Sales commission plan templates: 5 startup plans you can copy
By Mustafa Ebiclioglu, Founder of CompSlate · · 8 min read
Most founders write their first commission plan the week before their first rep starts, usually by copying a number from a friend's company. This post gives you five plans you can copy instead, each with the numbers filled in, the reasoning behind them, and the math checked.
Change the numbers to fit your market. Keep the structure: that's the part that's hard to get right the first time.
What every commission plan needs
Whatever the role, a plan answers the same eight questions. If yours leaves one open, a rep will eventually ask it at the worst possible moment.
| Term | What it means |
|---|---|
| OTE | On-target earnings: what the rep earns in a year if they hit 100% of quota. |
| Base/variable split | How OTE divides into salary and commission. 60/40 means 60% base, 40% variable. |
| Quota | The bookings (or meetings, or expansion) the rep is expected to bring in per period. |
| Commission rate | Variable pay divided by quota. $60K variable on a $600K quota is 10%. |
| Accelerator | A higher rate on everything above quota, so top performers keep pushing. |
| Ramp | A reduced quota for a new hire's first months, while they learn the product. |
| Clawback | Commission taken back if the customer cancels or doesn't pay within a set window. |
| Payout timing | How often commission is calculated (monthly or quarterly) and when it's paid. |
The commission rate isn't a number you pick separately. It falls out of OTE, the split and the quota. If you pick all four independently, they won't agree, and the rep will notice.
Template 1: First AE
The default for your first account executive selling a SaaS product with a sales cycle of a few weeks to a few months.
| Term | Plan |
|---|---|
| OTE | $150,000 |
| Split | 60/40: $90,000 base, $60,000 variable |
| Annual quota | $600,000 (4x OTE), paid on quarterly quotas of $150,000 |
| Commission rate | 10% ($60,000 ÷ $600,000) |
| Accelerator | 1.5x on bookings above 100% of quota, uncapped |
| Ramp | 25%, 50%, 75% of quota in months 1 to 3, then 100% |
| Payout | Quarterly, paid the month after the quarter closes |
Why it's built this way. A quota of 4 to 5 times OTE is the usual rule of thumb for SaaS AEs: it leaves room for the rep's cost and still pays back. Quarterly quotas smooth out lumpy months. The ramp matters more than founders expect: a new AE with a full quota in month one is behind before they've learned the demo.
Set up our AE plan: 60/40, quarterly, $150K OTE, $600K annual quota,
1.5x above 100%, 3-month ramp at 25/50/75%.Template 2: Founding AE with a draw
Same as template 1, for an AE who joins before you have a repeatable pipeline. They're taking a risk on you, so the plan cushions the first months.
| Term | Plan |
|---|---|
| OTE, split, quota, rate | As template 1 |
| Draw | $3,000 a month for the first 3 months, recoverable |
| Ramp | 25%, 50%, 75%, as template 1 |
A draw is an advance on commission. If the rep earns $1,000 of commission in a month, the draw tops it up to $3,000, and the $2,000 difference is taken back from later commission above the draw. A non-recoverable draw (sometimes called a guarantee) is never paid back.
Recoverable is the safer default. If your pipeline is genuinely thin, a non-recoverable draw is the honest choice: the rep shouldn't start month four in debt for leads you didn't have.
Copy the AE plan as "Founding AE" and add a $3,000 monthly
recoverable draw for the first 3 months.Template 3: SDR paid on meetings
Sales development reps book meetings for AEs. Pay them on what they control: qualified meetings held, not deals closed months later.
| Term | Plan |
|---|---|
| OTE | $80,000 |
| Split | 70/30: $56,000 base, $24,000 variable |
| Target | 20 qualified meetings held a month |
| Variable | $2,000 a month at target, which works out to $100 per meeting |
| Bonus | A $250 SPIF for each meeting that becomes a qualified opportunity this quarter |
| Payout | Monthly |
Why monthly. An SDR's work cycle is days, not months. A quarterly payout on meetings feels distant and stops changing behavior.
Why the SPIF. Paying only on meetings rewards booking anyone who says yes. A small bonus for meetings that turn into real opportunities keeps quality up without making the SDR wait on the AE's close.
Set up an SDR plan: $80K OTE, 70/30, monthly, with the variable paid
as an MBO on qualified meetings held, target 20 a month. No ramp.Template 4: Account manager on expansion
Once you have customers, someone owns renewals and upsells. Pay them on expansion revenue, and protect yourself against upsells that churn.
| Term | Plan |
|---|---|
| OTE | $120,000 |
| Split | 70/30: $84,000 base, $36,000 variable |
| Quota | $90,000 of expansion bookings a quarter ($360,000 a year) |
| Commission rate | 10% ($36,000 ÷ $360,000) |
| Accelerator | 1.25x above 100% |
| Clawback | Full commission back if the customer cancels within 90 days |
| Payout | Quarterly |
The split is more base-heavy than an AE's because much of the job (renewals, support escalations, keeping customers happy) doesn't show up as new bookings. The clawback stops one bad incentive: pushing a customer into an upgrade they cancel a month later.
