The commission shown when you make a booking is a starting figure. Between that booking and the payment arriving, a traveller can change dates, a supplier can revise the amount and a statement can include several trips at once. You need a way to see what you expect, what has arrived and what still needs an explanation. A simple commission register can make that weekly check manageable.

Keep this separate from the customer’s deposit and balance timetable. Those amounts tell you what the traveller owes for their holiday. Supplier commission tells you what your agency expects under a particular commercial agreement. Our travel payment reconciliation guide covers the separate job of matching payment activity to bank payouts.

Record the basis before calculating the amount

Start with the terms that apply to the actual booking. Record the supplier reference, agency account, travel dates, currency and agreed commission basis. Keep the confirmation or relevant agreement accessible from that record. A percentage without an explanation of the amount it applies to leaves the next person guessing.

Expedia TAAP’s commission guidance gives a useful example. It says commission is generally calculated on trip costs including taxes and fees paid to Expedia, while charges collected at the destination can be excluded. Your own incentive plan and agreement determine the applicable terms. Copying the total holiday price into every commission calculation would miss that distinction.

Also record how the agency receives its earnings. Your agreement may involve a later payment or an amount retained when settling with the supplier. Check the arrangement before adding the booking to a list of money to chase. A retained amount should not create an expectation of another payment for the same commission.

Keep expected and due as separate states

An expected commission may relate to travel that has not happened yet. Add the event that makes payment eligible under your agreement, along with the expected payment period. Keep the booking date and travel date visible. Otherwise a long advance booking can appear overdue for months when no payment is due.

Expedia TAAP says it pays the registered agency monthly, in the month following the traveller’s stay. That is a supplier-specific schedule, not a rule for the whole travel trade. Use it to see why each supplier needs its own timing. Agree when your team should check the statement and when it is reasonable to raise a query.

You also need to distinguish a supplier’s payment to the agency from any commission split owed to an individual adviser. Keep each arrangement in its own record and apply its own terms. A supplier statement does not, by itself, settle what a homeworker or employee is due. Have the person responsible for those agreements review that part of the process.

Recalculate when the booking changes

Make commission review part of the amendment task. Compare the original expectation with the latest confirmed arrangement and record why it changed. Keep both figures so the difference can be explained later. Deleting the first amount makes it harder to tell a genuine adjustment from an input error.

Marriott’s commission FAQs explain that a guest’s change to a non-commissionable rate can remove the commission. They also distinguish actual room revenue from cancellation or no-show charges, which are not commissionable under that policy. These are Marriott’s terms. Check your other suppliers individually instead of assuming the same treatment applies.

Consider a fictional example in which your agreed commission basis falls from £2,000 to £1,800 after an amendment. At an illustrative rate of 10%, expected commission changes from £200 to £180. A later £180 payment would match the revised expectation rather than leave £20 outstanding. Those figures explain the method; they are not a supplier rate or a typical agency result.

Explain differences before closing a record

When a statement arrives, match its booking references to your register. Compare the expected amount with the statement amount in the same currency. Keep any fee, adjustment or conversion explanation attached. A smaller bank credit needs investigation before it is labelled missing commission.

Use separate fields for the supplier’s stated amount, the amount received and any unresolved difference. Avoid quietly changing the expectation to make the totals agree. If the supplier’s figure is correct, record the evidence for accepting it. Where it remains disputed, leave the difference open with an owner and the next review date.

For a payment covering several bookings, allocate it using the supplier’s statement rather than dividing it evenly. Keep unmatched lines visible until somebody can identify them. Your finance colleague should decide how adjustments are treated in the accounts. This register supports that work; it does not set an accounting or tax policy.

Chase the oldest actionable items

Give outstanding commission a reason before sending a reminder. It may be awaiting travel, awaiting the supplier’s normal payment run, missing a reference or under dispute. Each status needs a different action. Review genuine exceptions together rather than repeatedly chasing every unpaid row.

Marriott’s published process accepts missing-commission enquiries between 45 days and 12 months after guest departure. That gives an agency using Marriott a practical window to record and monitor. Other suppliers have their own processes and deadlines. Save the query reference and supporting documents so a colleague can follow up without starting again.

Our Travelify mid-office holds supplier, pricing and booking information and works alongside your accounting system. Use a demonstration to check how your booking references and finance records would connect. Do not assume a booking margin automatically creates a supplier commission statement. Bring a real example of an amendment and an unpaid item to that discussion.

Five actions for your next commission check

1. Choose one supplier and document its calculation basis, payment trigger and query deadlines. Use the current agreement.

2. Check a recently amended booking. Keep the original expectation, revised amount and reason together.

3. Match one statement to booking references. Leave any unexplained difference open rather than forcing a balance.

4. Separate amounts awaiting travel from amounts ready to chase. Give each actionable item an owner.

5. Take the oldest unresolved item and assemble its confirmation, amendment history and statement. Submit the query through the supplier’s correct route.