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Reference guide · updated 2026-09-07

Almost every field-service business with commission- or tip-paid technicians is really running one of four pay formulas, whether or not anyone's written it down that way. Knowing which one you're running — and being able to check it by hand — is what keeps a payday from turning into a dispute.

1. Percentage commission

The technician keeps a fixed percentage of whatever the job billed. This is the default most crews start with because it's the easiest to explain: bigger job, bigger cut, same percentage every time.

Worked example
J. Rivera earns 40% commission. Job total $220.00, plus a $20.00 tip.
$220.00 × 40% = $88.00 commission
$88.00 + $20.00 tip = $108.00 owed

The only thing worth double-checking here: is the tip being passed through in full, or does it go into a shared pool with other technicians? That's a separate decision — see tip pooling below.

2. Flat rate per job

The technician earns a fixed dollar amount for every job, regardless of what the job actually billed. This shows up in crews that price jobs inconsistently (quoted jobs, bundled services) where a flat per-job rate is fairer to pay than a percentage of a number that varies for reasons unrelated to the technician's work.

Worked example
M. Chen earns $75.00 per job, any size. 3 jobs completed this period.
3 × $75.00 = $225.00 owed

3. Tiered commission bands

The commission percentage itself climbs as a technician completes more jobs in the period — a built-in reward for volume. The important detail: the whole period is usually paid at whichever tier the technician's total job count landed in, not a blended rate across tiers.

Worked example
A. Osei's tiers: 0–10 jobs → 35% · 11–20 jobs → 40% · 21+ jobs → 45%.
5 jobs completed, $1,535.00 in job revenue → lands in the 35% tier.
$1,535.00 × 35% = $537.25 owed
Common mistake Applying each tier only to the jobs within that band (like a tax bracket) instead of the flat rate the method actually calls for. Confirm which convention your crew uses before you build a spreadsheet around the wrong one — it's a real source of payday disputes.

4. Flat rate + percentage

A guaranteed base amount per job, plus a percentage on top. This covers crews that want to offer a pay floor — so a technician isn't fully exposed to a slow week — while still keeping the upside of a percentage cut.

Worked example
D. Kim earns $20.00 per job plus 10% commission. 4 jobs completed, $900.00 in job revenue.
(4 × $20.00) + (10% × $900.00) = $80.00 + $90.00 = $170.00 owed

Which formula is your crew actually running?

Most owners can name their pay structure in one sentence once they see the four written out separately — the confusion usually isn't the math, it's that nobody wrote the rule down anywhere a second person could check it. Once you know which of the four (or which mix, technician by technician) applies, the calculation itself takes seconds.

  • One technician, one pay period, one of these four rules: the free calculator below handles the percentage case in your browser, no signup.
  • A crew of 2–15, doing this every pay period: the sheet template covers all four rules plus tip pooling, and remembers your setup between periods.
  • You'd rather not touch the data entry at all: send us your job data in whatever format you already have it, and get a payroll-ready file back within 24 hours.