Finance & Accounting

Leads to Commission: Pipeline, Wins, and Payout

The Fintra sales commission add-on end to end: capture leads, run the pipeline kanban, win deals, compute and approve commissions, and post them to the ledger.

Updated July 7, 202610 min read1 labOwner / FounderAccountant

The sales commission & leads add-on closes the loop between selling and accounting: leads move across a pipeline kanban, winning a deal triggers commission computation for the rep, and approved commissions post real journal entries and feed the budget. No spreadsheet handoff between "sales says we won" and "finance pays the rep".

The pipeline: stages, kanban, and lead capture

Every lead lives on a kanban board with seven stages: new → contacted → qualified → proposal → negotiation → won (or lost). Moving a card is the act of record - stage history, activities, and scoring all hang off it.

Capture: leads enter from capture forms or manual entry, with source, amount, and owner (the rep, as an employee record - this link is what makes commissions automatic).
Activities: calls, emails, and meetings are logged per lead, so the card carries its own history.
Scoring: leads get a score to help reps prioritize; the funnel view shows conversion between stages.
Metrics: pipeline metrics roll up count, amount, and weighted amount per stage - the weighted total is your sales forecast.
Filters: the board filters by owner, source, minimum amount, and stage set, so "Dana’s open deals over $10k" is one view, not an export.

Commission plans and computation

Commission plans define how reps earn: a base rate on closed amounts, optionally with accelerator brackets (higher rates above thresholds). Plans are stored centrally; a plan generator can draft one from parameters, and every computed commission records which bracket applied so the math is explainable.

From won deal to computed commission

1
Assign the plan
Each rep (employee) maps to a commission plan - rate, brackets, and any base/threshold parameters.
2
Win deals
As leads move to won during the period, their amounts accumulate toward the rep’s period total.
3
Compute the period
Run computation for the rep and month (or bulk-compute everyone). The result shows the base amount, the accelerator bracket applied, the effective rate, and the commission - a full calculation trace, not just a number.
4
Review the record
Commission records list per employee per period, with the underlying won deals traceable from the record.

Approve, pay, and post to the ledger

Computed commissions are proposals until approved. The approve → pay flow is deliberately two steps with different owners, and payment posts real accounting.

1Approve: a reviewer approves the commission record (checking the trace and the won deals behind it). Approval is logged with the approver.
2Pay: paying the record posts the journal - debit Commission expense, credit the cash (or clearing) account you select. If commissions are paid through payroll instead, the record can feed a COMMISSION earning line on the rep’s paycheck.
3Push to budget: approved commission expense can be pushed into the budget module so budget vs. actuals reflects selling costs without manual re-entry.

Step	Typical owner	Output
Move lead to won	Rep or sales manager	Commission accrual hook fires
Compute period	Accountant	Commission record with calculation trace
Approve	Owner or controller	Approved record, audit-logged
Pay / post	Accountant	Journal entry: DR Commission expense / CR Cash
Push to budget	Accountant	Budget lines updated for BvA

Who does what in the commission cycle

Hands-on labs

Practice against a realistic scenario. Each lab lists the steps, what you should see, and the checkpoints that confirm you got the same result.

Lab 1

Take Dana’s deal from lead to paid commission

Scenario

Acme Services’ rep Dana Okafor is working Riverside Property Group, a prospective $18,000 annual facilities contract. Dana’s plan pays 5% up to $50k closed per month, 8% above. It is July; Dana has already closed $47,000 this month. Walk the deal through the pipeline and pay the commission.

Steps

1
Create the lead: Riverside Property Group, amount $18,000, source "referral", owner Dana Okafor, stage new.
Expected: The card appears in the new column with Dana as owner.
2
Log an activity ("intro call, decision by month-end") and move the card: contacted → qualified → proposal.
Expected: Stage history shows each move; the card sits in proposal.
3
Check pipeline metrics for the weighted forecast including this deal.
Expected: Riverside contributes its stage-weighted amount to the funnel totals.
4
Riverside signs. Move the card negotiation → won.
Expected: The won transition fires the commission hook for Dana’s July.
5
Compute Dana’s July commission and open the record’s calculation trace.
Expected: Closed total $65,000: 5% × 50,000 + 8% × 15,000 = $2,500 + $1,200 = $3,700, with both brackets shown.
6
Approve the record as the owner, then pay it selecting Commission expense and Checking.
Expected: A journal posts: DR Commission expense $3,700 / CR Checking $3,700.
7
Push July commissions to the budget.
Expected: Budget vs. actuals shows commission expense against the sales budget line.

Checkpoints - you got it right if…

Lead reached won with full stage history and at least one logged activity
Commission record shows $3,700 with the accelerator bracket applied above $50,000
Approval and payment were performed as two separate steps
The $3,700 journal entry exists and BvA reflects the expense

Frequently asked questions

Do commissions have to be paid from Finance, or can they go through payroll?

Either. Paying from the commission module posts DR Commission expense / CR Cash directly. If reps are W-2 employees, the cleaner route is usually a COMMISSION earning line on their paycheck so withholding applies - the commission record still documents the computation.

What happens if a won deal falls through after commission was computed?

Move the lead back out of won (or mark it lost) and recompute the period before approval. If the commission was already approved and paid, book a clawback: a negative commission adjustment in the current period per your plan’s clawback terms.

How are accelerator brackets applied - on the whole amount or marginally?

Marginally, like tax brackets: each bracket rate applies only to the closed amount inside that bracket. The commission record’s trace shows exactly which bracket applied to which slice, along with the effective blended rate.

Can I test the pipeline with realistic data before going live?

Yes - the module can seed a demo pipeline with a batch of sample leads across stages so you can practice board moves, metrics, and computation without touching real customer data. Clear the demo data before entering real leads.

What does "push to budget" actually do?

It writes the approved commission expense for the period into the budgeting module against your commission budget line, so the BvA command center compares planned vs. actual selling cost without a manual journal or import.

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