How you are paid: commission and stipend

You are paid in two separate ways, on two separate rules. Know both exactly.

Commission: 10% of every project you sell

You earn 10% of the value of every project you sell. Every project adds its own 10% to your Skill Wallet. Some worked examples:

• A $1,000 project pays you $100.00.
• A $2,500 project pays you $250.00.
• A $6,000 project pays you $600.00.

When commission is paid

Commission is paid when the project is delivered and the client's payment clears. It is not paid when the deal is signed.

A signed proposal is a promise. A project is only worth something once it is built, handed over and paid for, so that is when commission is paid. In practice, one commission moves through four stages:

1. Deal closed. The client accepts the proposal. Your commission shows as pending in your Skill Wallet.
2. Project delivered. Our developers build and hand over the project. Still pending.
3. Client paid. The client's payment clears.
4. Commission paid. Your 10% moves from pending to available.

The time between closing a deal and being paid depends on the size of the project and on when the client pays. It can be weeks, and for bigger projects longer. Plan your money around that.

Stipend: monthly, based on performance

You also receive a monthly stipend based on your performance. It is separate from commission, and commission is paid on top of it. Ask your team lead how performance is assessed, and ask early, not at the end of the month.

Your Skill Wallet

Your Skill Wallet shows your stipend, your commissions and your skill levels in one place. Commission waiting on a client's payment shows as pending until it clears.

Questions to settle before they matter

Some deals aren't simple. A client may pay in stages, change the scope during the build, or cancel. Don't guess what happens to your commission in those cases: ask your team lead, and read your internship contract. The contract is final. If anything in this course differs from it, the contract applies.

Your commission never shapes your advice

Clients don't need to know your commission, and it must never change what you recommend. If a simple website solves their problem, sell the website, not an app that costs several times as much. Honest advice brings referrals and repeat work, and it is the only way we work.

Exercise

Work out the commission on projects worth $1,800, $3,200 and $7,500, and write in one sentence when each one would be paid. (Check: $180.00, $320.00 and $750.00, each paid once that project is delivered and the client's payment clears.)