Searching for Commissions-Specific Software

Posted on 7th Nov 2018

Article By: KELSEY ROSAUER

When searching for a commissions-specific software tool, the choices can be a bit overwhelming. Be sure to consider industry-specific options, where they exist, as these make it easier to build workflows that match the needs of your team and meet regulatory standards. Insurance agencies or retail businesses, for example, might want to consider an industry-specific solution.

You should also understand that many CRM platforms come with built-in commissions tracking features. This could be a great option for businesses wanting to keep all of their data in the same system.

Bottom line: if you’re still using Excel spreadsheets to process and track the commissions side of your business, you’re probably taking too much time processing, your spreadsheets probably contain errors, and you aren’t learning and growing from data analysis like you should be. Time to make a change? Probably so. 

Downfalls of Commissions Processing in Excel

1. Error-Prone

First, and most notably, Excel spreadsheets are error-prone. In fact, research shows that 88 percent of Excel spreadsheets contain errors. While Excel has intuitive formulas you can use to calculate commissions, that doesn’t stop humans from making errors through manual data entry, accidental deletion, forgetting to include certain cells in formulas, forgetting to save, etc. 

When companies move from Excel Spreadsheets to commission-based software, they greatly reduce errors. On top of all of the potential errors we’ve talked about, inconsistency also occurs for businesses when they have multiple versions of a spreadsheet. One survey found that 44 percent of businesses have issues with multiple versions of spreadsheets.

With commissions-specific software, the data needed to run the calculations are set up once, and you generally don’t have to update them again. Of course, you can make edits to percentages or amounts paid, but the amount of errors decreases dramatically when data can’t be easily or accidentally changed. 

2. Time-Consuming

In this same survey, respondents said they spend 12 hours every month “consolidating, modifying and correcting the spreadsheets they collaborate on with others and reuse frequently.” And the hours only increase the more reps you have to pay. It’s a waste of company time to fumble around with multiple spreadsheet versions and entries every time you pay out.

What’s worse, errors become acceptable. Employees realize there are errors but don’t want to spend the time to find them (assuming they’re small). It never looks good to have an agent or rep dispute what you’re paying them when they find an error.

Companies who switch to commissions-specific software save hours of time going from a more manual process to an automated one. Plus, when the employees who process commissions spend less time reviewing spreadsheets and searching for errors, they can focus on other important tasks for your business.  

3. Restricted/Inaccurate Analysis

Performance analysis is essential for any kind of business. After all, how can you make improvements when you can’t see where you’ve been and where you’re headed? Analyzation within Excel spreadsheets can prove difficult and, again, time-consuming. You can manipulate the data and create graphs and charts within a spreadsheet, but these all require very manual processes.

The term “GIGO” (garbage in, garbage out) also applies here. Beyond being manual and time-consuming, the errors we’ve discussed that can happen within a spreadsheet leads businesses to make assumptions or decisions based on inaccurate data. This isn’t good for any company hoping to improve their operations.