Plans
Sales compensation planning workflow
Sales compensation planning turns revenue goals and role responsibilities into measurable quotas, target incentives, plan rules, cost scenarios, and approved terms. A durable workflow keeps assumptions explicit, tests the plan against representative performance distributions, and preserves the version that was ultimately published.
- Product location:
- Dashboard → Planning
- Reviewed:
- 2026-08-23
Before you begin
- Revenue and headcount targets
- Historical rep performance
- Proposed quotas and target incentives
- Commission-cost guardrails
Worked example
Northstar planning scenario
Illustrative Northstar Software workspace. The people and transactions are fictional; the workflow and product UI are real.
| Rep outcome | Credited revenue | Attainment | Commission |
|---|---|---|---|
| Below plan | $70,000 | 70% | $5,600 |
| At quota | $100,000 | 100% | $8,000 |
| Upside | $120,000 | 120% | $10,400 |
Result: Finance can compare the payout curve and total cost before the plan is published.
Inputs to collect
- Revenue target and planning period
- Role definitions and participant roster
- Historical eligible performance by representative
- Proposed quotas, target incentives, and pay mix
- Crediting, eligibility, rate, tier, and exception rules
- Headcount, ramp, territory, and timing assumptions
- Budget or commission-cost guardrails
Recommended planning sequence
- 1
Define the job to be rewarded
Describe the role's controllable outcomes before selecting rates or mechanics.
- 2
Set measurable credit and quota
Choose evidence available from authoritative systems and establish the performance baseline for the period.
- 3
Model target earnings
Connect base pay, target incentive, pay mix, quota, and on-target performance.
- 4
Add mechanics deliberately
Use tiers, accelerators, bonuses, caps, draws, splits, or overlays only where they reinforce a stated objective.
- 5
Run scenarios
Test representative performance distributions, boundary cases, total commission cost, and the hardest real transactions.
- 6
Review, publish, and assign
Record approvals, publish the selected plan version, assign participants and dates, and retain acceptance evidence.
Scenarios worth testing
- Below-threshold, at-threshold, at-quota, and above-quota outcomes
- A new hire or mid-period assignment
- A split deal and an additive overlay participant
- A cancellation or other plan-defined reversal event
- A transaction on each tier boundary
- Expected total cost at conservative, plan, and upside performance
Planning output
The final output should be more than a payout curve. It should include the approved plan document, normalized rule model, assumptions, assignments, quotas, scenario results, cost forecast, publication version, and rollout record. Keeping those artifacts connected makes later calculations and explanations traceable to the planning decision.
Use the role-based compensation plan generator to draft terms and scenarios, then review the result with Finance, Revenue Operations, leadership, and qualified legal or tax advisers where appropriate.
Product walkthrough
See the workflow in Quota Queue
These captures show the real product interface with demonstration data. Product UI shown as of August 2026.
Expected result
The selected design has reviewed assumptions, boundary scenarios, total-cost expectations, and a publishable participant assignment model.
Open this workflow in Quota QueueTroubleshooting
Why does modeled cost jump unexpectedly?
Inspect boundary behavior, stacked bonuses, additive credits, caps, and the performance distribution rather than only the at-quota example.