Painting
Painting Sales Commission Calculator
Works sales commission, where paying on revenue invites discounting.
Result
Paying on revenue rewards volume and quietly rewards discounting; paying on gross profit rewards the jobs that actually earn. The choice changes behaviour more than the rate does.
Get a Free Business AuditHow the calculation works
Commission as a percentage of the sale or a share of gross profit. The structure matters more than the rate. Commission on revenue rewards volume regardless of whether the job made money, and in a trade where the estimator often sets the price that is an invitation to discount, since a lower price wins more work and costs the estimator only a fraction of the margin lost.
What moves the number
- Whether commission is on revenue or gross profit.
- Whether the estimator sets the price or quotes standard rates.
- How job costs are attributed back to the sale.
- Whether commission is paid on invoice or on collection.
Where this one goes wrong
An estimator paid on revenue who also sets the price has every reason to discount, and in a price-competitive trade that pressure is already strong without the compensation adding to it. Commission on gross profit aligns them with the outcome, provided job costing is honest enough to attribute properly. Paying on collection rather than invoice protects against commission paid on work that was never settled, which in builder work with retention is a real possibility.
Before you quote
- Pay on gross profit where the estimator influences price.
- Attribute job costs honestly before calculating profit commission.
- Pay on collection rather than invoice.
Questions
About this calculator
Should painting commission be on revenue or profit?
On gross profit where the estimator sets the price, because revenue commission rewards discounting: a lower price wins more work and costs the estimator a fraction of what the margin loses. In an already price-competitive trade that is pressure you do not need to add.
When should commission be paid?
On collection rather than invoice, particularly where builder work with retention is involved. Commission paid against an invoice that is never settled is a loss twice over, and paying on collection also aligns the estimator with helping resolve slow payment.
How do I calculate profit for commission?
With honest job costing including burdened labour and actual hours rather than estimated ones. If the profit figure uses estimated hours, commission is paid on a margin that may not have been earned, which rewards optimistic estimating rather than accurate selling.
The formula
commission = (revenue or gross profit) x rate
Put this calculator on your site
Free to embed. Paste this where you want it to appear. It stays up to date automatically because it loads from BDEVY.
Please keep the attribution line. It is the only thing we ask in return.
How to use this calculator
- Sales in the period ($). Enter your own figure; the page starts at $42,000.
- Cost of that work ($). Enter your own figure; the page starts at $24,000.
- Commission is paid on. Enter your own figure; the page starts at Gross profit.
- Commission rate (%). Enter your own figure; the page starts at 10%.
- Base pay for the period ($). Enter your own figure; the page starts at $2,600.
The result updates as you type, so you can try a figure, see what it does to commission earned, and change it back. Nothing you enter is sent anywhere or saved.
A worked example
These are the figures the calculator opens with. Every number in the results column below is produced by the same calculation the page runs, so you can follow it through before putting your own figures in.
What goes in
| Input | Value |
|---|---|
| Sales in the period | $42,000 |
| Cost of that work | $24,000 |
| Commission is paid on | Gross profit |
| Commission rate | 10% |
| Base pay for the period | $2,600 |
What comes out
| Result | Value |
|---|---|
| Commission earned main result | $1,800 |
| Total pay | $4,400 |
| Gross profit on the work | $18,000 |
| Left to the business | $13,600 |
| Pay as a share of sales | 10.5% |
Commission of $1,800 plus base pay makes $4,400, leaving $13,600 of the gross profit for the business.
How sensitive the answer is
Holding everything else steady and changing only sales in the period, this is what happens to commission earned. It is worth knowing which of your inputs the answer actually hinges on, and which barely move it.
| Sales in the period ($) | Commission earned |
|---|---|
| $21,000 | -$300 |
| $31,500 | $750 |
| $42,000 example above | $1,800 |
| $63,000 | $3,900 |
| $84,000 | $6,000 |
Every other input is held at the example value while this one changes, which is not how a real job behaves. Treat it as a guide to which number matters most, not as five separate quotes.
What each figure means
- Sales in the period ($)
- A money amount, starting at $42,000.
- Cost of that work ($)
- A money amount, starting at $24,000.
- Commission is paid on
- Choose from Revenue, Gross profit.
- Commission rate (%)
- A percentage, between 0 and 60, starting at 10%.
- Base pay for the period ($)
- A money amount, starting at $2,600.
What the results tell you
| Result | What it is |
|---|---|
| Commission earned | The headline result. A money figure. |
| Total pay | A money figure. |
| Gross profit on the work | A money figure. |
| Left to the business | A money figure. |
| Pay as a share of sales | A percentage. |
Estimating is the easy part
The jobs you never hear about cost more than the ones you mis-measure. BDEVY builds the marketing, systems and automation that bring them in.