Manufacturing
Commission software for manufacturers with their own sales team
In a lot of small manufacturers, commissions aren't a problem until the fifth or sixth rep. Before that, the owner (or more often the controller) pulls a sales-by-rep report out of QuickBooks or the ERP, pastes it into Excel and works out who beat quota.
That sheet usually holds up. It just gets slower and harder to defend every time a territory changes or a rep asks how their number was worked out.
How manufacturers usually pay their sales reps
Most in-house reps at manufacturers earn a base salary plus a percentage of what they sell, measured against a territory quota for the month, quarter or year. Single-digit commission rates are common, and plenty of plans pay a higher rate once a rep passes quota.
The details vary a lot. Some companies pay when the order ships and invoices, others wait until the customer pays, and low-margin product lines sometimes carry their own lower rate. If you also sell through independent rep agencies, their commission comes off the agency agreements, which is a separate job from paying your own team.
Where the commission spreadsheet starts to slip
The accelerator above quota
Paying 1.5x past 100% sounds simple. The formula breaks when one territory's quota changes in June and the rate column still points at the old cell.
Quarter-end true-ups
If quota is quarterly but you pay monthly, someone has to remember what months one and two already paid before working out month three.
One person who understands it
Usually the controller. When they're out at month-end, the commission run waits for them.
Reps keeping their own count
A rep who can't see the calculation keeps a private spreadsheet, and the two versions rarely agree to the dollar.
Running a manufacturing commission plan in Earnest
You set the plan up once: base, quota by month or quarter, the commission rate, and any tiers above quota. Each month you export invoices by rep from QuickBooks, Epicor, NetSuite or whatever you run, save the file as CSV or Excel and upload it. Earnest matches each line to a rep, works out attainment, applies the tiers and drafts the payouts for you to check.
After you publish, each rep logs in and sees their own deals and a statement showing how the number was reached. Switch the plan to quarter-to-date mode and a slow first month no longer costs anyone an accelerator they'd earned by the end of the quarter. Sales managers can be paid on everything their team sells, and when a customer sends an order back after you've paid on it, you post a correction that comes off the rep's next payout.
What Earnest doesn't do for manufacturers
- There's no live link to your ERP or accounting system; you upload a file each pay period.
- Different rates per product line are possible with tagged plans, but it's more setup than a single rate. Email us the plan first and we'll tell you whether it fits.
- Independent rep agencies can't be added as users, because everyone in an Earnest account needs an email address on your company's domain.
- Payouts run monthly or quarterly, not weekly.
Common questions
- Can we pay on invoiced sales and still take back commission on returns?
- Yes. Upload invoices as they're billed. When something comes back, post a correction for the commission already paid; it nets against the rep's next payout, and if that would go below zero the balance carries forward instead.
- What if we only pay once the customer has paid?
- Export paid invoices instead, dated by payment date. Earnest calculates on whatever rows you upload, so the timing rule lives in your export.
- Can sales managers earn on their team's sales?
- Yes. A manager's plan can roll up everything their reps sell, together with their own deals, at one rate.
- What does it cost?
- Nothing for up to 5 reps and managers, and admins don't count toward that. After that it's $149 a month for 6 to 19 people, $299 for 20 to 50 and $799 above that, billed month to month with every feature on every plan.
Check it against last month
Make a free account, set up one plan, upload last month's invoice export and compare the payouts with what you actually paid. No card, and it's free for up to 5 reps and managers.