Running Commissions

Running commissions covers how to group funded loans into pay periods, calculate compensation, review results, and finalize each pay period.

What Is a Pay Period?

A pay period is a date range that groups funded loans and expenses for commission calculation. Each pay period tracks:

• Start date and end date — the date range
• Status — Draft or Finalized
• Loans — funded loans whose funded date falls within the period
• Expenses — employee expenses allocated to the period
• Employee records — per-employee draw balance and wage data

Pay periods are the core unit of the commission process. Loans are assigned to pay periods, commissions are calculated per period, and reports are generated from finalized periods.

Pay Period Frequency

The frequency of pay periods is configured in the company’s payroll settings. Keystone supports four options:

Frequency	Description	Typical Date Ranges
Weekly	One period per week	e.g., Mon-Sun or any 7-day span based on configured start day
Biweekly	One period every two weeks	14-day spans
Semi-Monthly	Two periods per month	1st-15th and 16th-end of month (default), or custom split dates
Monthly	One period per month	1st through end of month (default), or custom start date

Semi-Monthly Options

Semi-monthly periods can be configured as:

• First and Fifteenth: 1st-15th and 16th-end of month
• Fifteenth and Last: Same default split
• Custom: Specify custom start and end day-of-month boundaries

Monthly Options

Monthly periods can be configured as:

• First: 1st through end of month
• Last: Same as above
• Custom: Specify a custom start day (e.g., start on the 16th of each month through the 15th of the next)

The Commission Run Workflow

Step 1: Navigate to Run Commissions

Go to Commission > Run Commissions in the sidebar. The page displays all pay periods ordered by date.

Step 2: Auto-Assignment of Loans

When you visit the Run Commissions page, the system automatically checks for unassigned funded loans and expenses:

1. All funded loans without a pay period assignment are identified.
2. For each loan, the system determines which pay period date range covers the loan’s funded date.
3. If a matching draft pay period exists, the loan is assigned to it.
4. If no matching period exists, a new draft pay period is created with the appropriate date range (based on the company’s payroll settings) and the loan is assigned.
5. Expenses without a pay period assignment are similarly matched to draft periods by date.

Loans in finalized pay periods are not reassigned. If a funded loan’s date falls within a finalized period, it is skipped during auto-assignment.

Step 3: Open a Pay Period

Click on a pay period to view its details. The pay period detail view is organized as a three-step wizard:

1. Review — Examine the loans, expenses, and draw settings
2. Preview — See calculated commissions before finalizing
3. Finalize — Lock in the commissions and close the period

Step 4: Review (Step 1 of 3)

The Review step has multiple tabs:

Earnings Tab

Displays all loans in the pay period with:

• Loan number and borrower name
• Funded date
• Loan amount and broker compensation
• Loan officer name
• Calculated commission amounts (gross, file fee, net)

From this tab you can:

• Remove a loan from the pay period (it becomes unassigned and can be moved to a different period)
• Review commission calculations per loan

Unassigned Loans Tab

Shows funded loans that fall within this pay period’s date range but are not yet assigned. This can happen when loans are manually removed or when new loans are funded after the period was created.

• Click Add to assign an unassigned loan to this pay period.

Expenses Tab

Displays expenses allocated to this pay period, showing:

• Employee name
• Expense amount
• Date and notes

Expenses are deducted from the employee’s commission during the calculation.

Draws Tab

Shows draw balance information for employees with commissions in this period:

• Previous draw balance (carried over from prior periods)
• Draw balance payment (amount paid down from this period’s commissions)
• Draw balance carried over (remaining balance after this period)
• Wage paid (the guaranteed minimum payment)

Draw values can be manually adjusted before finalization if needed.

Step 5: Preview (Step 2 of 3)

When you advance to the Preview step, the commission engine runs a full calculation. This shows:

• Per-employee summary cards with:
  • Employee name
  • Number of loans
  • Gross commission
  • File fee deductions
  • Expenses
  • Previous draw balance
  • Wage paid
  • Draw balance changes
  • Net pay

This is a preview — nothing is saved yet. You can go back to the Review step to make changes (add/remove loans, adjust draws) and re-preview.

Step 6: Finalize (Step 3 of 3)

When everything looks correct, the Finalize step presents a confirmation screen:

1. Click Finalize Pay Period.
2. The system runs the commission engine one final time, locks draw balances for each employee, records which rules were applied, marks the period as Finalized, and generates commission accrual journal entries.
3. The pay period is now locked.

After finalization, you can:

• Export Detail CSV — A line-by-line export of every commission result (loan, recipient, rule, amounts)
• Export Summary CSV — A per-employee summary export

The Commission Calculation Process

When the engine runs (either for preview or finalization), it performs these steps for every loan in the pay period:

1. Load Data

The engine loads:

• All loans in the pay period with their attributes (amount, type, lender, state, etc.)
• All associated employees (loan officers, assistants, processors, branch managers)
• All active commission rules
• Special case groups and performance boosters
• Expenses for the period

2. Process Each Loan

For each loan:

a. Find the loan officer’s matching rule:

• Filter rules to those for the LO role (not processor, not LOA, not BM)
• Sort by specificity (employee-specific rules first)
• Evaluate each rule’s filters and special cases against the loan
• Use the first matching rule

b. Calculate the LO’s gross commission:

