Setting up how someone is paid
One compensation rule per person — the mode, the rates and the tip treatment — plus the pay-period cadence the whole system runs on.
2 min readUpdated August 15, 2026OwnersIncluded from Starter
A new stylist starts Tuesday. Before their first sale closes, RewireBox needs one thing: a compensation rule — a single form that says how this person's work becomes money. Everything payroll computes for them flows from it.
One rule per person
- 1
Go to Settings → Staff and open the person.
- 2
On the Compensation card, press Edit.
- 3
Pick the Service commission mode — Flat rate with a percentage, or a sliding scale with tiers. Bella's flat 45 means 45% of every service she performs.
- 4
Set Product commission for retail sales — one default rate, with per-category overrides underneath for the categories that deserve their own.
- 5
Choose the Tip treatment. Paid through payroll rides tips on the paycheck; Already paid and Direct tips keep them out of the payout while still showing them on the report.
- 6
If they have a wage floor, set the Hourly rate and tick Pay the greater of hourly or commission. The rate on its own changes nothing — the switch is what makes it count.
- 7
If they're salaried, set the Annual salary and tick Pay as salary. The salary is prorated by each period's days and replaces commission in the total.
- 8
Press Save.
There's no separate screen for a "pay plan" and nothing to publish — the rule takes effect from the next sale, and each sale keeps the rate that applied when it closed, so editing a rule never rewrites history.
The cadence everything runs on
Settings → Payroll holds two fields: how often you pay, and any date a period started on. That anchor is what lets the New period dialog offer This pay period and Last pay period as one-press chips instead of making you count days — the screen even shows you the current period it implies, so you can check the cycle landed where you expect.
What a missing rule looks like
Skip the rule and payroll doesn't guess. The person's sales still appear on the report, but with a red No comp rule — fix flag, $0.00 in commission, and a link straight to their staff page. Nothing is silently paid at some default rate — a forgotten setting should look like a problem, not like a decision.
Common questions
What happens if someone has no compensation rule?
Their sales still land on the report — with a red "No comp rule — fix" flag and $0.00 commission. The flag links straight to their staff page, and the export refuses to proceed quietly past it.
Can one person have commission and an hourly rate?
Yes — that's the greater-of switch. Each period pays whichever is larger, so the hourly rate acts as a floor, not an addition.
What does the tip treatment change?
Whether tips are paid out through payroll or only shown on the report. "Already paid" and "Direct tips" are for salons where tips reach the stylist some other way — the column still tells the story, it just stops adding to the total.
Do I need a time clock for hourly pay?
Yes. Hourly pay is the rate times clocked hours, so someone who never clocks in has no hours to be paid for. The pay period will point out days with appointments but no time card.
Related articles
- How pay is worked outPayroll · Commission, hourly, salary, tips — the maths behind the payroll report, and the line between what RewireBox computes and what your provider does.
- Run a pay periodPayroll · New period, Generate, review, Approve, Export — and why an approved period's numbers never change again.
- Tips and tip poolsPayroll · Where a tip goes after checkout, why cash tips aren't paid twice, and how a pool splits across the team by a rule you set once.
Can’t find what you’re looking for?
Book a 20-minute walkthrough and we’ll answer it on a screen share — or start free and try it on your own salon’s data.