Commission types let you define alternate commission rates for special scenarios, like personal travel, referrals, or incentives, that override an advisor’s standard commission split for a specific booking.
How commission types work
When creating or editing a booking, the Commission Type dropdown lets you choose how the advisor’s split is calculated:
Standard split: uses the advisor’s default rate
Commission types: override the standard rate with a flat percentage or an adjustment
Custom: lets you enter a one-off split manually
Selecting a commission type automatically recalculates the advisor’s split.
For agents reporting expected commission:
Advisors choose an available commission type or enter a custom split if needed when entering expected commission details. Custom splits are flagged for admins and won’t auto-fill during reconciliation.
For admins reconciling received commission:
Apply or change a commission type when reconciling commission payments. For bookings where the agent entered a Custom split, enter the advisor’s percentage manually. Tern won’t automatically fill it in to prevent accidentally overpaying agents.
Examples of use cases:
Personal travel: Create a flat rate type set to 100% so advisors receive full commission on their personal bookings.
Lead referrals: Create an adjustment type set to -10% to reduce the advisor's split by 10% when commission is shared with the lead source.
Training period: Create a flat rate type set to 50% for new advisors during their training period.
High-value bookings: Create an adjustment type set to +5% to reward advisors for bookings above a certain threshold.
Once created, advisors (or admins, depending on status) can select these commission types when creating or editing bookings, and Tern automatically applies the correct split.
Steps
Navigate to your agency's Settings page.
Open the Financial settings section.
Scroll to the Commission Types section.
Click New Type.
Enter a name for the commission type (e.g., "Personal Travel" or "Lead Referral").
(Optional) Enter a description explaining when to use this type.
Select the split type:
Flat rate: Sets a fixed percentage (0-100%) that replaces the advisor's default split.
Adjustment: Applies a percentage adjustment (-100% to +100%) to the advisor's default split.
Enter the split amount:
For flat rate: Enter the percentage (e.g., 100 for 100%).
For adjustment: Enter the adjustment percentage (e.g., -10 to reduce by 10%, or +15 to increase by 15%).
Select the status:
Available: Agents can select this type when creating bookings.
Admin only: Only admins can select this type.
Archived: Hidden from selection but preserved for historical records.
Click Save.
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