Sage 100

Any recommendations for managing commission calculations? A prospect pays 10% commission on retail price plus 70%, 80%, or 90% (or more depending on the order) on anything over retail so a widget sold at retail for $100 would earn $10 commission and the same widget sold for $110 would earn $17, $18, or $19. Any ideas? @AnnetteEgbert and @EstherWoolford looked at CommissionCalc from Flaum Technologies but weren't satisfied. #commission

Um, Crystal??

I ha e a love/hate relationship with sales commissions. I love them because I have made a large amount of money over my career building commission management systems. I hate them because they never make sense, they never follow any predictable pattern, and they are never static. Thus why they produce a lot if revenue. Before I ever begin, I try to convince the customer to set a reasonably structured, administrable program that allows the sales staff to calculate their commissions on the back of a napkin. I suggest building something in access that runs after the fact.

I'm with @Shawn on this one. Have used crystal extensively to create commission reports after mapping out the logic from the client and there is almost always a big bill involved.

Well you stole my thunder already with Commission Calc. Dan Burleson loves to build commission programs in Access also.

@BrianRice Any particular feedback on Commission Calc? I know they were actively looking to integrate to Sage some time ago but I've not heard much about them since. I think the folks at Blytheco may have done some work (or had them on their website at least). Overall agree with all the opinions here -- it's the same standard line ""why can't we use a vanilla (cheap) accounting system ... .we're the same as everyone else... "" until you look at their commission structure. And seldom does anyone have a reasonable explanation for ""why"" the commission is calculated specially other than it's the way they've always done it. Second in line is pricing - some companies have these odd pricing calculations that they refuse to normalize no matter how expensive it is to replicate on the computer. In both situations I question whether the complicated processes are making them any more money than if they simplified.

Had a customer once that was so unsystematic on commissions that we put a UDF on the sales order line for the commission amount to be filled in as part of order entry...

Timely discussion - prospect this morning pays commissions with a rate keyed off how quickly the customer pays. If the customer pays in 30 days the rate is one %, if 60 days it's another % and if 90 days another %. Then they look at you crooked as you break the news that their structure is a little non-standard.

Most of the time, these ridiculous schemes are created by owners who fear salespeople knowing their gross margins or that they actually are successful because our society has now made it almost a crime to be successful. My opinion, if I was boss is this... Yes we are here to make money. I'm proud of capitalism and I'm successful because we charge more than we make. If you don't like what I pay you to sell for me, either go get a job elsewhere or start your own company. Now STFU. :)

In this particular case the client is extremely loyal to their commission agents. The agents are not employees of the company, but a relationship is in place and the % based on Retail price is static. The concern is that the agents are able to make a great sale, above retail, and should be rewarded for the upsell. Using Crystal is doable, but seems very after the fact. At the moment, considering feedback received, Crystal will be the reporting tool, while I am leaning towards UDF's for data retention with the order. Any thoughts on that?

@AnnetteEgbert and @EstherWoolford What can you say about CommissionCalc? Was the issue that it handles the data externally (and if it is going to be done externally, that can be done without a third party)?

possible to do some scritping for this? return the value to the commission amount field in the invoice detail line?