Adjustments encompass manual corrections, system-driven true-ups, corrections for changes in underlying business events, and compensation actions like bonuses, draws, or clawbacks.
Common adjustment scenarios
There are many reasons why an adjustment needs to be made to the commissions ledger or a transaction. The following table describes common scenarios for adjustments.
Scenario | Description |
|---|---|
Changes to original transactions | Update various details of a transaction (deal value, products, parameters). |
Historical changes | Retroactively correct commissions for transactions that have already been processed. |
Payee and split percentage modifications | Adjust the splits or exclude payees entirely, even after processing. |
Exclusion and inclusion | Exclude entire transactions or reactivate them for commission calculation. |
Post-calculation adjustments | Make forward-compensating adjustments to the commission ledger when committed transactions change. |
Quota relief | Apply or retroactively adjust quotas for fairer attainment calculations. |
Adjustment types
The following table lists the adjustment types and how it impacts the ledger or transaction.
Adjustment type and change (+ or -) | Description |
|---|---|
Earnings (+) | Regular commission from calculation engine. |
Adjustment (+ or -) | Manual or system correction (positive or negative). |
Bonus (+) | SPIFFs or discretionary additional commissions. |
Draw advance (+) | Premature payout of unearned commissions. |
Draw recovery/forgive (-) | The recovery of a pay advance. |
Draw forgive (+) | The forgiveness of a pay advance which adjusts the balance to 0. |
Clawback (-) | Negative adjustments for events like returns, churn, or overpayments. |
Reserve (-) | Temporarily holding payout. |
Reserve release (+) | Releasing a reserved payout. |
Payout (+) | Actual payment to an employee. |
Accrual (+) | For accounting, to match revenue recognition for a positive adjustment. |
Reverse accrual (-) | For accounting, to reverse revenue recognition for a positive adjustment. |
Other (+ or -) | Miscellaneous adjustments. |
Pending vs. committed
Transactions can be pending (editable) or committed (immutable, requires compensation for changes).
Once transactions are committed to the ledger, you cannot edit history directly. Use adjustments to reverse or increase the values for commissions and transactions. This ensures clean data and auditable tracking.
Reconciliation and retroactivity
Adjustments can trigger reconciliation across pending vs. committed transactions, ensuring the ledger matches real-world changes including retroactive changes that impact transaction details, commission rates, compensation plans, payee splits, and quota attainment.