Ask a sales rep what's driving their next paycheck, and you'll often hear all three words used interchangeably: SPIFF, bonus, and commission. They get lumped together as "extra money for selling," but they're not the same thing, and treating them like they are leads to confused reps, inconsistent payouts, and comp plans nobody can actually explain.

A SPIFF is a short-term, targeted incentive. A bonus is a lump-sum reward tied to hitting a broader goal. A commission is the ongoing, formula-based pay tied directly to sales, the core of most sales comp plans, not an add-on to it.

This guide breaks down what each one actually means, when companies use them, how they're calculated, and how they stack together so you can build a comp plan where every payout has a clear reason behind it.

New sales hires often get offered a "draw" against commission, and most sign the offer letter without knowing there are two very different types. That gap in understanding can mean thousands of dollars either staying in a rep's pocket or getting clawed back months later.

A draw is essentially an advance on future commission, designed to give reps steady income while they ramp up pipeline and close their first deals. But whether that advance is recoverable or non-recoverable determines something much bigger: whether it ever has to be paid back.

This guide breaks down what each draw type means, how they're calculated, when companies typically use each one, and the mistakes that turn a helpful ramp tool into a trust problem between reps and the company that hired them.

Not every sales role drives revenue the same way, so it doesn't make sense to pay everyone on the same plan. Yet plenty of companies still try to copy-paste one commission structure across the whole sales org, and then wonder why half the team feels underpaid and the other half feels unmotivated.

Sales Development Representatives (SDRs) generate qualified pipeline. Account Executives (AEs) close it. Their responsibilities are different, their quotas are different, and their performance metrics are different, which means their compensation plans need to be different too.

In this guide, you'll learn the key differences between SDR and AE roles, how their compensation plans are typically structured, common pay mixes and incentive models, mistakes companies should avoid, and how compensation software makes managing both plans easier as a team grows.