Stay in Excel
Five or fewer people on one rate. One plan. One data source. Changes wait until next year. Splits, clawbacks, and draws do not exist. A rep rarely asks where the number came from, and one person can answer from the file.
Decision
When Excel is enough for commissions
A workbook is the right system when one person can still reopen last period and explain every exception. It stops being enough when a change, a split, or a dispute has to be reconstructed from a file that was overwritten.
When the sheet stops being enough
The sheet still closes. Then a plan edit lands mid-quarter, two people own one deal, or a refund arrives after payroll copied the total. The file can store the new number. It does not keep the rule that was true on the close date.
A larger commissions product can be the better fit
Choose a suite with an implementation team when you need plan types CompDay does not claim to run, or a finished security certification before any file is shared. CompDay is the wrong next step in those cases. Named vendor pages on this site record public figures and leave a blank where a page did not state one. They are not a ranked review.
Three limits on this page
- It does not mean Excel is free. The cost is the hours of the person who runs it. This page does not price those hours.
- It does not mean a low score on the complexity checker is a reason to buy software.
- It does not mean every team over 20 reps has outgrown a sheet. Cycle frequency and exceptions matter more than headcount.
Stay in the sheet when one person can still explain every exception. Move when the plan changes every year, two people need the same number, or payroll is waiting on a file one person has to recheck by hand. A later evaluation can use a redacted workbook. Do not send a full payroll export.
Updated November 2026.
Score the plan you actually run. The checker uses reps, plans, tiers, splits, clawbacks, mid-period changes, data sources, and disputes. Nothing is uploaded.
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