Track commission payouts and reports

Once commissions are turned on, Service Buddy calculates earnings automatically. The Commissions report is where you come to see what everyone has earned, decide what to pay out this period, and export the numbers into your payroll system.

Open the Commissions report

Click Reports in the left sidebar.
Select Commissions.

The report shows one row per employee by default, with their total earned commission in the current period and a breakdown of the jobs or invoices that contributed.

Filter the report

Use the filters at the top to zoom in:

Date range — this pay period, last month, year to date, or a custom range.
Employee — show just one person, useful for performance reviews.
Location — commissions for work at a single branch.
Status — earned (calculated), paid (marked as paid out), or pending (job closed but invoice not yet paid).

Click Apply to refresh the table.

Drill into a single employee

Click any employee’s row to expand it. You’ll see every job or invoice that contributed to their total, along with:

The job or invoice number (click to open it)
The client name
The commissionable amount
The rate applied
The commission amount earned
The date earned

This makes it easy to answer “why did my paycheck go down this month?” — you can show the exact jobs that closed in each period.

Mark commissions as paid

When you run payroll and actually cut checks:

Filter the report to Status: Earned and the date range you just paid for.
Select the rows you paid (or click Select All).
Click Mark as Paid.
Enter the Payment Date and optional Reference (for example, a payroll run ID).
Click Confirm.

Those commissions move to Paid status. Next month’s report will clearly show what’s still owed versus what’s been settled.

Export for payroll

Set the filters you want.
Click Export in the top right.
Choose CSV or Excel.
Open the file in your payroll software or bookkeeping system.

The export includes employee name, email, total commission, period, and — if you’ve selected them — the individual line items behind each total.

What happens next

Paid commissions stay in the report forever so you can audit past pay runs.
If you adjust an invoice after it’s been paid (refund, write-off), Service Buddy creates a correcting entry on the next report so nobody gets overpaid.

Tips

Run the report on the same day every month. Consistency makes pay discussions painless.
Export before you mark as paid. That way the payroll file and the “paid” stamp always match.
Spot-check one line item. Every pay period, click through one commission and verify the math. Catching a rate mistake early beats refunding months later.

FAQ

When does Service Buddy calculate a commission?

When the trigger event happens (invoice paid or job closed, depending on your setup). The commission is calculated against the commissionable base — the invoice total minus excluded taxes and discounts — and recorded immediately on the Commissions report.

What’s the difference between Earned, Pending, and Paid status?

Pending — job closed, but the invoice hasn’t been paid yet (only relevant if your trigger is “invoice paid”).
Earned — calculated and ready to pay out.
Paid — you’ve marked it paid out (usually after running payroll).

Most retailers run payroll, then change the status of the included rows to Paid so next period’s report shows clearly what’s still owed.

How do I handle clawbacks when a client gets a refund?

If you’ve already paid out commission on an invoice that’s later refunded, Service Buddy creates a Commission Claw-back entry on the next period’s report. Talk to the affected employee before deducting — most companies handle this as a payroll deduction over the next 1–2 cycles rather than all at once.

Can I exclude a specific job from commission?

Not from the report directly, but you can structure it via the line items on the invoice — if a particular line is marked tax-exempt or for a non-commissionable item type, it doesn’t add to the commissionable base. For more granular control (a one-off “no commission” invoice), contact support.

How do I export commissions for payroll?

Set your filters (date range, employee, location), click Export, and choose CSV or Excel. Open in your payroll system. Most retailers export at the end of the pay period, run payroll, then come back and mark those rows Paid in Service Buddy.

Why doesn’t my commission match what I expected?

Common reasons:

Excluded amounts (tax, discount) reduced the base below the gross invoice total.
The employee’s rate is different from the company default (check Manage Commissions on their record).
Pending vs Earned — work might be closed but the invoice isn’t paid yet.
A claw-back from a refunded earlier invoice is reducing the current period.

Click into any employee’s line to see the exact jobs that contributed and the rate applied.

Can I pay commissions on a different schedule than payroll?

Yes — the Mark as Paid step is independent of how you actually pay employees. Some retailers pay commission monthly while running base payroll bi-weekly. Use the Payment Date and Reference fields to keep the in-app record aligned with how it was actually paid.

What if an employee leaves before being paid earned commissions?

Their commission balance stays on the report after you delete the employee record. Whether you pay it out depends on your employment agreement (most retailers do, on the next regular payroll). Mark it Paid when you actually cut the check.