Worked example
A $1,000,000 quota, $1,300,000 of revenue (130% attainment), a 10% base rate, a 1.5× accelerator from 100% of quota and a 2× accelerator from 120%.
| Input | Value |
|---|---|
| Quota | $1,000,000.00 |
| Revenue achieved | $1,300,000.00 |
| Base commission rate | 10% |
| Accelerator 1 starts at (% of quota) | 100% |
| Accelerator 1 multiplier | 1.5 |
| Accelerator 2 starts at (% of quota) | 120% |
| Accelerator 2 multiplier | 2 |
| Result | Value |
|---|---|
| Total commission | $150,000.00 |
| Base commission | $130,000.00 |
| Accelerator 1 uplift | $10,000.00 |
| Accelerator 2 uplift | $10,000.00 |
| Marginal rate at current attainment | 20% |
| Accelerators as % of total | 13.33% |
| Quota attainment | 130% |
- Attainment: revenue ÷ quota: 130%
- Base commission: revenue × base rate: $130,000.00
- Accelerator 1: 200000 in band × rate × (1.5 − 1): $10,000.00
- Accelerator 2: 100000 in band × rate × (2 − 1): $10,000.00
- = Total commission: $150,000.00
- Accelerators ÷ total: 13.33%
How incremental accelerators are calculated
Base commission = revenue × base rate
Band 1 uplift = revenue between threshold 1 and threshold 2 × base rate × (multiplier 1 − 1)
Band 2 uplift = revenue above threshold 2 × base rate × (multiplier 2 − 1)
Total = base + band 1 uplift + band 2 uplift
The accelerators here are incremental: a higher rate applies only to the revenue inside each band, not retroactively to everything sold. In the default example the 1.5× band covers $200,000 and the 2× band covers $100,000, adding $10,000 each to a $130,000 base.
With a single band, this calculator gives the same result as the incremental accelerator in our commission calculator engine; the second band is an extension computed with the same exact-decimal arithmetic.
Reading the results
- Marginal rate — what the next dollar of revenue pays at the current attainment. It is the number that drives behavior at the end of a period.
- Accelerators as % of total — the share of the payout that exists only because of overachievement. Finance teams use it to size the budget for a strong year.
- If the plan also has a cap, feed the total into the commission cap calculator to see how much survives it.
Limitations
- Flat base rate only; tiered base rates belong in the plan simulator.
- Retroactive accelerators (the higher rate applied to all revenue once a threshold is passed) are not modelled here.
- Multipliers below 1 (decelerators) are rejected rather than approximated.
- We do not recommend thresholds or multipliers and do not publish benchmarks for them: we have no sourced data.
Frequently asked questions
What is a commission accelerator?
It is a higher commission rate that applies once a rep passes a performance threshold, most often 100% of quota. It rewards overachievement more than the base rate does.
Is an accelerator applied to all revenue or only above the threshold?
Both designs exist. Incremental accelerators — the ones this calculator models — apply only to revenue above the threshold. Retroactive ones re-rate everything once the threshold is crossed, which creates a jump in pay at that point.
How is the marginal rate calculated?
It is the base rate times the multiplier of the band the rep is currently in. At 130% attainment with a 2× band from 120%, the next dollar pays 10% × 2 = 20%.
How much do accelerators cost the company?
Exactly the uplift they add, which this page shows as a share of total commission. To budget a whole team, run several attainment scenarios through the calculator.