Why You Need Automatic Auditing in Commission Software

by | May 4, 2022

Ever run a commission cycle and come across a calculation that looked off to you? Those little errors can get really costly if you don’t address them quickly. If your organization still uses commission spreadsheets, you’ll be hunting down that error yourself. However, with the right commission software, you can run an automatic audit that pinpoints your problem immediately.

At Core Commissions, we often work with clients who need to quickly find and correct errors. It’s a common pain point, in fact. That’s why we offer an automatic auditing tool that allows users to identify issues by viewing all calculations in a single view.

An image of a woman standing in front of a yellow screen looking to her right through binoculars.

Auditing commission calculations is a necessary task at every step of the process which is why Core automates the job!

Why are auditing tools so important? Over the years, we’ve seen a variety of scenarios play out that could have been avoided with automatic auditing. Here are just a few examples.

Inaccurate Commission Splits

When an organization manages multiple commission splits in spreadsheets, it is easy to get them mixed up. If multiple sales reps earn commission on a single sale, it’s important to distribute those payments correctly. Otherwise, the organization will have to go back and fix it after the fact. That becomes a pricey task regardless of how many payees are involved.

Instead of fixing it after the fact, the commission administrator could instead review complex commission splits in a single view. By seeing all the steps of a calculation laid out for them, the administrator has the opportunity to identify and fix the issue before it even becomes a problem.

Errors in Effective Dates

Sales reporting often goes through a number of approvals and reviews. In the process, the effective date originally recorded may change. This happens when a salesperson reports a sale to the finance department or another party for approval. As the sale moves through the approval process, someone may report a different effective date. For instance, the salesperson recognizes the date of sale as the effective date while the finance department reports the approval date.

When two different effective dates are in play, it can cause confusion. By drilling down into each step of a commission component, a commission administrator reviews details, like dates. With that information, they’re equipped to deal with any disputes that may arise and they can resolve them quickly.

Missing Commission Data Source

Commission data comes from a wide array of sources. When merging all of those sources, it’s common for an administrator to overlook one or two. That means commissions get calculated incorrectly because of missing data.

An image of a clipboard with paperwork containing charts and graphs. On top of the papers are a magnifying glass, compass, calculator, quarters, dollar sign paperweight and a piggy bank. All of these tools on top of the paper represent the multiple auditing methods used to verify data is correct.

A quick audit can give an administrator the opportunity to review data being fed into each calculation. They can view this function all in a single view to determine if common data is absent.

Commission Plan Changes or Salesforce Changes

If someone on the sales team gets a promotion, starts a new position, or just gets hired, that information needs to be recorded accurately. Not doing so risks errors in hierarchical overrides, new rates, or starting dates. All of that data factors into commission calculations. If it’s wrong, commissions will be wrong. Core has a module designed to store that information efficiently.

Thanks to automatic audits, administrators have the opportunity to easily review changes all at once before setting them in motion. They can even test the results of proposed changes in the Core What-If Sandbox.

We’d be happy to show you how the automatic audit capability works in real-time. Contact us and we’ll send you more information. Set up a free demo and we’ll walk you through it. Let’s start removing all those errors from your commission calculations — automatically!

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