Scheduled changes and history
Who this is for: admins changing plans, teams or positions after people have been paid. If you are setting up your first plan, read Create your first comp plan first.
Earnest keeps comp settings on a timeline. Each plan, team, title quota, plan mix and position has versions with a start date and an end date. This page explains when a change edits the current version, when it starts a new one, how to cancel a change that hasn't started, and how to look back at what governed a past date.
The core rule: closed periods never change
A period is closed once a payout in it has been published. Every change follows one rule:
- If the change would not touch a closed period, it edits in place. Nothing has been paid on those settings, so Earnest updates them for every open period.
- If it would touch a closed period, it is scheduled forward. Earnest ends the current version and starts a new one from a later period. Closed periods keep the settings they were paid under.
Versions never overlap, so for any date there is exactly one answer to "what applied then?". A change effective April 1 affects April's pay and leaves March alone. A future-dated change does nothing until its date.
Draft payouts are not protected. When a change moves numbers that drafts were priced on, Earnest warns that the drafts "still reflect the old rules" and links to Review drafts. Regenerate them before you publish.
What each change does
| Change | Where | Before any publish | After a publish |
|---|---|---|---|
| Plan rules (tiers, cap, floor, Base Payout Rate, kickers, ramp, ratio goal) | Plan page → Configure rules | Applies now, to every period | New version from a period you pick |
| Team seasonality, a title's quota | Edit Team | Applies now | Scheduled forward from a date you choose |
| A team's plan | Edit Team → Comp Plan → Effective from | Always takes a start month | Start month must be in an open period |
| Plan mix | Edit plan mix → Effective from | Takes a start period | Can't be back-dated into a locked period |
| Position (pay, quota, title, team, manager) | People → Edit Position → Effective from | Takes a date | Must start in an open period |
| FTE override | Ratio plan page or People row menu | For a month | Locked once that month is published |
Payout Frequency, Metric Type, Evaluation Period and Flat Payout Rate are different. They can't change at all once pay on the plan is published. Duplicate the plan instead.
Scheduling a change forward
Plan rules
- Open the plan and click Configure rules.
- Make your edit. If the plan has published pay, the editor explains: "Periods through" the last closed period "are closed and keep the settings they were finalized under. This change starts in the period below."
- Pick the start in the period strip. Earnest suggests the next open period. If you pick the period in progress, it warns: "This takes effect in the current, in-progress period — reps may already have seen preliminary figures for it on their dashboards."
- Click the save button. It names the outcome, for example "Save — starts in April 2027".
- The confirmation reads "Saved — Plan rules starts in April 2027. Closed periods are unchanged." Click View scheduled to see it in the list.
Until the date arrives, the plan page shows "These settings are scheduled — effective" with the date, and today's payouts keep using the previous version.
If the plan has never paid anyone, the button reads "Save — applies now" with "Applies to all periods — none are closed yet." You can't schedule a rule change forward on such a plan. To have new rules start later, duplicate the plan, edit the copy, and switch the team to it with Effective from.
A team's plan
In Edit Team, choosing a different plan shows "The new plan takes effect from the month you pick here onward. Earlier periods keep their current plan." Possible refusals:
- A move between a monthly and a quarterly plan must start on a period start of both: "…a pay period cannot be priced on two plans, so the change must take effect on a period start of both plans."
- Another change is already scheduled later: "This team already has a plan for those dates". Pick a later month or cancel that change first.
Removing a team's plan can't be scheduled. "Removing the plan takes effect immediately — unlike assigning or swapping a plan, this can't be scheduled for a future period." Once members have been paid on it, the plan can't be removed, only replaced.
Positions
Edit Position has an Effective from date, and its save button names the outcome: "Save — starts" a date for a new version, or "Save — rewrites this entry" when you tick Fix a data-entry error (overwrite, no history kept). Use the overwrite only for a typo that was never right. See People and teams reference.
