Payouts your agents do not need to check
Every hour spent explaining a commission statement costs twice — once in the hour, and once in the trust. When the split is calculated on the deal itself and the agent can see the arithmetic, that conversation stops happening.
Splits, tiers, referral fees and clawbacks — modelled once, applied to every deal automatically.
- MBMarcus BellLead agent · 60% of gross$7,200
- AOAisha OkonkwoAssociate · 25%$3,000
- SLSarah LinReferral · 10%$1,200
- BBrokerageRetained · 5%$600
How should a mortgage brokerage calculate commission splits?
From the deal record, not from a spreadsheet built after the fact. The split arrangement — lead agent share, associate share, referral fee, brokerage retention, and any volume tier the agent has reached — should be applied to each funded deal as data, so the payout and the explanation come from the same source.
- Per-deal splits across lead agent, associate, assistant and referrer.
- Volume tiers that step up automatically when an agent crosses a threshold.
- Clawbacks handled when a funded deal later unwinds.
- Agent-facing statements showing how each figure was reached.
- Qualification periods so tier changes apply from the right date.
- Reconciles to the brokerage ledger without a parallel spreadsheet.
Model the arrangement once
Brokerages rarely run one split. There is the standard arrangement, the deal for the top producer, the team structure, the referral agreement with a realtor partner. Each is defined once as a package and attached to the agents it applies to.
- Named commission packages, assigned per agent or per team.
- Percentage, flat-fee, and hybrid arrangements.
- Volume tiers with qualification periods that control when a change takes effect.
- Referral fees to internal and external parties.
- Caps and floors where the agreement includes them.
Show the working, and the questions stop
Most commission disputes are not about the amount — they are about not being able to see how it was reached. An agent statement that shows the gross, the applicable split, the tier in force and every deduction removes the ambiguity that generates the email.
- Per-cycle statement per agent, itemised by deal.
- The split and tier applied to each deal shown explicitly.
- Adjustments and clawbacks itemised with the reason.
- Agents see their own statement without asking the office.
- Historical statements retained and retrievable.
The deal that unwinds after you have paid
A funded deal that later collapses is the messiest part of brokerage accounting, because the money has already gone out. Handling it as a tracked adjustment against future payouts keeps the ledger honest without an awkward conversation about a cheque.
- Clawback raised against the original deal, not as a mystery deduction.
- Recovered across future cycles according to your policy.
- Visible to the agent with the reason attached.
- Partial recovery where only part of the commission is affected.
- Full history retained for the ledger and any dispute.
A 30-minute walkthrough using your own deal flow — not a canned demo file.
Frequently asked
In what order is a mortgage commission actually calculated?
As a waterfall, and the order changes the answer. Gross is the finder fee on the funded amount plus any promotional basis points. A network or head-office fee comes off the top, as a percentage, a flat amount or both. What remains is splittable, and the agent's split — or their post-cap split, if they have hit their cap — is applied to that. Transaction, desk, underwriting and E&O fees come off the bottom afterwards. The result is agent net. Spreadsheets most often go wrong by applying a fee on the wrong side of the split.
Can different agents be on completely different structures?
Yes. Commission packages are defined once and assigned per agent or per team, so a top producer's arrangement, the standard split and a team structure can all run simultaneously without maintaining them by hand. Any field on a package can also be overridden for one agent without forking the package.
How do company-dollar caps work?
The cap is a running balance rather than an annual reset, so it can be crossed part-way through a period. From the deal that crosses it, the agent moves to their post-cap split and, where you use one, a different transaction fee — calculated inside the same run rather than corrected afterwards.
Can a tier ladder measure something other than deal count?
Yes, and it can mix measures in one ladder. Bands can be set on transaction count or on funded volume, so an agent can step up at five deals or at ten million in volume, whichever they reach first. A ladder with a single band is simply a flat split.
Can more than one person be paid on the same deal?
Yes — a lead agent, an associate, an assistant and a referrer can each take an allocation on one file, and the total is checked so a deal cannot be over-distributed. That over-allocation is the error spreadsheets hide best, because it only surfaces when the payouts are summed.
How are referral arrangements between agents handled?
As a one-time bonus when the referred agent joins, as an ongoing cut of their business, or both. The ongoing portion can be a percentage of the referred agent's commission or a flat amount per deal.
How do volume tiers work if an agent crosses a threshold mid-year?
Tiers are tied to a qualification period, which controls the date a change takes effect and whether it applies retroactively to earlier deals in that period. That is configurable because brokerages genuinely differ on it.
Does this replace our accounting system?
No. It calculates what each person is owed and produces the statements; your accounting system remains the ledger. The figures export rather than being re-keyed.
Can agents see their commissions before payout?
Yes — an agent can see the deals in the current cycle and what each will pay under their arrangement, which removes most of the month-end questions before they are asked.
Run a cycle in parallel and compare
Bring last month's commission run. We will model your structures and see whether the numbers match.