Where a commission worksheet stops and payroll begins

Confirm the arrangement before calculating it

Fair Work explains that awards or enterprise agreements can set rules for commission payments. Commission-only arrangements have specific eligibility conditions; a percentage entered into an app does not establish that a worker can legally be paid that way. Check the applicable instrument and current official guidance.

For the worksheet, retain the confirmed service and retail rates, basis, effective dates, attribution and adjustment method. Keep the evidence of those inputs separate from the calculation output. Trimsum applies supported supplied assumptions; it does not select an award, classify an employee or assess minimum entitlements.

Keep the calculation and the payroll decision separate

In this fictional arithmetic example, the supplied service basis is $1,000.00 at 40% and retail basis is $200.00 at 10%. The worksheet result is $420.00. Nothing in those two sales figures says how many hours were worked, what other pay components apply or what the person should receive after withholding.

Give payroll a defined input, not an instruction without context

The handover should identify the person, sales period, receiving payroll period, run label and commission component. Include the summary and the detail supporting any reviewed refunds or exclusions. Make clear whether the result is finalised or still awaiting a business decision.

The receiving process should determine how the confirmed commission arrangement relates to the person’s other pay components. Do not assume that $420.00 must be added to, substituted for, or deducted from another amount. That relationship must come from the applicable arrangement and payroll review, not from the worksheet label.

A statement is not a payslip

Fair Work’s record-keeping guidance says employee records must generally be retained for seven years and payslips issued within one working day of payday. It also lists information that payslips must contain. A commission-only worksheet lacks several payroll fields and does not replace those records.

Trimsum exports commission summaries and source-level details. It does not generate a complete payslip, calculate PAYG withholding, submit payroll reports or transfer money. Preserve its output as supporting calculation evidence within the wider recordkeeping process rather than treating an export filename as proof of payroll completion.

Review refunds and recoveries through the right process

A negative commission calculation can identify the mathematical effect of a supplied refund rule. It does not automatically authorise withholding money from an employee. Fair Work states that pay deductions are allowed only in limited situations; check the relevant guidance before applying a recovery.

Separate three values in the handover: the original reviewed commission, the proposed calculation adjustment, and the amount the payroll process has confirmed for treatment. If the decision is unresolved, keep it marked as a question with an owner and reference. Do not silently fold it into a final payment instruction.

Complete the receiving process and reconcile its result

The ATO describes Single Touch Payroll as reporting salary and wages, PAYG withholding and super information from payroll software. Trimsum is not an STP reporting service. Use current ATO guidance and your payroll process for the obligations and reporting treatment that apply.

After the receiving process uses the commission amount, check the staff identity, period and input amount against the finalised export. Keep any difference explained, such as a separately approved adjustment or an amount carried to another period. Review the official sources below when the arrangement or obligations change; this guide is general workflow information, not an assessment of an individual business or worker.