• Determine the basis (loan amount or broker compensation)
• Apply the commission rate (percentage, flat, or bps)
• Clamp to min/max if configured

c. Calculate the file fee:

• If the rule has a file fee, calculate it based on the fee type
• If “apply file fee first” is set, the fee adjusts the basis before commission calculation

d. Check performance booster:

• If the matched rule is linked to a performance condition, query the LO’s production stats
• If the threshold is met, calculate the bonus and add it

e. Process assistants, processors, branch managers:

• For each assistant on the loan, find a matching LOA rule and calculate their commission
• For each processor, find a matching processor rule and calculate
• If the loan’s LO is in a branch, check for a branch manager override rule
• Any of these that are marked “deducts from loan officer” reduce the LO’s net

f. Apply loan adjustments:

• Loan-level adjustments that apply to commissions are added to the LO’s net

3. Build Employee Summaries

After all loans are processed:

• Commission results are aggregated by employee
• Expenses are added per employee
• Draw balances are calculated:
  • If net earnings exceed the draw wage, excess pays down prior draw balance
  • If net earnings are below the draw wage, the deficit increases the draw balance
• Net pay is determined

Draw Balance Handling

The draw system ensures employees receive a minimum payment each period.

Draw Calculation Types

Each employee has a draw calculation type:

Type	Description
Hourly	Draw = hourly rate x hours per period
Flat Amount	Draw = a fixed dollar amount
None	No draw; the employee receives only their commissions

Draw Balance Flow

Previous Draw Balance (from prior periods)
  + Deficit (if commissions < draw this period)
  - Payment (if commissions > draw this period)
  = Draw Balance Carried Over (to next period)

When commissions exceed the draw:

1. The employee is paid their full commission earnings
2. Any excess above the draw amount can pay off prior draw balance
3. Net pay = net commission earnings - draw balance payment

When commissions are below the draw:

1. The employee receives the draw amount (guaranteed minimum)
2. The shortfall (draw - commissions) is added to their draw balance
3. Net pay = draw amount - expenses

Draw Carry-Over

By default, draw balances carry over between periods. Per-employee, carry-over can be disabled so the draw balance resets to zero at the end of each period.

Example

An employee has:

• Draw type: Flat Amount, $3,000
• Previous draw balance: $1,500
• This period’s gross commissions: $5,000
• File fees: $300
• Expenses: $200

Calculation:

1. Net earned = $5,000 - $300 - $200 = $4,500
2. $4,500 > $3,000 draw, so excess = $1,500
3. Draw balance payment = min($1,500 excess, $1,500 prior balance) = $1,500
4. Draw balance carried over = $1,500 - $1,500 = $0
5. Net pay = $4,500 - $1,500 = $3,000

Pay Period Statuses

Status	Description	Actions Available
Draft	The pay period is open for editing	Add/remove loans, adjust draws, preview, finalize
Finalized	The pay period is locked	View, export, unfinalize

Unfinalizing a Pay Period

If corrections are needed after finalization, an administrator can unfinalize a pay period. Click Unfinalize on the pay period detail page. This reverses draw balance changes and returns the period to Draft status so it can be edited and re-finalized.

Caution: Unfinalizing a pay period reverses draw balance changes. If subsequent pay periods have already been finalized, their draw calculations may become inconsistent. Unfinalize only when necessary and consider the downstream impact.

Managing Pay Periods

Creating a Pay Period Manually

While pay periods are typically auto-created when funded loans are detected, you can create one manually:

1. On the Run Commissions page, click Create Pay Period.
2. Enter the Start Date and End Date.
3. Click Create.

The new pay period is created as a Draft. Funded loans within its date range can be assigned to it.

Removing a Loan from a Pay Period

On the Earnings tab of a pay period:

1. Click the Remove action on a loan row.
2. The loan is unassigned from the pay period and marked as manually unassigned (it will not be auto-assigned back).

Adding a Loan to a Pay Period

On the Unassigned Loans tab:

1. Find the loan you want to add.
2. Click Add.
3. The loan is assigned to this pay period and the manual unassignment flag is cleared.

CSV Export

Both detail and summary exports are available after commissions have been calculated.

Detail Export

The detail CSV contains one row per commission result:

Column	Description
Loan ID	The loan identifier
Loan Amount	The total loan amount
Broker Compensation	The broker fee
Recipient ID	The employee receiving the commission
Recipient Role	Loan Officer, Loan Officer Assistant, Processor, or Branch Manager
Rule ID	The commission rule that was applied
Gross Commission	The calculated gross commission
File Fee	The file fee deduction
Performance Bonus	Any performance booster bonus
Net Commission	The final commission amount
Deducts From LO	Whether this amount deducts from the loan officer

Summary Export

The summary CSV contains one row per employee:

Column	Description
Employee ID	The employee identifier
Loan Count	Number of loans
Gross Commission	Total gross commission
File Fees	Total file fee deductions
Deductions	Total deductions
Expenses	Total expenses
Adjustments	Total adjustments
Previous Draw Balance	Draw balance from prior periods
Wage Paid	Guaranteed minimum pay
Draw Balance Payment	Amount paid toward draw balance
Draw Balance Carried Over	Remaining draw balance
Net Pay	Final payment amount