An IT Services and Consulting Company Modernizes Incentive Compensation Management with Salesforce Spiff

The Challenges

Our client, a growing high-tech services firm, needed a more scalable and accurate way to manage sales commissions. Prior to partnering with Kelley Austin, the company relied on spreadsheets to calculate commissions for a large and diverse sales team. This manual process created multiple challenges:

Manual Processes Increased Risk of Error: Commission calculations required significant oversight and filtering, leaving room for mistakes and inconsistencies.

Lack of Visibility for Sales Reps: Sales reps didn’t have real-time insight into how commissions were being calculated or their year-to-date performance, leading to confusion and reduced transparency.

Inefficient Tools Stifled Scalability: As the company scaled, the internal accounting team found it increasingly difficult to keep up with complex calculations using spreadsheets and disconnected systems.

The Solution: Salesforce Spiff

To eliminate manual inefficiencies and bring clarity to their sales compensation model, the company partnered with Kelley Austin to implement Salesforce Spiff and enhance their NetSuite integration.

The solution focused not only on automation and accuracy, but also on empowering the sales team with real-time visibility and reducing administrative burden for the finance team. This was a highly collaborative project, with Kelley Austin stepping in to redesign a previously incomplete implementation and guide our client toward a more sustainable, long-term solution.

Tailored Spiff Implementation with Custom Formulas: Kelley Austin configured Spiff with the company’s specific commission formulas and business rules, designing four unique commission plans aligned with their team structure and compensation model.

NetSuite Integration with Spiff via Workato: Our team expanded and restructured the NetSuite integration, mapping critical invoice and product data across four key objects. This enabled Spiff to use verified financial data for accurate commission calculations.

Salesforce Integration for Front-End Visibility: With the Spiff Connector installed, sales reps could access commission data directly from Salesforce Opportunities, including an Estimator Component to preview potential payouts.

Custom Reporting & Approval Workflows: Kelley Austin set up automated commission statements, approval flows, and reporting dashboards, streamlining internal operations and making audits easier.

Ongoing Support Through Managed Services: The company signed on for a Managed Services agreement to continue enhancing their system and receive on-demand support, training, and documentation.

Customer Impact

By transitioning to a more automated, integrated commission system, our client was able to dramatically improve the commission experience for its sales team. 

The partnership with Kelley Austin enabled the company to move away from manual, error-prone processes and toward a scalable, transparent, and reliable compensation framework.

“I would definitely recommend Kelley Austin to anyone in need of partner support for larger projects.”

— Director of Accounting

Improved Commission Accuracy & Consistency: With Spiff pulling verified data from NetSuite and Salesforce, commissions are now calculated using standardized formulas and automation — minimizing risk and increasing trust in payouts.

Full Transparency for Sales Reps: Sales reps can now see exactly how much they’ve earned, how that aligns with their quotas, and drill down to the invoice-level details — empowering them to track their performance and understand their earnings.

Scalable Architecture to Support Growth: By replacing spreadsheets with a connected, automated solution, our client laid the groundwork for a scalable and repeatable commission process that can evolve as the company grows.

This engagement is a strong example of how strategic integration solutions and thoughtful implementation planning can transform a traditionally manual back-office process into a high-value driver for both employee satisfaction and executive insight.

By shifting to an automated, data-driven commission model, our client  not only reduced the risk of costly errors but also built trust and alignment across its revenue organization. Sales reps now have the tools they need to stay motivated and informed, while leadership benefits from greater reporting accuracy and forecasting confidence. 

With ongoing enhancements delivered through Managed Services, our client has a flexible, future-ready compensation framework that can adapt as business needs evolve — ensuring they remain competitive, efficient, and ready to scale.