Commission Pay Calculator
Calculate flat, tiered, or base-plus-commission pay. Enter your sales and rate to see total commission, effective rate, gross pay, and estimated take-home.
Commission Pay Calculator
Commission Structure
Total Sales / Revenue
Total sales or revenue you generated this pay period.
Commission Rate
Base Pay for This Period
Fixed pay you earn this period before any commission.
Commission Tiers
Marginal bands: each rate applies only to sales inside its band. Leave the last row's "up to" blank for "and above".
A recoverable advance, subtracted from earned commission. It cannot push gross negative.
Filing status
Pay frequency
State tax and pre-tax deductions are not included in this estimate.
Your draw exceeds commission earned this period. Future commissions repay the difference.
Gross pay before withholding. Download the app to see your actual take-home pay.
Track Commission and Take-Home in One Place
This tool gives you a quick estimate of your commission and rough take-home. ClockWage44 treats commission as taxable income across all your jobs and works out the full federal, state, FICA, and overtime picture, right on your device.
How to calculate commission pay
The formula is short: commission equals total sales times the commission rate, divided by 100. Sell $10,000 of product on a 10% plan and you earn $1,000. That's your total commission, and on a flat plan it's also your total gross pay for the period.
Two other numbers help you read a plan. Your effective commission rate is total commission divided by total sales. On a flat plan it matches your stated rate, but on a tiered plan it sits somewhere between your bands. Total gross pay is the headline figure, the full amount you earned before any taxes come out. If hourly work drives your gross instead, the overtime pay calculator handles regular and overtime hours.
Flat, tiered, and base-plus-commission structures explained
A flat-rate plan applies one percentage to every dollar of sales. It's the easiest to predict and the most common entry-level setup.
A tiered plan, sometimes called graduated commission, applies rising rates to slices of your sales, much like tax brackets do. Each rate only touches the sales inside its slice. Take tiers of 3% up to $20,000, 5% up to $25,000, and 10% above that. On $27,000 in sales you earn $20,000 × 3% + $5,000 × 5% + $2,000 × 10% = $1,050. You don't pay 10% on the whole $27,000, only on the $2,000 that lands in the top band.
A base-plus-commission plan pays a fixed amount for the period plus a flat commission on sales, so total gross is base pay + (sales × rate). It trades a lower commission rate for steady income, which is why you see it a lot in roles with long sales cycles.
Draw against commission and how it affects your paycheck
A draw is a recoverable advance paid against commission you haven't earned yet. When the period closes, the draw comes out of your earned commission: commission − draw = what's still owed to you. The calculator floors the result, so a draw never shows a negative gross.
If your draw is bigger than the commission you earned, the shortfall doesn't just disappear. It carries forward as a deficit that future commissions repay before you see new money. The tool flags this with a short note instead of showing a negative number, since what you take home for the period is the part that matters, not the running balance.
How commission is taxed and what you take home
Commission is taxed as ordinary income, so over a full year it carries the same tax as the same amount of salary would. At payout, employers often withhold commission as a supplemental wage under IRS Publication 15, which can feel like a bigger bite, but that's a question of withholding timing, not a different tax. FICA still applies too: 6.2% Social Security plus 1.45% Medicare on the period's gross.
The optional take-home estimate here annualizes your gross by pay frequency, applies the 2026 federal brackets and standard deduction for your filing status, adds FICA, and subtracts the total. It leaves out state income tax and pre-tax deductions, since a static tool can't reasonably guess those. For a full federal, state, and FICA breakdown, see the net to gross paycheck calculator, or let ClockWage44 work it out to the cent on-device. If you're turning logged time into pay first, the decimal hours converter turns hours and minutes into a decimal you can multiply.
This calculator provides estimates for informational purposes only. It is not tax or legal advice. State and local taxes, pre-tax deductions, supplemental withholding rules, and the specifics of your commission plan can change your actual numbers. Consult a qualified professional for advice on your situation.
Frequently Asked Questions
Common questions about commission pay calculator
How do you calculate commission pay?
Multiply your total sales by the commission rate, then divide by 100. At a 10% rate on $10,000 in sales, that's $10,000 × 10 ÷ 100 = $1,000 in commission. For a base-plus-commission plan, add your base pay for the period on top of that figure.
What is a tiered (graduated) commission and how is it calculated?
A tiered commission applies different rates to slices of your sales, much like tax brackets do. Each rate only touches the sales that fall inside its slice, not your whole total. Say the tiers are 3% up to $20,000, 5% up to $25,000, and 10% above that. On $27,000 in sales you earn $20,000 × 3% + $5,000 × 5% + $2,000 × 10% = $1,050, not 10% of the full $27,000.
What is my effective commission rate?
Your effective commission rate is total commission divided by total sales, times 100. If you earned $2,100 on $40,000 in sales, your effective rate is 5.25%. On a flat plan this matches your stated rate; on a tiered plan it lands between your lowest and highest band rates.
How does base salary plus commission work?
You earn a fixed base pay for the period plus a commission on your sales, so total gross is base pay + (sales × rate). The base gives you steady income no matter how sales go, and the commission rewards the months you close more. Pick the Base + commission structure in this calculator to handle both parts.
What is a draw against commission?
A draw is a recoverable advance against commission you haven't earned yet. You get it up front, then it's subtracted from the commission you do earn: commission − draw = what's still owed to you. If the draw is bigger than what you earned, the shortfall usually carries forward and gets repaid out of later commissions.
Is commission taxed differently than regular pay?
Commission is taxed as ordinary income, so your annual tax bill ends up the same as it would on the same amount of salary. At payout, employers may withhold it as a supplemental wage (often a flat federal rate under IRS Publication 15), but that changes the timing, not the total you owe. Run the numbers through the net to gross calculator for a fuller picture.
How much of my commission will I actually take home?
It depends on your filing status, total income, FICA, and your state. Turn on the take-home estimate in this calculator to apply 2026 federal brackets and FICA to your commission. For full state-by-state resolution across multiple jobs, the ClockWage44 app calculates take-home on-device.
What's a typical or good commission rate?
Rates vary widely by industry and plan structure. Common ranges run from about 5% to 20% of sales, with lower rates often paired with a base salary and higher rates reserved for pure-commission roles. Tiered plans use rising rates to reward sellers who clear higher volumes.