A draw is an advance paid to a rep against future commissions — most commonly used for new hires who need income before their pipeline generates enough commission to cover a guaranteed amount. This article covers how draw advances are paid out and how they're recovered against future earnings.
How a draw advance works
When a rep is assigned a draw, Fullcast Pay pays them the configured draw amount every commission period as a fixed advance — the payout doesn't adjust based on what the rep actually earns in commission that period.
If you want a payout that only tops the rep up when earnings fall short of a floor, rather than a fixed amount every period, use the Guaranteed Commission pay mechanism instead of a draw.
Refer to Configure draw compensation plans for how draws are set up.
Recoverable vs. non-recoverable draws
Draws are configured as either recoverable or non-recoverable when the plan is set up:
Recoverable draw — Any advance paid out is tracked as a balance owed. In future periods, once the rep earns more than their draw amount, the surplus first goes toward paying down the outstanding balance before it's paid out to the rep.
Non-recoverable draw — The advance is paid in full every period regardless of how much commission the rep earns. It's not tracked as a balance owed and is never recovered, so it adds to whatever commission the rep earns that period rather than topping them up to a floor.
Note
Whether a draw is recoverable is a plan-level setting, not something changed per rep or per period. Confirm the plan's draw configuration before assuming a balance will or won't be recovered.
How recovery is calculated
For recoverable draws, each period's calculation follows this sequence:
Pay the rep the full draw amount as an advance for the period, regardless of earned commission, and add it to the outstanding balance.
Calculate the rep's earned commission for the period.
Recover from that earned commission according to the plan's configured recovery method (a fixed dollar amount, a percentage of the outstanding balance, or any balance over a set threshold), up to the outstanding balance.
The rep's take-home for the period is their earned commission plus the draw advance, minus the amount recovered. The outstanding balance carries forward to the next period.
Viewing a rep's draw balance
Go to Commissions > Commissions Ledger.
Filter by the payee.
Look for entries tagged as draw advances or draw recovery — these show the running balance change for each period.
Ending a draw
When a rep's draw period ends (for example, after a new hire ramp period completes), any outstanding recoverable balance does not disappear automatically. Confirm with your compensation plan administrator how outstanding balances should be handled at the end of the draw period — for example, whether recovery continues after the draw officially ends or whether the remaining balance is written off.