The Scheduled Changes page
Go to Organization → Scheduled Changes. The Scheduled changes tab lists every change that hasn't started yet, grouped by date. Each row says Starts or Ends, gives the date, and shows a chip such as "in 12 days". With nothing pending, it reads "No scheduled changes. Forward-dated edits will appear here."
| Badge | What it is |
|---|---|
| Plan rules | A future version of a plan's rules |
| Seasonality | A team's quarterly weights |
| Quota | A title's annual quota |
| Plan mix | A team's plan mix and weights |
| Team plan | A team switching to another plan |
| Position | A future position change for a person |
| Position end | A position ending on a future date, for example after a deactivation |
| Plan mix end | A team leaving its plan mix |
| Plan removal | A team's plan assignment ending |
| FTE override | A ratio headcount override for a future month |
Cancelling a scheduled change
Click Cancel on the row. The dialog asks "Cancel this scheduled change?" and explains that canceling "removes it and keeps the current settings in effect. Closed periods are never affected." For an end, it says what stays: canceling a position end "keeps the position open — pay continues as if no end was scheduled". Click Cancel change to confirm or Keep it to back out. The previous version becomes open-ended again.
Cancelling is refused when:
- The change has started: "Cannot cancel - this change has already taken effect. Supersede it forward instead." "Today" is the current day in New York time.
- A later change for the same team is scheduled: "Cannot cancel - a later plan is scheduled for this team. Cancel that scheduled change instead." The same applies to plan mixes and to a person's later position.
- Someone has already been paid on it: "Cannot cancel this scheduled change - a member's pay is already published through" a date.
- A position end comes from a deactivation. Reactivate the person on People first.
Cancelled changes stay on record. Click Show recently canceled to see the last 20 of each kind, each with its original date, who canceled it and when. FTE override cancellations are deletions and don't appear there.
Only admins can cancel, and not while the organization is in demo mode or billing is locked.
Version History on a plan
Each plan page has a Version History timeline. The first version reads "Since inception". A future version reads "onward" from its start. Any version overlapping published pay carries a "Paid · frozen" chip. This is where you read what a version actually contained.
For teams, use Plan history in Edit Team. For people, use View History in the row menu on People.
The As-of audit
The As-of audit tab answers "which version governed this date, and when did we record it?"
- Choose an Entity kind: Plan rules, Team seasonality, Title quota, Team plan mix, Position or Team plan assignment.
- Pick the plan, team, title or rep.
- Set Config for date: the date you are asking about.
- Optionally set Knowledge as of: what Earnest knew at that moment. It "Defaults to now." and is read as the start of that day in UTC.
- Click Resolve.
The result is a Version lineage table with Valid range, Recorded at, Recorded by, Superseded at and Status. The governing row is highlighted and marked In effect. Rows replaced later are marked Retracted.
The audit shows which version applied and who recorded it. It doesn't print the quota, tiers or weights; read those in Version History or the team or person history.
Example. On March 20 an admin enters a quota change effective March 1. Ask about March 10:
- Knowledge as of today: the March 1 version governs. That is what's true now.
- Knowledge as of March 15: the older version governs. That is what a payout drafted on March 15 used.
Where history shows up elsewhere
- Payouts store a snapshot of the plan when the draft is generated. Publishing freezes it, so later edits never change a paid period.
- Corrections to a paid period are priced on that frozen snapshot. See Corrections and clawbacks.
- Reps and managers see upcoming changes on their dashboards before they take effect.
FAQ
I edited a plan and last month's payout didn't change. If last month was published, that's expected: closed periods keep their settings. If it was a draft, regenerate it.
I edited a plan and every period changed. Nobody on the plan had been paid, so the edit applied in place.
How do I fix a period that was paid wrong? Post a correction to the next open payout. Editing the plan only affects open periods.
Can I cancel a change after it starts? No. Make a new change from a later period instead.
How do I stop paying someone? Deactivate them from their row menu on People. Deactivating ends their open position. There is no separate control for scheduling a position end. See People and teams reference.
A rep moved to another plan mid-month. What applies? The month is split by close date. See Comp plan reference.