Who is owed what, and when
A transaction rarely has two parties. There is a buyer and a seller, often a brokerage on each side, sometimes a referrer who introduced the client, and usually an internal split between the agent and the company. Each of those relationships has its own basis, and each should be written down before the deal completes rather than reconstructed afterwards.
- Commission basis agreed in the listing or buyer agreement
- Side splits where two brokerages are involved
- Referral fees where an introduction was made
- Internal agent and company split
The mistake that causes the arguments
Calculating commission live, every time somebody opens the record, means a deal closed in March is quietly recalculated when the commission plan changes in June. Nobody notices until payout, and by then two people have different numbers and both of them are right according to the system they looked at.
Snapshot at agreement
The fix is to snapshot the calculation when the deal is agreed. The plan and the rules that applied at that moment are recorded against the deal, so a later change to the commission structure affects future deals and leaves historic ones exactly as they were. That single decision removes most commission disputes inside a brokerage.
- Plan and rules recorded on the deal at agreement
- Later plan changes do not alter closed deals
- The calculation is auditable rather than re derived
- Payout matches what was agreed, not what the current plan says
From agreement to money
Commission earned is not commission received. Invoices are raised, payments land, receipts are issued and occasionally a refund happens. Keeping all of that on the deal rather than in a separate finance thread is what makes the question of whether this deal has actually been paid answerable without a reconciliation.
- Invoices raised against the deal
- Payments recorded as they arrive
- Receipts issued
- Refunds handled on the same record
What to report on
Commission by agent, by team and by branch, split between earned and received, with the ageing on anything invoiced and unpaid. A single company total tells you almost nothing operationally.
How Clix handles it
Commission plans and rules are configurable, including splits and referrals, and the resulting calculation is snapshotted when the deal is agreed so a later plan change cannot alter what a closed deal owed. Invoices, payments, receipts and refunds sit on the deal record, and commission is reportable by agent, team and branch.
Confirm the commercial specifics
Commission rates, VAT treatment and what may be charged to whom are commercial and regulatory matters that vary by transaction type. Confirm the specifics for your business with your accountant and with the relevant authority rather than treating a percentage in a guide as settled.