Finance
Commission Calculator
Enter a sale and a rate to see the commission instantly — as a flat percentage, a base salary plus commission, or a graduated tier ladder. Every result shows the working, the balance that remains, and a full sale × rate lookup chart.
Enter the sale
The total value of the sale or deal
$
The percent of the sale paid to the seller
%
Commission
$300.00
$5,000.00 sale at 6% · leaves $4,700.00
Commission
$300.00
Remaining
$4,700.00
Sale amount
$5,000.00
Rate
6%
How it's figured
6% → 6 ÷ 100 = 0.06
$5,000.00 × 0.06 = $300.00
Try an example
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The basics
What is sales commission?
Commission is a share of a sale paid to the person who made it, so pay rises and falls with output instead of staying fixed. It is just a percentage of the sale value: turn the rate into a decimal and multiply. The same one calculation drives every plan on this page — flat, base-plus, and tiered are only different ways of slicing and stacking it.
commission = sale × rate ÷ 100
From a sale to a payout
Divide the rate by 100 to get a decimal, then multiply by the sale. The product is the commission; what is left over is the remaining balance the company keeps.
$5,000 × 6 ÷ 100 = $300
rate = commission ÷ sale × 100
From a payout back to a rate
Run it backwards when you know the commission but not the rate. Dividing the payout by the sale and scaling to a percent recovers the rate that produced it.
$300 ÷ $5,000 × 100 = 6%
Method
How to calculate commission by hand
Three steps turn any sale and rate into a payout and a remainder.
- 1
Write the rate as a decimal
Divide the commission rate by 100 so it becomes a multiplier you can apply to the sale.
6% → 6 ÷ 100 = 0.06 - 2
Multiply by the sale
Multiply the sale amount by that decimal. The result is the commission earned on the deal.
$5,000 × 0.06 = $300 - 3
Subtract to find the remainder
Take the commission off the sale to see the balance left for the company or seller.
$5,000 − $300 = $4,700
Worked examples
See it across pay structures
The same arithmetic dressed four ways — a flat rate, a base plus commission, a graduated ladder, and a real-estate split. Each example is computed live from its numbers, not hardcoded.
Given sale = $30,000, rate = 7%
Rate as a decimal: 7 ÷ 100 = 0.07
Multiply: $30,000 × 0.07 = $2,100.00
commission = $2,100.00
Quick chart
“How much is X% commission on $Y?”
The fast lookup. Read the commission for any sale down the side against any rate across the top — and edit a rate column to match your own plan.
| Sale ↓ / Rate → | % | % | % | % | % | % | % |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| $1,000 | $10 | $30 | $50 | $60 | $80 | $100 | $150 |
| $5,000 | $50 | $150 | $250 | $300 | $400 | $500 | $750 |
| $10,000 | $100 | $300 | $500 | $600 | $800 | $1,000 | $1,500 |
| $25,000 | $250 | $750 | $1,250 | $1,500 | $2,000 | $2,500 | $3,750 |
| $50,000 | $500 | $1,500 | $2,500 | $3,000 | $4,000 | $5,000 | $7,500 |
| $100,000 | $1,000 | $3,000 | $5,000 | $6,000 | $8,000 | $10,000 | $15,000 |
| $250,000 | $2,500 | $7,500 | $12,500 | $15,000 | $20,000 | $25,000 | $37,500 |
Pay structures
The four ways commission is paid
Most plans are a variation on these. The calculator covers flat, base-plus, and tiered directly; the draw is the one to watch.
pay = sale × rate
Flat commission
A single rate on every sale. Simple and transparent, common in retail and straight-commission sales roles where every deal is treated the same.
pay = base + (sale × rate)
Base plus commission
A fixed salary underneath a commission on top. The base steadies income through slow months while the commission still rewards each extra sale. If the base is hourly and the week runs long, the overtime is priced by the time and a half calculator on top of whatever the commission pays.
pay = Σ (band × rate)
Tiered / graduated
Higher rates kick in as the sale grows, each rate applying only to its own band. It pushes sellers past quota by paying more on the dollars at the top.
pay = max(commission − draw, 0)
Draw against commission
An advance the seller repays out of future commission. Earnings only flow once commission clears the draw, so a slow month can leave little or nothing on top.
