How to write an agent commission statement

The lines an agent needs on the statement for one closing, and how that page differs from the form you send to the title company.

A commission statement is the page the agent reads after a closing. It says what the side earned, what came off, and what the agent is paid. It is not the form the title or escrow company uses to cut checks. That form is the commission disbursement authorization, the CDA. The two pages are about the same money, and they go to different people. If they disagree, the agent will find it before you do.

Who the statement is for

Write the statement for the agent on that side of the file, in words they can check without your spreadsheet open. Name the file the way the office names it, the closing date, and which side this statement covers. A file where one agent represents both sides needs two commissions, listing and buyer, and the statement should say which side is which. A referral is not a closing. If the office counts referrals apart from closings, the statement should not bury a referral fee inside a line called closings.

The brokerage pays the agent the way it already pays agents. A statement does not move money by itself. It tells the agent what the office calculated and what they should expect to receive. Bank details do not belong on it.

The lines, in the order the math runs

Start with the gross commission for this side: the sale price times the rate, or the flat amount the contract sets. Say which one you used. Then the referral fee, if any, taken off the gross and paid to the other brokerage. What remains is the amount the split applies to.

Next is the brokerage's share of that remainder, at the plan in force for this closing, stopped at whatever cap is left. Show the uncapped split when the cap cut it short, so the agent can see the plan and the cap as two facts. Then anything taken from the agent's side after the split, such as a team fee. Then the flat transaction fee, if the plan charges one. The last line is what the agent takes home. The lines have to add back to the gross. If they do not, the statement is not ready to send.

A short example, using round teaching numbers and not anyone's closing: a side earns $10,000, a 25 percent referral takes $2,500, and the split applies to the $7,500 left. At 30 percent the brokerage's share is $2,250, unless the cap has less than that remaining. A $295 transaction fee comes off the agent's side. The agent can re-add those lines and land on $10,000. That is the test.

How this differs from the CDA

The CDA tells the title company who is paid, and how much, out of the commission check. Its payees have to add up to the commission, to the cent. The statement tells the agent why their line on that CDA is the amount it is. The CDA does not need the cap story. The statement does. Send the CDA to title. Give the statement to the agent. Keep both on the file.

A free CDA template on this site fills in that authorization and checks that the payees add up. It does not write the agent's statement. The statement still has to show the split, the cap and the fees in the order above.

When a figure was wrong

Do not overwrite the statement the agent already has. Keep it, with the date it was given, and write a new one the agent can tell from the first. Say what changed: the sale price, the referral, the cap left, or a fee. The difference between the two is its own fact. Paying the agent, or collecting a difference back, is a separate step from printing the new page. Changing the plan after the closing was paid is not how you fix a wrong statement. The closing keeps the plan it was paid on.

What Deskwork puts on the statement

When a closing is paid and archived, Deskwork works the figures again from the closing sheet and issues each agent's statement. The statement shows the sale, the office's share, the fee, what the agent is paid, and where the closing leaves their cap. It can be emailed to the agent. If email is paused or has hit its limit, the statement waits. Deskwork does not pay the agent and does not hold bank details.

The dates that led up to that closing, the inspection deadline and the financing deadline among them, are easier to keep on the file than in the margin of the statement. The transaction timeline calculator lists those dates from the contract date and the closing date. It is a calendar, not a statement, and nothing typed into it is saved.

Questions brokers ask

Is a commission statement the same as a CDA?

No. The CDA tells the title or escrow company who is paid out of the commission. The statement tells the agent how their share was worked out, including the split, the cap and the fees. The amounts have to agree. The pages go to different people.

Does the statement pay the agent?

No. The brokerage pays agents the way it already does. The statement says what was calculated. No money moves because a statement was issued, and bank details do not belong on it.

What if a statement was wrong?

Keep the statement the agent already has. Issue a new one they can tell from the first, and say what changed. Paying a difference, or collecting one back, is a separate step. Do not rewrite the closing onto a different plan after it was paid.

Try it on your own office

Set up a plan, file a deal and close it before you decide. A desk you set up yourself through the signup page is free. If we set up your desk with you, what your brokerage pays is set out in our written agreement with you. Read about pricing.