Guides that explain the payout logic behind the calculators
The calculators should answer the first question. The guides should answer the second and third questions: why the estimate moved, what assumptions are hidden in the plan wording, and which calculator you should have used in the first place.
Best guide sequence for new visitors
Formula guides
Use these when the payout is salary-based, time-based, or still generic enough that formula selection is the hard part.
Sales compensation guides
For commission, quota, OTE, and payout mechanics.
Plan design and terminology guides
Useful when the math is not the hard part. The wording is.
Trust and methodology support
Guides help you choose the correct formula and understand why the final payout may differ from a simple salary × percentage calculation.
The methodology page explains assumptions, update standards, and what BonusPayCalc deliberately does not claim to do.
What the acronyms mean
Short definition pages for the terms that appear on payslips and offer letters.
Where to start
The guides fall into four groups. If you are not sure which you need, the question you are actually asking usually decides it.
| If you are asking | Read |
|---|---|
| “How is my bonus worked out?” | How to calculate bonus pay · How an annual bonus works |
| “Why is it less than I expected?” | Payout curves · Proration |
| “What do these initials mean?” | STI vs LTI · Full glossary |
| “Is this sales offer any good?” | OTE vs base vs commission · Tiers and accelerators |
| “I am designing a plan” | KPI weighting · Performance bonus examples |
| “Does my bonus affect overtime?” | Overtime pay basics |
Every guide is written to be read once and used immediately: a plain-English definition first, the formula second, and a worked example with real numbers third. Where employers genuinely differ — proration by days or months, caps before or after modifiers — the guide says so rather than picking one silently and presenting it as the rule.
All figures are gross planning estimates. Nothing here is payroll, tax, legal or HR advice; see methodology for how formulas are chosen and reviewed.