Reference
Typical commission rates by industry
Rough market ranges to sanity-check a plan. They vary by company, region, and seniority — treat them as a starting point, not a rule.
Residential real estate5–6%Split between buyer and seller agents and their brokers.
Car sales20–25%Of the dealership's gross profit on the vehicle, not the sticker price.
SaaS / software sales10–15%Of contract value, often with accelerators above quota.
Insurance5–15%On first-year premium; lower renewal rates follow.
Retail1–10%On personal sales, usually on top of an hourly base.
Recruiting15–25%Of the placed candidate's first-year salary.
Mortgage / loan officers0.5–2%Of the loan amount as basis points.
Advertising / media10–20%Of ad spend or media buy placed.
Worth knowing
Things that trip people up
Where commission math quietly goes wrong, and the rules that keep it honest.
effective = total ÷ sale × 100
The headline rate isn't the real rate
On a tiered plan, the top band's rate is not what you actually earned. The effective rate — total commission over the whole sale — is the honest single number to compare offers by.
$2,890 on $38,000 → 7.6% effective
commission ≠ profit
Rate base matters: revenue vs profit
A rate on gross sales and the same rate on gross profit are worlds apart. Car sales pay on profit, software on contract value — always confirm what the percentage multiplies.
25% of profit ≠ 25% of price
net = commission − draw
A draw is a loan, not a bonus
A recoverable draw is repaid from later commission. In a weak month it can wipe out the payout entirely and carry a balance forward, so read the draw terms closely.
$3,000 draw, $2,400 earned → $0 paid, $600 owed
clawback on cancellation
Commission can be taken back
Many plans claw back commission if the customer refunds, churns, or fails to pay. The deal you booked isn't locked until it clears whatever holdback window the plan sets.
refund within 90 days → commission reversed
accelerator above quota
Quotas bend the curve
Accelerators raise the rate once you pass target, much like a tier. The marginal dollar past quota is worth more than the first dollar, which is the whole point of the structure.
8% to quota, 12% above
split = total ÷ sides ÷ broker
Splits shrink the take-home
In real estate the posted rate is split between two sides and then between agent and brokerage. The number on the listing is rarely what any one person keeps.
6% → 3% per side → 1.5% to the agent
FAQ
Common questions
Multiply the sale amount by the commission rate written as a decimal. For a $5,000 sale at a 6% rate, divide 6 by 100 to get 0.06, then multiply: $5,000 × 0.06 = $300. The seller earns $300 and $4,700 remains for the company.
A commission rate is the percentage of a sale paid to the seller as compensation. A 6% rate means the seller earns $6 for every $100 sold. Rates vary by industry — roughly 5–6% in residential real estate, 10–15% in software sales, and up to 25% of gross profit in car sales.
Treat the percentage as a decimal and multiply it by the sale: commission = sale × (rate ÷ 100). To go the other way and find the rate from a known commission and sale, divide: rate = commission ÷ sale × 100.
The sale is split into bands, and each band earns its own rate — exactly like marginal tax brackets. If the first $10,000 earns 4%, the next $15,000 earns 6%, and anything above earns 9%, a $38,000 sale pays 4% on $10,000, 6% on $15,000, and 9% on $13,000, then sums the three. Switch the calculator to Tiered to build your own ladder.
It is a pay structure that combines a fixed salary with variable commission. Total earnings = base pay + (sale × rate). The base guarantees income in slow periods while the commission rewards selling more. Use the Base + commission mode to add a salary to the result.
A home's total commission — commonly 5–6% — is usually divided between the listing side and the buyer's side, then each agent splits their half with their brokerage. On a $400,000 home at 6%, the $24,000 total splits into $12,000 per side, and a 50/50 broker split leaves each agent $6,000 before expenses.
On a tiered plan the effective rate is the total commission divided by the whole sale, expressed as a percent. It tells you the single flat rate that would have produced the same payout, which is handy for comparing offers. The calculator reports it automatically in Tiered mode.
Commission is calculated on the sale value first; income tax is then withheld from the commission as part of your pay. In the US the IRS treats commission as supplemental wages, often withheld at a flat 22% federal rate, but the amount you actually earn is still sale × rate before any withholding.
Keep going
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Ugo CharlesBuilt and fact-checked against our editorial standards · Last updated June 2026
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