans, Paths, Currency and Partial Payouts filter to adjust the data to view and approve.
Payout Charts: View a summary of the approved earnings and breakdown of owed, paid, eligible and overpaid earnings.
Create Payout / Export: Click '+ Create Payout' to create a manual payout or clawback record. Click the dropdown arrow to export a CSV of owed payouts.
Note: As a best practice, it's recommended to create manual payouts or clawbacks only when adjustments to payroll fall outside the rules of the compensation plan. Clawbacks, or overpaid payouts, will be automatically generated following approval of discrepancies based on changes to the plan or deals. For one-time SPIFs, you can also add a new path to the plan.
View by: Choose whether to view data by 'Member' or by 'Deal per Path' to approve.
Note: A payout record is created for every path on a deal in which there are approved earnings. This allows you to schedule these payout records at different times and frequencies if needed.
View Owed, Eligible or Overpaid: Choose whether to view all owed payouts, only eligible payouts, or only overpaid payouts. Eligible payouts will only appear if you have added Payout Eligible rules into the applicable path/plan.
Total Owed: View a summary of the total owed payouts to be scheduled based on your filters and/or selected members or deals per path.
Payout All / Payout Selected Members or Records: Click the 'Payout X Members' or 'Payout X Records' button to schedule payouts for all members or all records, or all selected members or all selected records.
Select Members / Records: Check the box to select specific members or records to schedule.
Payout Member / Records: Click the 'Payout' button to approve a single member or record.
View Member's Records: Click the Member row or the arrow to drill down to view the Member's owed payout records.
Column Selector: Choose columns to add or remove from your view.
Record Selector: Choose the max number of members or records to view at once.
How to 'Export' payouts
The third and last step to run a commissions payout cycle is to export the completed payout records from the 'Export' tab in Payouts to upload into your payroll system. The 'Export' tab will only display members or records with scheduled or completed payouts, similar to a zero-inbox approach.
Below you'll find a detailed overview of the 'Export' tab:
Filters: Use the Deal dates, Payout dates, Owners, Plans, Paths, Currency and Partial Payouts filter to adjust the data to view and approve.
Note: The 'Payout dates' filter only appears on the 'Export' tab as only scheduled and completed payouts can have payout dates. As a best practice, it is recommended to use this filter to select the data to export for payroll.
Export Charts: View a summary of scheduled and completed payouts, and a breakdown of the top paths with scheduled payouts.
Note: Scheduled payouts refer to payouts where the payout date is in the future, and completed payouts refer to payouts where the payout date is in the past.
Export: Click the dropdown arrow to export a CSV of scheduled payouts to upload into payroll based on the selected filters. There are three exports:
Export CSV by Payout: Export of scheduled and completed payouts broken down by payout installment.
For example: Let's say there are $500 in earnings on a Quarterly Bonus path on a deal and that payout is scheduled to be paid in monthly installments. In this export, you will see 12 rows for each of the 12 payout installments on this deal per path record.
Export CSV by Deal per Path: Export of scheduled and completed payouts broken down by deal per path.
For example: Let's say there are $500 in earnings on a Quarterly Bonus path and $200 in earnings on a Monthly Commission path for the same deal and both records are scheduled to be paid out at the same time. In this export, you will see 2 rows for each of the deal per path payout records.
Export CSV by Member (Recommended): Export of scheduled and completed payouts grouped by member. This is the recommended export in order to upload into payroll.
View by: Choose whether to view data by 'Member' or by 'Deal per Path' to approve.
Note: A payout record is created for every path on a deal in which there are approved earnings. This allows you to schedule these payout records at different times and frequencies if needed.
Select Members / Records: Check the box to select specific members or records to delete / undo payout records.
View Member's Payouts: Click the Member row or the arrow to drill down to view the Member's payouts.
Column Selector: Choose columns to add or remove from your view.
Record Selector: Choose the max number of members or records to view at once.