Sales Commission Clawback – Captira

Carol Collect

What is sales commission clawback?

Sales clawback refers to when paid sales commission is clawed back (repaid by employee to the employer) when the client does not pay for the invoices on which sales commission was previously paid.

Tools exist for businesses to ensure they get paid and this does not happen to their sales team CLICK HERE.

This refers to a practice where companies recover overpaid commission amounts from their sales representatives. The use of clawback sales commission has become increasingly common in sales compensation plans as companies seek to incentivize sales representatives to generate profitable sales and protect their financial performance.

Sales compensation plans are typically designed to reward sales representatives for achieving their targets and goals. Commission payments are often a significant portion of a sales representative's compensation, and they are intended to incentivize sales representatives to make sales and generate revenue for the company. However, commission payments can also create financial strain for companies if they overpay their sales representatives. Overpayments may occur due to mistakes or errors in commission calculations, changes in sales representatives' employment status, or other reasons but generally arise when the client fails to pay the invoice that commission was previously paid on.

Sales Teams did the work and deserve to be paid. The finance team can go along way in ensuring this BY USING TOOLS that make sure the invoices get paid on time.

In summary


Unpaid Invoices 
are the MAIN REASON for commission clawbacks and businesses have easy tools to ensure they actually collect and avoid commssion clawbacks like Carol Collect HERE

Common practice. In summary, clawback sales commission is a common practice in sales compensation plans that allows companies to recover overpaid commission amounts from their sales representatives. The use of clawback sales commission has become increasingly important in recent years as companies seek to protect their financial performance and incentivize sales representatives to generate profitable sales. Companies should ensure that their policies comply with federal and state laws, employment contracts, and collective bargaining agreements and are transparent and communicated clearly to sales representatives.

Lets dive in abit more

To protect their financial performance and ensure that sales representatives are incentivized to generate profitable sales, companies have increasingly turned to clawback sales commission as a way to recover overpaid commission amounts.

Clawback sales commission typically involves deducting the overpaid amount from future commission payments until the overpaid amount has been fully recouped. Clawback policies can be included in sales compensation plans, and they typically specify the circumstances under which a clawback can occur, the method of clawback, and the time period during which the clawback can occur. Companies may also include provisions related to overpayments, underpayments, and disputes.


Commission clawback is a common practice in sales compensation plans and there are many phrases such as "commission clawback," "sales compensation plans," "commission recovery," and "commission overpayments."

Companies that use clawback sales commission should ensure that their policies comply with federal and state laws and employment contracts. For example, state wage laws may prohibit employers from making deductions from employee wages, except in limited circumstances.

Employment contracts may also dictate the terms of commission payments and clawbacks.
If an employment contract prohibits clawbacks, then the employer cannot claw back commission payments without violating the contract. Collective bargaining agreements may also dictate the terms of commission payments and clawbacks for unionized employees. If a collective bargaining agreement prohibits clawbacks, then the employer cannot claw back commission payments without violating the agreement.

The use of clawback sales commission has become increasingly important in recent years, particularly in response to the Sarbanes-Oxley Act and the Dodd-Frank Act. The Sarbanes-Oxley Act requires public companies to develop and enforce clawback policies for executive compensation.

The Dodd-Frank Act requires the SEC to develop rules related to clawback policies for executive compensation. The proposed rules would require companies to develop clawback policies that would allow them to recover incentive-based compensation from executives if the company is required to prepare a financial restatement due to material noncompliance with financial reporting requirements. The proposed rules would also require companies to disclose their clawback policies to shareholders.

To ensure that clawback sales commission is used effectively and legally, companies should consider working with legal professionals and human resources experts to develop and enforce policies that comply with federal and state laws, employment contracts, and collective bargaining agreements.

They should also ensure that their policies are transparent and communicated clearly to sales representatives.

When the sales team have done the sale, it is up to the finance team to collect the invoices.