Sales commission calculator
Fill in the message to see what a rep earns: commission, accelerator payout, cost of sales and whether the quota makes sense. Pick an example to start.
At 115% of their $150,000 quarterly quota, they earn $18,375 in commission this quarter, on a target of $15,000.
| Attainment | Rate | Pays |
|---|---|---|
| Up to 100% | 1× | $15,000 |
| 100% to 115% | 1.5× | $3,375 |
| Commission | $18,375 |
- Base this quarter: $22,500. Total pay: $40,875.
- Commission is 10.7% of the $172,500 they closed. With base, the cost of sales is 23.7%.
- Quota is 4× OTE: inside the usual 4–5× for SaaS AEs. How to set quota
- Above 100%, each extra dollar sold costs you 15% in commission and nothing more in base.
Set up our AE plan: $150K OTE, 60/40, quarterly, $600K annual quota, 1.5x above 100%.30 days free, then $49 a month for your whole team. We’ll email you a sign-in link and open the chat with this plan typed in. By starting you agree to the Terms and Privacy policy.
How the calculator works
It does what a commission plan does, in four steps:
- Target variable = OTE × the variable share, divided by pay periods. A $150,000 OTE at 60/40 is $60,000 a year of variable, or $15,000 a quarter.
- Attainment = what they closed ÷ their quota for the period. $172,500 against a $150,000 quarterly quota is 115%.
- Payout rate: 1× up to the accelerator threshold, then the accelerated rate on the part above it, then the cap if there is one. At 115% with 1.5× above 100%, that's 100% × 1 + 15% × 1.5 = 122.5%.
- Commission = target variable × payout rate: $15,000 × 122.5% = $18,375.
The accelerator is marginal: the higher rate applies only to attainment above the threshold, not to everything they closed. That's how most SaaS plans work, and it's how CompSlate calculates it too. The accelerators guide covers retroactive accelerators, tiers and caps.
Is my cost of sales healthy?
Cost of sales is what the rep costs you (base plus commission) for each dollar they sell. At quota it's simply OTE ÷ annual quota. For SaaS AEs the usual quota is 4 to 5 times OTE, which puts cost of sales between 20% and 25%. The quota guide explains how to set quota from what one rep can actually close, and what to do when that falls short of 4×.
Above quota, cost of sales falls even with an accelerator: base is already paid, so each extra dollar costs only the accelerated commission rate.
What it leaves out
Real plans have more moving parts: ramps for new hires, draws, clawbacks when a customer cancels, MBOs, deal splits, several tiers, and quotas that change mid-year. CompSlate handles all of them. You describe the plan in its chat and it calculates every rep's pay from your deals. See plan components.
Frequently asked questions
How do you calculate sales commission?
Divide what the rep closed by their quota to get attainment. Multiply their target variable pay for the period by the payout rate for that attainment: 1× up to quota on most plans, plus any accelerator above it. A rep with $15,000 of quarterly variable who hits 115% with 1.5× above 100% earns $18,375.
What is a typical commission rate for SaaS?
It follows from the plan rather than being picked: variable pay divided by quota. With a 50/50 to 60/40 split and a quota of 4 to 5 times OTE, it lands between about 8% and 12.5% of bookings.
How do sales commission accelerators work?
An accelerator raises the commission rate above a threshold, usually 100% of quota. On a marginal accelerator, the most common kind, the higher rate applies only to the sales above the threshold. 1.5× above 100% is the usual starting point for AEs.
Is the calculator free? Do my numbers go anywhere?
It's free, with no sign-up. The math runs in your browser, and nothing you type is sent to CompSlate.