Bonus Pool Calculator
Allocate a fixed bonus pool by salary, performance and eligibility. Compare individual shares and reconcile every cent of the budget.
Calculations run in your browser. Use one currency throughout; no exchange-rate conversion is performed.
Last reviewed 10 September 2026
How to allocate a fixed bonus pool
This tool divides a fixed budget among up to six participants. Unlike an individual target-bonus calculation, every award competes for a share of the same total. Increasing one participant’s weight reduces the shares available to others; it does not increase the budget.
Award = pool × individual weight ÷ total weight
In salary mode the performance factor is ignored. Equal mode gives each participant with positive salary and eligibility one equal share; eligibility acts as an inclusion flag rather than a time multiplier. Set salary or eligibility to zero to exclude an unused participant. Enter percentages as 100 for a factor of 1.00, or 125 for 1.25.
Salary should be the same type of earnings for every participant. If your input is already actual part-year earnings, entering an additional eligibility reduction may prorate it twice. Agree the allocation rule before using the model.
Worked allocation and rounding
For a $20,000 pool, three salaries of $60,000 with performance factors of 100%, 100% and 150% produce weights of 60,000, 60,000 and 90,000. Awards are $5,714.29, $5,714.28 and $8,571.43 after cent reconciliation.
The calculator first rounds each exact allocation down to the currency’s minor unit, then gives remaining units to the largest fractional remainders. Ties go to the lower participant number. This makes displayed awards sum to the displayed pool instead of losing pennies through independent rounding. JPY is reconciled to whole yen.
When to use another tool
This model does not enforce individual payout caps or redistribute capped amounts. For predetermined sales-credit percentages, use the commission pool calculator. For one person’s award determined by a target rather than a fixed pool, use the performance bonus calculator or STIP calculator.
A salary-weighted allocation is a modelling choice, not a judgement about fairness or a legal entitlement. Performance ratings, eligibility, equal-pay considerations and the actual award decision remain outside this arithmetic.
A published example of weighted-salary pool allocation appears in this SEC-hosted company disclosure. Its employer-specific rules are not a universal bonus policy.