Keep staff rates with the dates that explain them
A blank staff rate register and fictional example recording stable identifiers, service and retail percentages, effective dates and supporting evidence.
A name and a percentage are not enough to explain an older commission calculation. This register records who a rate belongs to, when it applies and where the decision can be checked. Keep it beside the source reports for each period rather than overwriting the previous rate whenever something changes.
The useful part
Add a new dated record for a change. Keep the old row so a previous calculation can still be reconstructed.
Your working files
Download blank templateCSV · Column headings only. Add your own records to a copy.Download fictional exampleCSV · Completed sample records in AUD. Use for practice, not a live close.A working register, not an agreement
The CSV records supplied calculation settings. It does not create employment terms, decide an entitlement or automatically update rates in Trimsum. Enter only rates supported by your own documented decision process. Give each person a stable internal identifier so a spelling change does not make a historical row look like a different person.
What each field preserves
| Field | What to enter |
|---|---|
| Staff ID | Your stable identifier; do not recycle it for another person. |
| Staff name | Display name used when this record was made. |
| Service rate % | Percentage number, such as 40, not 0.40. |
| Retail rate % | Separate percentage for retail, including an explicit zero if agreed. |
| Effective from | First applicable date in YYYY-MM-DD. |
| Effective to | Last applicable date, or blank while open-ended. |
| Evidence reference | Document or decision record supporting the settings. |
| Recorded by | Person who entered or checked this record. |
| Status | Draft, confirmed or superseded; keep the meaning consistent. |
Read the two-person example
The fictional register gives Mia Chen 40% service and 10% retail, and Leo Hart 45% service and 12% retail. Both records begin on 21 September 2026. The rates are deliberately different: copying one person’s service rate to everyone would change the result even if the sales file were perfect.
| Person | Service basis | Retail basis | Commission |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mia Chen | 200.00 × 40% | 30.00 × 10% | 83.00 |
| Leo Hart | 200.00 × 45% | 30.00 × 12% | 93.60 |
Prevent overlaps before a close
A register can describe more than the current product supports. Check the application’s actual rate controls before assuming it will interpret this CSV or apply historical dates automatically.
- Find the person by stable ID, then inspect all their effective dates.
- Close an old record only when the last applicable date is known.
- Add the replacement record and check for gaps or overlapping dates.
- Compare the resulting settings with the calculation used for the relevant source lines.
Make unresolved records visible
Leave an unconfirmed rate marked draft and explain what evidence is missing. Do not use a familiar-looking percentage merely to remove a warning. Keep source name aliases in a separate checked mapping when needed; this register records identity and rates, while the source file records how the earning person was originally named. After a change, compare one known service and one retail line by hand.
Put it to work.
See the dollar effect on the same supplied sales basis.
Compare two rates