Flat-Rate Commission Explained

When your organisation uses the flat-rate commission method (the default in Pulse), a single rate applies to the rep's entire monthly revenue base — whichever tier they have qualified for determines that rate. There are no complicated bracket calculations. One number in, one rate out.

How tier matching works

At the end of each month (or when a recalculation runs), Pulse looks at the rep's total attributed revenue for that period and walks the tier schedule from lowest to highest. The active tier is the highest one whose minimum threshold the rep has reached.

Example tier schedule:

• Tier 1 — R0 to R9 999: 6%
• Tier 2 — R10 000 to R24 999: 8.2%
• Tier 3 — R25 000 to R49 999: 10%
• Tier 4 — R50 000+: 13%

A rep who collects R18 750 this month lands in Tier 2 (≥ R10 000 but < R25 000). Their rate is 8.2%, applied to the full R18 750.

Commission = R18 750 × 8.2% = R1 537.50

The rate applies to all revenue, not just the amount above the threshold

This is the most important thing to understand about the flat-rate model: the rate does not only apply to the portion of revenue above the tier minimum. It applies to every rand the rep collected that month.

In the example above, the 8.2% is not applied just to R8 750 (the amount above R10 000). It is applied to the full R18 750. This means reaching a higher tier has a real multiplier effect on earnings.

Crossing a tier boundary creates a step-up in earnings

Because the rate applies to all revenue, moving from one tier to the next produces a clear jump in commission at the threshold. Consider two reps, one just below a boundary and one just above:

• Rep A: R24 900 → Tier 2 at 8.2% → commission = R2 041.80
• Rep B: R25 100 → Tier 3 at 10% → commission = R2 510.00

Rep B earned R100 more in revenue but R468.20 more in commission. That jump incentivises reps to push past the threshold rather than coasting just below it.

When the last tier has no maximum

The top tier in a flat-rate schedule typically has no upper limit (leave the maximum field blank in the Tiers tab). Any revenue beyond that point continues earning at the top rate. There is no ceiling on commission unless you explicitly set a maximum threshold on the final tier.

Retainer cap applies in flat-rate mode too

If your organisation has a retainer commission cap (default: 6 months), retainer payments from a client stop generating commission after that many months regardless of tier. One-off payments are never capped. The flat-rate calculation still applies to whatever base is eligible.

Worked example: full month

Rep collects R32 000 total this month — R20 000 from one-off invoices and R12 000 from retainer clients (all within their cap).

Active tier: Tier 3 (≥ R25 000), rate = 10%.

• One-off commission: R20 000 × 10% = R2 000
• Retainer commission: R12 000 × 10% = R1 200
• Total commission: R3 200

The tier is determined by total revenue (R32 000), but the one-off and retainer amounts are tracked separately on the dashboard so both the rep and admin can see the split.

Flat-rate vs marginal: which should you use?

Flat-rate is simpler to explain to reps and creates clear incentive cliffs at tier boundaries. If your reps are motivated by hitting definite milestones ("I need to get past R25k this month"), flat-rate communicates that clearly.

If you prefer a smoother earnings curve where every rand above a boundary still earns a proportional uplift, see the Marginal Commission guide for an explanation of how bracket calculations work.