> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.driven.work/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

> ## Agent Instructions
> Driven is a sales-compensation platform. Use its terminology: Compensation Plan, Compensation, KPI, Manual KPI, User Variable, Quota, Performance, Payout (Draft, Approved, Paid, Cancelled), Correction, Adjustment. Payout types are equal, deferred and advance. Default roles are Admin and Employee; companies can add custom roles. The Driven Agent builds plans from uploaded documents and chat. The Compensation Builder is where compensations are configured.

# Payout period and compensation period

> How often you pay can differ from the period the KPI and quota cover. Driven treats that as an equal, deferred or advance payout.

A compensation has two periods, and they are set in different places.

* **How often is this compensation paid out?** on **Setup** is the payout period: **Monthly**, **Quarterly** or **Yearly**. This is how often a person gets a payout.
* **Over what period do you define your KPI?** on **KPI** is the compensation period. This is the window a quota and an attainment figure belong to.

![Setup tab with How often is this compensation paid out set to Quarterly](https://mintcdn.com/driven-a7b16d8c/EfofHHnWRF2nRMlf/images/builder-setup.png?fit=max\&auto=format\&n=EfofHHnWRF2nRMlf\&q=85\&s=54020c9aebd07bcfc47cbee3d6d7478a)

Driven compares the two and handles the payout in one of three ways. There is no switch for this. It follows from the two periods you chose.

| | Payout period | Compensation period | What you get |
| - | - | - | - |
| **Equal** | Same as the compensation period | Same as the payout | One payout per quota period |
| **Deferred** | Less often | More often | One payout that adds up several compensation periods |
| **Advance** | More often | Less often | Several payouts inside one compensation period, each paying the new part only |

## Equal

Monthly KPI, monthly payout. March's payout is March's commission, and April starts again. This is the simple case.

## Deferred

Monthly KPI, quarterly payout. Each month still has its own quota and attainment. The quarter's payout adds the three months together and pays them as one amount.

**Example.** A monthly compensation pays 10% of closed revenue. January closes €20,000, February €10,000, March €20,000. The quarterly payout is €2,000 + €1,000 + €2,000 = **€5,000**.

## Advance

Quarterly KPI, monthly payout. The quota is for the quarter. Each month, Driven looks at the quarter so far, works out what the quarter has earned to date, and pays only the part that was not already paid in an earlier month of that quarter.

**Example.** The quarter's commission is 10% of closed revenue so far, and the quota is quarterly. There is no per-deal rate.

| Month | Closed this month | Closed this quarter | Earned to date | This payout |
| - | - | - | - | - |
| January | €50,000 | €50,000 | €5,000 | **€5,000** |
| February | €30,000 | €80,000 | €8,000 | **€3,000** |
| March | €20,000 | €100,000 | €10,000 | **€2,000** |

February does not pay 10% of €30,000. It pays the difference between €8,000 and the €5,000 already paid.

On a row-based advance compensation, deals already included in an earlier payout of the same compensation period stay in the calculation and are not paid a second time.

> [!NOTE]
>
> You cannot change the payout period of a compensation that already has an approved, paid or cancelled payout. The payouts that exist were calculated on the old schedule.


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