Stay in Excel
Five or fewer people on one rate. One plan. One data source. Changes wait until next year. Splits, clawbacks, and draws do not exist. A rep rarely asks where the number came from, and one person can answer from the file.
Decision
When Excel is enough for commissions.
A workbook is the right system when one person can still reopen last period and explain every exception. It stops being enough when a change, a split, or a dispute has to be reconstructed from a file that was overwritten.
When the sheet stops being enough
The sheet still closes. Then a plan edit lands mid-quarter, two people own one deal, or a refund arrives after payroll copied the total. The file can store the new number. It does not keep the rule that was true on the close date.
A larger commissions product can be the better fit
Choose a suite with an implementation team when you need plan types CompDay does not claim to run, or a finished security certification before any file is shared. CompDay is the wrong next step in those cases. Named vendor pages on this site record public figures and leave a blank where a page did not state one. They are not a ranked review.
Three limits on this page.
- It does not mean Excel is free. The cost is the hours of the person who runs it. This page does not price those hours.
- It does not mean a low score on the complexity checker is a reason to buy software.
- It does not mean every team over 20 reps has outgrown a sheet. Cycle frequency and exceptions matter more than headcount.
Score the plan you actually run. The checker uses reps, plans, tiers, splits, clawbacks, mid-period changes, data sources, and disputes. Nothing is uploaded.
Check the plan