The quick answer
Employee commissions in NetSuite need two records. A commission schedule holds the rules: what the commission is based on, whether a quota applies, how amounts are grouped, when the commission becomes eligible, and the rate. A commission plan holds one or more schedules and assigns them to sales reps for a From and To date range. Create the schedule under Lists > Commissions > Employee Schedules > New, then the plan under Lists > Commissions > Employee Plans > New. Make sure the rep's From date is on or before the sale's sales effective date. After NetSuite recalculates, the plan's Transaction Calculations subtab shows the basis and the commission.
The screenshots show sample data. Person and operating-company names are fictional. Use your own records and values when following the steps.
Before you start
You need the Employee Commissions feature enabled and a role that can create commission schedules and plans. The example uses an Administrator. Menu paths can differ by role.
The sales rep must have Eligible for Commission checked on the Commission subtab of their employee record. If Team Selling is enabled, the rep also has to be on the transaction's Sales Team subtab, and the contribution percentage sets their share.
In the example, Jordan Lee is the sales rep on invoice INV-1001 for 1,250.00 USD, but no commission plan covers Jordan, so nothing is calculated. The goal is a flat 8% of each invoice total, eligible once the sale is billed. That should come to 100.00 on this invoice.
01. Check the sale and the rep
Open invoice INV-1001. Under Sales Information, Sales Rep is Jordan Lee and Sales Effective Date is 09/15/2026. The Summary shows a Total of 1,250.00 with no tax or shipping. Exclude Commissions is unchecked. Note the sales effective date. It decides which plan assignment applies.
Go to Lists > Commissions > Employee Plan Assignments. The Commission Plan Assignments list shows every rep and plan with its From and To dates. Here three reps are on Field Sales 6%, Total is 3, and Jordan Lee isn't listed. That's why nothing is calculated for INV-1001.
02. Create the commission schedule
Go to Lists > Commissions > Employee Schedules > New.
Fill in the schedule:
- Schedule Name: Sales 8%. Choose the Subsidiary. Currency fills in from it, USD here.
- Commission on: Sales. Quota Type and per appear.
- Leave Quota Type at No Quota and set per to Transaction Total, so the rate applies to each transaction's total. The rate grid changes to a single Commission row starting at Amount 0.
- Change Eligible Amount from Collections to Billings. With Billings, the commission becomes eligible once the sale is invoiced. With Collections, it waits until the customer pays. An account-level eligibility delay can push either one out.
- Select Calculation Scale Flat Rate and Rate Percentage, then enter 8 in the Commission row. It shows as 8.0%.
Click Save. The saved schedule shows Commission on Sales, No Quota, per Transaction Total, Eligible Amount Billings, Flat Rate and Percentage, with 8.0% in the Setup grid.
Flat Rate is the simplest scale. Marginal applies each rate only to the part of the amount inside its threshold band. Linear applies the rate of the highest threshold reached to the whole amount. A quota schedule measures thresholds as a percent of quota instead of as amounts.
03. Create the plan and assign the rep
Go to Lists > Commissions > Employee Plans > New. Enter Name Sales Team 8% and Description 8% of billed sales.
On Add Schedules to Plan, select Sales 8% in Schedule. Currency (USD) and Type (Transaction total amount (non-categorized)) fill in. Click Add. A plan can hold more than one schedule.
Open Assign Plan to Sales Reps and select Jordan Lee in Sales Rep. From defaults to the current date, 09/18/2026 in the example. That's after the invoice's 09/15/2026 sales effective date, so the plan wouldn't cover INV-1001.
Replace From with 09/01/2026 and leave To at 12/31/2026. Click Add, then Save. A rep can be on only one plan for any given date.
04. Check the calculation on the plan
On the saved Commission Plan, open Sales Reps on Plan. Jordan Lee is on the plan from 09/01/2026 to 12/31/2026.
Changes to schedules, plans and assignments queue a recalculation that runs in the background. Once it finishes, open Transaction Calculations. Jordan Lee's Sales 8% row shows:
- Basis 1,250.00, the amount the schedule applied to.
- Calculated Commission 100.00, which is 8% of 1,250.00.
- Previously Authorized 0.00.
- Eligible Amount 100.00, because the schedule uses Billings and the invoice is already billed.
- Amount is still 0.00. Nothing has been authorized for this row yet.
Check the result (example values)
- The invoice's sales effective date, 09/15/2026, falls inside the assignment's 09/01/2026 to 12/31/2026 range.
- Basis is 1,250.00, the invoice total.
- Calculated Commission is 100.00, 8% of the basis.
- Eligible Amount is 100.00 because the schedule uses Billings and the invoice exists.
If Transaction Calculations is empty, check these in order: the Recalculating column on the Commission Plans list (the recalculation may still be running), the invoice's sales effective date against From and To, the rep's Eligible for Commission box, Exclude Commissions on the transaction, the schedule's subsidiary, and any account-level eligibility delay. The Recalc button on the schedule or plan queues a recalculation by hand.
05. Confirm the assignment
Go back to Lists > Commissions > Employee Plan Assignments. Jordan Lee is now listed on Sales Team 8% from 09/01/2026 to 12/31/2026, and Total has gone from 3 to 4.
The 100.00 commission is ready to review and authorize from Transactions > Commissions > Authorize Employee Commissions once it reaches its eligibility date, if your role has permission to authorize commissions. Authorizing it is a separate step. It creates a commission transaction, and that alone doesn't pay the rep.
Common questions
What's the difference between Billings and Collections for Eligible Amount?
Billings makes the commission eligible once the sale is invoiced. Collections waits until the customer pays. In the example, Billings means the 100.00 on INV-1001 is eligible right away. Bookings options only appear on schedules based on alternate sales amounts.
What do Flat Rate, Marginal and Linear mean?
Flat Rate applies one rate to the whole amount, so 8% of 1,250.00 is 100.00. Marginal applies each rate only to the part of the amount inside its band. Linear applies the rate of the highest threshold reached to the whole amount, and nothing if the lowest threshold isn't reached.
Why isn't any commission calculated for my rep's invoice?
Usually the rep isn't on a plan for that date. Check that the invoice's sales effective date falls inside the rep's From and To dates, that Eligible for Commission is checked on the employee, and that Exclude Commissions isn't checked on the transaction. The recalculation also runs in the background, so a new plan can take a little while to show results.
Do the From and To dates on a plan assignment matter?
Yes. They decide which sales the plan covers, based on each transaction's sales effective date. Here, the default From date of 09/18/2026 would have missed an invoice dated 09/15/2026, so it was changed to 09/01/2026.
Where can I see the calculated commission before authorizing it?
On the plan's Transaction Calculations subtab. It shows the basis, the calculated commission, anything previously authorized and the eligible amount for each rep and schedule. Authorization happens separately, from Authorize Employee Commissions.
Can a sales rep be on two commission plans?
Not for the same date. A rep can be on only one plan for any given date, but you can use different plans for periods that don't overlap. A plan can hold several schedules if one rep needs more than one calculation.