Tern makes it easy to track and manage commissions, ensuring travel advisors and agencies can monitor expected and received payments efficiently. The Financial Settings section allows you to configure default payout dates (with more management settings coming soon).
Where to find these settings
If your agency has the new Back Office, these settings now live under Back Office → Settings (available to agency admins from the top navigation), split across two pages:
• Commission rules — default commission split, custom commission, and commission types
• Agency controls — booking requirements, credit card authorization, and service fees
The steps below still apply; only the location has changed.
Default Payout Date
Update: Payout timing is no longer set as a single agency-wide default. It's now configured per supplier category under Back Office → Settings → Payout rules. See Agency Supplier Payout Rules.
1. Default Payout Date
Go to Back Office → Settings → Payout Rules
Locate the Default Payout Date field.
Choose from:
Travel Start Date: the start date on the booking activity
Travel End Date: the end date on the booking activity
Commission Received Date: the date the supplier payment is added to the booking
Date marked as booked: the date the booking was marked as booked
Click Save Changes.
Why is a commission showing "On Hold"?
A commission shows as "On Hold" when it has been logged but is not yet eligible for payout. There are two common reasons:
The Date Ready for Payout is in the future
If your agency's payout settings are configured to hold commission until the travel start or end date, the commission will remain "On Hold" until that date passes. To release it early, open the commission entry and change the Date Ready for Payout to today's date, then save.
The activity has not been marked as Booked
If the underlying activity was never marked as Booked, the commission will not move to "Ready" even if a payment has been logged against it. Open the activity, look for the "Mark as Booked" banner, and click it. The commission status will update within a few minutes.
2. Eligible for Payout Date
When adding a supplier payment to a booking, the Eligible for Payout Date is automatically set based on the Default Payout Date configured in your Commission Settings.
How It Works
Add a Supplier Payment to a booking
The Eligible for Payout field will be set based on your selection in the Default Payout Settings.
If you’ve selected Travel Start Date or Travel End Date and those dates are missing from the booking, the system defaults to the Commission Received Date.
Default Agent Commission Rate
How to Set a Default Agent Commission Split
Go to Back Office → Settings → Commission rules → Default commission split.
Set a description and Split for your Standard Commission Split, this will be applied to all new teammates that join your team
Note: when you change this rate it will not change any of the rates applied to your agents directly.
Learn more about managing multiple commission split rates per agent here: Tern Agency: Managing Agent Commission Splits
Removing a Default Agent Commission Split
If you remove your Default Agent Commission rate and any standard rates on the agent profile then all bookings will default to custom commission splits for the agent.
How it works
When you add or edit a team member you will now see Standard Commission Rates as a part of their profile and when adding a new agent you will see that their Standard Rate is defaulted to what you set in the Commission Settings
When an agent adds a booking they will see an option for Standard or Custom rates and the Standard Rate will be based on the rates set in their profile and based on the booking date
Standard: the rate set and locked by an agency admin
Custom: a custom amount set by the agent
Commission Types
Creating Commission Types as an Agency Admin
Admins can set up custom commission types that align with their agency's unique workflows. Here’s how:
1. Click Back Office → Settings → Commission rules.
2. Scroll to the Commission types section.
3. Click Add commission type to open the panel.
4. Fill in Name, Description, Agent split (choose Flat rate or Adjustment), and Status.
5. Click Save changes. (This panel keeps its own Save button.)
6. To edit later, click any row in the commission types table.
Name: A clear label for the commission type (e.g., Direct Payment, Override, Bonus).
Status: Toggle whether this type is Available, Admin Only, or Archived.
Description (Optional): Help advisors understand when to select this type.
Agent Split: Set the advisor-agency split for this commission type. This can be adjusted later per booking.
A Flat Rate is a set split (e.g., 80/20)
An Adjustment can be positive or negative and will automatically add to or subtract from the advisor’s standard split.
7. Save: Click Save to add the new type.
Using Commission Types as an Advisor
Advisors can select from available commission types when:
Logging a booking and entering expected commission details
Recording a received commission payment
To select a commission type:
Go to the Trip: Open the trip containing the relevant booking.
Navigate to Booking & Pricing: Select the Booking & Pricing tab.
Log Expected Commission: When adding or updating expected commission, choose the appropriate Commission Type from the dropdown.
Save Changes: Confirm your entry to track expected earnings accurately.
Adjusting Commission Types During Reconciliation
Agency admins can review and adjust commission types during reconciliation to ensure accurate financial records. This is often necessary when:
A supplier pays via a different method than expected
A commission payment includes a bonus or override
To adjust a commission type during reconciliation:
Go to Reporting: Navigate to the Reporting section.
Locate the Commission Entry: Find the specific commission payment or booking.
Edit Commission Type: Click Edit and update the commission type from the dropdown.
Save Changes: Ensure the new type is reflected in your reports.
Service Fees
The Service Fees setting gives agencies more flexibility in how agents manage service fee payments. When enabled, agents can collect service fees directly from clients using their own Stripe accounts. This allows agents to maintain control over their individual service fee charges while still working under the agency umbrella.
To change this:
1. Click Back Office → Settings → Agency controls.
2. Scroll to the Advanced settings section.
3. Toggle "Allow agents to collect their own service fees on agency trips."
4. Changes save automatically. Agents collect fees through their own Stripe account connected in their settings.
Credit Card Authorization Requirements
If you’d like to require that all bookings include a supplier’s Terms & Conditions and Cancellation Policy before they can be sent for client authorization, you can enable that setting within Credit Card Authorization Requirements.
To change this:
1. Click Back Office → Settings → Agency controls.
2. Find the Credit card authorization & invoicing section.
3. Toggle "Supplier terms & conditions" and/or "Supplier cancellation policy" as required.
4. Changes save automatically. Already-authorized bookings are unaffected unless the price or supplier changes.
In the Booking & Pricing tab, advisors will clearly see that supplier Terms & Conditions or Cancellation Policy is required before the item is ready for authorization.
Bookings that are already marked as ready for authorization will remain so, even if they are missing one of these policies. However, if you make changes to the price or supplier on those bookings, you’ll need to add both policies before they can be re-authorized.
Agency Specific Booking Requirements
Learn more about agency specific booking requirements here: Agency Booking Requirements
If you are a new agency setting up their agency on Tern for the first time, please follow the next steps below.
Next steps
Continue to: Configure your agency booking requirements