Commissions and payables

This page is for owners and accounting staff who pay commissions to salespeople and brokers. It explains how HaulApp calculates what each recipient has earned, how accounting prepares and approves a bill, and where QuickBooks takes over. It also covers commissions imported from your previous system.

Commissions are earned when billing issues a customer invoice. Read Invoicing overview first for how invoices are issued.

The terms on this page

• A commission recipient is the business party who earns the commission, such as a salesperson or an external broker. Recipients are business parties, not driver records.
• Commission terms are the agreement on one job quote: who earns, the rate, the unit and the part of the work that earns it.
• A commission earning is one recorded amount a recipient earned from one issued invoice line.
• A payable, or bill, is what your company owes one recipient. HaulApp prepares and approves it, then hands it to QuickBooks as a bill.

The glossary defines these and every other HaulApp term.

How a commission flows

flowchart LR
  A[Commission terms agreed on the job quote] --> B[Work hauled and tickets accepted]
  B --> C[Customer invoice issued]
  C --> D[Commission earning recorded]
  D --> E[Accounting prepares a bill]
  E --> F[Accounting approves the bill]
  F --> G[Bill in QuickBooks]
  G --> H[Payment made in QuickBooks]

HaulApp does the first six steps. QuickBooks records the bill’s payment. HaulApp never marks a bill paid.

Agreeing commission terms

Accounting agrees the terms on a job quote before any work starts. A job quote is priced scope under a job: material, sites and rates.

1. Open Payables in the sidebar, then Agreements.
2. In Agree commission terms, select the job quote and the recipient.
3. Enter the rate, then choose the unit (ton, cubic yard, load or hour), the invoice component (haul, material, disposal or hourly) and the currency.
4. Select Agree terms.

HaulApp shows “Commission terms agreed. Existing work was not repriced.” The agreement appears in the Agreements list with its eligibility policy, When invoiced.

The terms are frozen once agreed. HaulApp refuses to agree terms on a job quote that already has loads or charges, or that already has terms. A recipient must be an active business party set up as a commission recipient.

How HaulApp calculates a commission

HaulApp records a commission automatically when billing issues the customer invoice. Nobody enters the amount. HaulApp computes it from the agreed terms and the billed quantity on each accepted ticket:

billed quantity × agreed rate, rounded to the cent

Only the invoice component named in the terms earns. If the terms name haul, the material charge on the same ticket earns nothing.

Worked example

Test Recipient One has terms on job quote 2041 for Test Customer One: $0.50 per ton on haul, in USD. A driver hauls 100 tons, and the office accepts the ticket.

Invoice	Haul tons billed	Commission earned
Invoice 5001	100	100 × $0.50 = $50.00

If billing splits the work across two invoices instead, each invoice earns its share:

Invoice	Haul tons billed	Commission earned
Invoice 5001	60	$30.00
Invoice 5002	40	$20.00
Total	100	$50.00

The two invoices together never earn more than the full $50.00. When rounding leaves a cent over, the last portion receives it, so the parts always add up to the whole.

Rules HaulApp enforces

• Earned on issue. A commission is earned when the customer invoice is issued. Saving a draft, syncing to QuickBooks or collecting payment does not earn it.
• Proportional and capped. Partial invoicing earns the billed share. Across all invoices, the billed quantity can never exceed the ticket’s accepted quantity.
• Never twice. The same work cannot earn twice, even if it appears on another invoice.
• No unresolved work. If a job quote names a commission recipient or rate but has no agreed terms, HaulApp refuses to issue the invoice until accounting resolves it.
• No history. Imported invoices and tickets never earn new commissions.

Reviewing commissions

Payables → Commissions lists every earning. Each row shows the recipient, the date earned, the amount, the invoice, the customer, the quantity, the entry type and its bill status. Tabs include Unprepared (not yet on a bill) and Adjustments.

Open an earning to see the Commission calculation: the terms, the ticket and the billed quantity behind the amount.

Correcting a commission

You never edit an earning. You record a signed adjustment linked to it. The original and every adjustment stay visible in totals and history.