Set up an Account Manager plan: $120K OTE, 70/30, quarterly,
$360K annual expansion quota, 1.25x above 100%, and a 90-day
clawback at 100%.Template 5: Part-time closer, commission only
A common first step for a sales-led founder: a contractor or advisor who closes deals on commission, with no salary.
| Term | Plan |
|---|---|
| Base | None |
| Commission | 10% of first-year contract value on every closed-won deal |
| Target | None. Set a nominal one ($500,000 a year) so the rate works out to 10% |
| Accelerator | None |
| Clawback | Full commission back if the customer cancels within 90 days |
| Payout | Monthly |
Keep it simple: a flat rate, no tiers. A commission-only closer who has to model accelerators to see what they'll earn will spend that time on someone else's deals. The clawback matters more here than anywhere else, because a contractor has less reason to care whether the customer stays.
Set up a Closer plan: no base, monthly, $50K variable on a $500K
annual target so it pays 10% of every deal, no ramp, and a 90-day
clawback at 100%.Worked example: one AE, two quarters
Here's template 1 for Ana, who starts on January 1.
Q1, her ramp quarter. Her quota is ramped month by month: $50,000 × 25% + $50,000 × 50% + $50,000 × 75% = $75,000 instead of $150,000.
| Q1 | |
|---|---|
| Ramped quota | $75,000 |
| Closed won | $60,000 |
| Attainment | 80% |
| Commission | $15,000 × 80% = $12,000 |
Q2, full quota.
| Q2 | |
|---|---|
| Quota | $150,000 |
| Closed won | $180,000 |
| Attainment | 120% |
| Commission up to 100% | $15,000 |
| Commission above 100% at 1.5x | $15,000 × 20% × 1.5 = $4,500 |
| Total | $19,500 |
The accelerator applies only to the 20% above quota. Paying 1.5x on the whole $180,000 would have cost $27,000, a common spreadsheet mistake that's expensive to walk back once a rep has seen the number.
Common mistakes
- Quota set from the fundraising plan, not from capacity. Start from what one rep can close: deals per quarter × average deal size. If that's far below 4x OTE, the problem is the OTE or the deal size, not the rep.
- Uncapped accelerators on lumpy deals. If one enterprise deal could be 300% of a quarter's quota, either cap the accelerator (say at 200%) or carve big deals out.
- No clawback. Adding one after a customer churns feels like a pay cut. Put it in the first version.
- Changing the plan mid-quarter with no date. Every change needs an effective date, and periods you've already paid shouldn't move.
- No written plan. A paragraph in a Slack message isn't a plan. Reps should be able to see exactly how their payout is worked out.
Run these plans without a spreadsheet
You can run all five templates in a spreadsheet. The work is in the edges: ramps, splits, clawbacks, a mid-quarter raise, and a statement each rep can check.
CompSlate runs them by chat. Paste any prompt above into CompSlate's built-in chat (or Claude or ChatGPT with CompSlate connected) and you'll see the plan as a table before anything is saved. Each rep gets a live card showing their attainment and payout. It's free for 30 days, then $49 a month for the whole team. The quick start takes about five minutes.
Frequently asked questions
What is a good commission rate for SaaS?
Work it out rather than pick it: the commission rate is variable pay divided by quota. With a 50/50 to 60/40 split and a quota of 4 to 5 times OTE, that lands between about 8% and 12.5% of bookings. A $150K OTE at 60/40 with a $600K quota pays 10%.
How do I set quota for my first AE?
Start from capacity: how many deals one rep can realistically close a quarter, times your average deal size. Check it against the 4 to 5 times OTE rule of thumb, then lower it for the first three months with a ramp (25%, 50%, 75% is common).
Should commissions be paid monthly or quarterly?
Match it to the sales cycle. Quarterly suits AEs with sales cycles of weeks to months, because it smooths out lumpy deals. Monthly suits SDRs and short sales cycles, where a quarter is too far away to change behavior. Either way, pay after the period closes.
What is the difference between a recoverable and a non-recoverable draw?
Both pay the rep a minimum while they ramp. A recoverable draw is an advance: the amount it tops up is taken back from later commission. A non-recoverable draw (a guarantee) is never paid back.
How does an accelerator work?
The higher rate applies only to bookings above the threshold. A rep with $15,000 of quarterly variable pay at 120% of quota with a 1.5x accelerator earns $15,000 + ($15,000 × 20% × 1.5) = $19,500.