Explore Payout Rule Details

Learning Objectives

After completing this unit, you’ll be able to:

• Access the Salesforce Spiff obligation details page.
  
• Overwrite deal or obligation calculations and make manual adjustments or draws directly on the rep statement.
  
• Trace rule metrics and rule calculations to understand how commission amounts are calculated.
  
• Recognize and interpret What-If Rules and Ghost Rules.
  

Now that you explored the rep statement, you can examine the features available for managing and analyzing payout rule details.

Obligation Details Page

To access the obligation details page for a specific deal, click an obligation in the payout Rule column. This action opens a detailed view for the selected deal.

The header at the top highlights the name of the obligation, the account it belongs to, and the time period it falls into. Clicking View Record in Spiff directs you to the record within the Data Sources page of Spiff. Clicking View Record in External Data Source takes you to the record within your SFDC instance (if used).

In the top right corner of the header, there are several useful icons.

• Comment opens a sidebar where admins, managers, and reps can communicate about the specific obligation/deal selected.
  
• Timeline tracks changes made to the obligation.
  
• Ticket if enabled, allows reps to create a ticket tied to the selected obligation.
  
• Trace allows you to trace the calculations that led to the commission amount for that deal.
  

Following the header is the obligation card, which displays custom data and information about the specific obligation.

Comments

Admins and reps can leave comments at the obligation or deal level. A speech bubble icon indicates that a comment has been made. Clicking this icon reveals the comment thread and allows users to contribute to the discussion. Notifications for comments can be sent through in-app alerts, email, or Slack (if integrated), and can be tracked in the notification center, accessed via the bell icon in the top right corner of the screen.

Overwrite Calculations and Data on Rep Statements

As an admin, you may need to overwrite calculations or data on a rep statement. This can be done on the rep statement page or the Data Sources page. Here’s how to do it on the rep statement.

Overwrite a Deal/Obligation Calculation

Changes on the rep statement page affect only the current period for that rep and don’t impact future calculations. For permanent changes, use the Data Sources page.

Note: Overwriting a calculation may also affect the tracing capability.

To overwrite on the deal/obligation calculation:

1. Navigate to the rep’s statement and locate the rule with the deal you need to change.
   
2. Click the deal to access the Deal Obligation Page. Hover over the field you wish to overwrite, double-click in the overwrite column to change the value, and click out of the cell to confirm.
   
3. Confirm your overwrite to recalculate with the new value.
   
4. To reverse the overwrite, hover over the overwritten value, click Clear Overwrite and confirm the reversal.
   

Overwrite a Rule Metric Card

This affects only the current period for that rep. Navigate to the rep’s statement, find the rule, click the pencil icon on the statement card, enter the new value, and confirm. The overwritten value is highlighted in yellow. Hovering over it reveals details, and you can clear it to restore the original calculation. Add comments or notes by clicking the speech bubble icon .

Manual Adjustments

A manual adjustment in Salesforce Spiff allows you to make one-off changes to commission amounts on a payout statement. This feature is useful when you need to correct or modify commissions outside of the standard calculation process.

To make a manual adjustment:

1. Locate and click manual adjustment at the top right of the Payout Rule sections.
   
2. Enter the adjustment amount which can be a positive or negative amount. This automatically updates the total commissions metric and the commission breakdown metric at the top of the statement.
   
3. The adjustment creates a card that displays more details. If necessary, you can delete this card.
   
4. To remove an adjustment, open the card details, then click the three dots at the end of the row, click Delete Permanently, and confirm.
   

Note: Top-line manual adjustments do not link back to an opportunity, which is particularly relevant for customers using Commission Expensing reports. These adjustments are intended for situations where one-off changes are needed.

Manual Draws

A manual draw in Salesforce Spiff allows administrators to adjust draw amounts directly on a rep’s statement when the automated draw logic in Designer is not applicable. Draws represent advance payments or prepayments to sales reps, which are deducted from future commissions. This feature is useful for one-off adjustments or corrections outside the standard automated process.

To make a manual draw:

1. Click manual draw at the top right of the Payout Rule sections.
   
2. Enter the draw amount, which can be either a positive or negative draw amount. This is reflected in the draw balance for the period.
   
3. After saving, a card is created to display the details of the draw.
   
4. To remove a draw, open the card details, then click on the three dots at the end of the row, click Delete Permanently, and confirm.
   

Note: Positive or negative draw balances appear in the Draw section in subsequent periods. In addition, when pulling draw data into a custom statement report, it always reflects the end-of-period balance.

Trace Commission Calculations

Salesforce Spiff offers a feature known as tracing that enables users (both admins and reps) to view the detailed calculations behind various components displayed on the rep statement. This functionality is invaluable for both admins and reps, providing transparency and aiding in understanding the commission calculations.

Trace Rule Metrics

To trace a rule metric, simply click on any metric card displayed on the rule. This action navigates you to a detailed view where you can follow the steps of how the metric was calculated. You can click green-highlighted elements for further details.

Trace Rule Calculations

Tracing rules in Salesforce Spiff depends on how your rules are architected in Designer. The two main types are Line-by-Line Rule and Lump Sum Rule.

Line-by-Line Rule: Here a commission amount is calculated for each record in the rule’s filter (for example, all deals closed in a period). These individual obligations are summed to determine the rule’s total payout. For example, a rep earns commission for each New Business or Expansion deal closed, with each amount summed to display the total on the rule card.

If a rule is line-by-line, you can click any record in the statement to trace the commission calculation for that specific obligation.

Lump Sum Rule: In this approach, one obligation amount is calculated for the entire payout rule. For instance, a rep might receive a quarterly bonus for achieving certain targets, calculated based on predefined criteria rather than deal-by-deal.

For lump sum rules, clicking on the green payout amount on the statement allows you to trace through the commission calculation for that rule.

Other Types of Payout Rules

There are two additional types of payout rules that may appear on a rep statement, identifiable by unique visual indicators, What-if Rules, and Ghost Rules.

What-If Rules

What-If Rules offer insights into potential commission earnings based on hypothetical scenarios. Although reps can’t input values to calculate outcomes, these rules illustrate potential earnings if certain criteria are met.

What-If Rules are grayed out and feature a What-If Rule icon next to the payout amount. Under the name of the payout rule, the statement also reads: The following shows a hypothetical calculation. These are not included in your actual commission.

Ghost Rules

Ghost Rules, like What-If Rules, do not contribute to the actual commission value. However, they are only visible to Finance and Admin users and are useful for tracking hypothetical scenarios against your current commission plan. This helps in analyzing, reporting, and planning for changes in the next year.

Ghost Rules are grayed out and have a Ghost Rule icon next to the payout amount. Under the payout rule name, the statement also reads: This rule is only visible to finance/admins and doesn’t contribute to statement commission calculations.

In the next unit, you learn about recalculating statements and updating commission calculations to ensure accuracy and alignment with your compensation plans.

Resources

• Salesforce Spiff: Notifications (login credentials required)
• Salesforce Spiff: Ticketing (login credentials required)
• Salesforce Spiff: Making an Overwrite (login credentials required)
• Salesforce Spiff: Importing Adjustments and Creating an Adjustment Rule (Bulk Uploading Adjustments) (login credentials required)