1. Open the earning from Payables → Commissions.
2. In Record a correction, enter the difference in Adjustment, such as -5.00 to reduce the earning by five dollars.
3. Enter the Reason and source correction.
4. Select Record adjustment for review.

The adjustment appears under the Adjustments tab. HaulApp refuses an adjustment that would reverse more than the amount earned. If the original earning is already on a bill, that bill is not rewritten. Make the matching correction in QuickBooks.

Preparing and approving a bill

Accounting chooses exactly which earnings go on each bill. HaulApp never builds bills on its own.

1. Open Payables → Commissions and the Unprepared tab.
2. Select the earnings to pay, from 1 to 500, all for one recipient in one currency.
3. Select Prepare bill for review. HaulApp opens the new bill as a Draft bill and reserves the selected earnings to it.
4. Check the recipient, the total and every entry under Included commissions.
5. Select Approve reviewed bill.

The bill moves to Approved. HaulApp shows “Financial contents are locked. Approval does not mean the bill has been paid.”

HaulApp enforces these rules on every bill:

• One recipient and one currency per bill.
• One active bill per earning. An earning reserved on one bill cannot go on another.
• Originals travel with their adjustments. Select an earning and all its adjustments together.
• A positive total. A bill that would total zero or less is refused.
• Approve what you reviewed. If anything on the bill changed after you opened it, approval fails. Reopen the bill and review it again.

To change a draft, cancel it: enter a reason and select Cancel bill and release entries. The earnings return to Unprepared and the cancelled bill stays in history. To change an approved bill, enter a reason and select Withdraw approval first. You cannot withdraw or cancel a bill that has already reached QuickBooks.

Bill statuses

Status	Meaning
Draft bill	Prepared and holding its earnings. Accounting can still approve or cancel it.
Approved	Contents locked and ready for QuickBooks. Not paid.
Cancelled	Withdrawn before it reached QuickBooks. Its earnings are free for a new bill.

The Accounting handoff column shows whether an approved bill has been recorded in accounting.

Sending a bill to QuickBooks

An approved bill reaches QuickBooks in one of two ways:

• Sync it. In Settings → QuickBooks → Payables, select approved bills and choose Review selected for sync. Pick the QuickBooks bill date, the accounts payable account and the commission expense account, select Preview selected bills, then Approve and queue reviewed bills. QuickBooks Web Connector creates the bill. See QuickBooks Desktop.
• Enter it by hand. On the bill, use Accounting handoff. Select Download approved bill details, enter the bill in QuickBooks, and record its reference. HaulApp labels this “Recorded manually; match not checked”.

Your company pays the bill in QuickBooks. HaulApp does not mark bills paid.

Imported commission history

Commissions imported from your previous system are evidence, not debt. HaulApp does not assume an imported commission is unpaid, and it never bills one on its own.

Payables → Imported history lists them, and each record page carries an Imported badge. Tabs include Needs review, Changed after adoption, Closed openings and Ready to prepare.

To decide what an imported commission means:

1. Open the record. Review imported commission shows the observed commission cost, the work date, the old ticket and invoice, and the calculation evidence.
2. In Reconcile with accounting, choose a decision: Confirmed unpaid — adopt opening, Reported paid before cutover, Already entered in accounting, Exclude with explanation or Needs further review.
3. Enter the Reconciliation cutoff date, the Accounting evidence and duplicate checks that prove your decision, and a Reason.
4. Save the review. To adopt, select Preview opening payable, check the amount, then select Confirm opening payable.

An adopted opening becomes an unpaid amount your company owes. Accounting then prepares and approves a bill for it the same way as for a native commission. If the imported source changes after adoption, the record moves to Changed after adoption for review. See Importing your history.

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• Vendor credits on commission bills. Handle them in QuickBooks. Customer credit memos and invoice voids can propose commission adjustments for review, as described in Correct an invoice.
• Automatic periodic bill runs. Accounting prepares each bill by hand.
• Payment tracking. QuickBooks records payments; HaulApp does not show them.
• Commission as a percentage of the billed amount, or as a flat amount per line. Every commission is a rate per unit today, so lump-sum work cannot carry commission terms.