Commission Tiers and the Matrix

A flat commission rate is easy to explain and a poor incentive. Tiers let the rate climb as a stylist's revenue climbs inside the period: 40% to start, 45% past $2,000, 50% past $4,000.

Perceny calls the page Commission Split (left navigation → Percentage). This is the deep end of payroll — read Choose a commission model first.

How a tier is definedCopy a link to this section

Every tier is a rate plus a Base amount, and the base amount is the part people get wrong. From the field's own help:

"This percentage will be applied when the {stylist} reaches this revenue mark during their current period. Example: if 0 it applies as the minimum commission, if 1000 the percentage will apply when the {stylist} reaches the $1000 revenue mark."

So a base of 0 is your floor rate, and every other tier is a threshold. A stylist at $2,400 in a period with tiers at 0 / 1000 / 2000 is on the 2000 tier.

Each tier also carries an Effective date and an Expiration date, which is how you change rates without rewriting history. See Change a commission rate mid-period.

General, personal and overrideCopy a link to this section

Three sources, and the precedence matters:

• General — applies to everyone unless overridden. The hint says it plainly: "No {stylist} selected: this applies as General (all {stylists} unless overridden)."
• Personal — attached to specific people: "Applies to the selected {stylist}(s)." A personal tier can be shared by several people, and the row says "Shared with N {stylists}".
• Override — replaces the general ladder for that person entirely: "Override active: General tiers are ignored for this {stylist}."

That last one is the trap. An override does not add to the general tiers, it ignores them. If you override someone with a single 45% tier at base 0, they get 45% at every revenue level — including the levels where general tiers would have paid them more.

Restricting a tier to a kind of itemCopy a link to this section

Applies to narrows a tier: "Restrict this commission tier so it only applies to a specific kind of item. Defaults to All — the tier applies to every item, just like before."

The options: All items, Services only, Products only, Gift cards only, Memberships only.

This is how you pay 50% on services and 10% on retail without inventing a second commission system. Create two tiers at base 0 — one Services only at 50%, one Products only at 10% — and leave the ladder to the services.

Which sales count toward the thresholdsCopy a link to this section

Separately from what a tier pays on, there is what counts toward reaching it — Commission Tier Calculation:

"Pick which categories count towards reaching commission tier thresholds. Leave empty and use 'Default to business settings' to inherit the business default."

Presets: Services Only, Services + Tips, Services + Products, Services + Products + Tips — or pick the flags individually: services, products, gift cards, memberships, invoices, tips.

Two shops with identical tier ladders can pay very differently depending on this one setting. Including tips in the threshold means a stylist can be pushed into a higher rate by generous clients rather than by their own sales; including gift cards means money that has not been earned yet moves someone up a tier. Decide deliberately, write it down, and tell your team which it is.

It is a per-member preference as well as a business default, so one person can be calculated differently — usually a mistake unless you meant it.

Matrix viewCopy a link to this section

Matrix view is the reason this page is bearable at scale. Instead of a list of rows, it lays the ladders out as a grid so you can see everyone's rates together, and picking a stylist compares theirs against the general ones: "Comparing general tiers with {stylist}".

The inspector panel tells you what you are looking at — "Inspector target: General tiers" or "Inspector target: {stylist}" — which sounds pedantic until you have edited a general tier believing it was personal.

List view is still there for bulk editing.

Reading the warningsCopy a link to this section

The page flags problems rather than letting payroll find them:

• Conflict — two tiers competing for the same revenue band.
• Duplicate — the same tier twice.
• Expiring soon — with a count, so a rate does not silently lapse at month end.
• "Inactive reason: effective date has not started yet."
• "Inactive reason: this tier is expired."
• "Inactive reason: ignored by active override tiers."

Filters — General only, Personal only, More filters — narrow a big list down to whoever you are actually reviewing.

Seeing what actually appliedCopy a link to this section

Do not audit tiers from the configuration page alone. Look at what a period really used:

Commission Breakdown → Tiers — "Commission tiers applicable to this period" — lists rate, base amount, type, Achieved (yes/no), effective and expiration dates, and the source: General, Personal or Override. The current one is badged Current.

This is the screen to open when someone says their commission is wrong. It answers "which rate did I get and why" in one view, on web and in the app's Earnings tab. See Your Earnings tab.

If it says "No commission tiers configured for this category", the item type you are looking at has no tier restricted to it — check whether an Applies to restriction is narrower than you intended.

Other things that pay commissionCopy a link to this section

Tiers are not the only source of a commission rate. These have their own settings and are not part of the ladder:

• Membership sales — "Applies on top of any tier commission unless 'override regular commission' is enabled."
• Cancellation fees and no-show fees each have their own stylist commission rate.
• Payment surcharges — the stylist's share of an online or in-person surcharge.
• Supply prices are deducted before commission is calculated. See Supply price and commission.

A working setupCopy a link to this section

For a mid-sized commission salon:

1. General tiers: 40% at base 0, 45% at 2000, 50% at 3500 — All items.
2. One general tier: Products only, 10%, base 0.
3. Commission Tier Calculation: Services Only — tips and retail do not inflate anyone into a higher service rate.
4. Personal tiers only for genuinely different deals; no overrides unless you can explain in one sentence why the general ladder must be ignored.
5. Check Expiring soon on the first of every month.