Commission disbursement authorization (CDA) software

The figures on a CDA come from the closing: the commission, what comes off the top and who is paid what. Deskwork works them out once, keeps them on the file, and pays the agent's statement from the same numbers.

The screens on this page are the real product, running on an invented office.

A commission disbursement authorization, or CDA, is the brokerage's written instruction to the title or escrow company on how to pay out the commission on a sale. Its form varies by office and state. The form is rarely the hard part. The hard part is getting the figures right before closing day, and making sure the statement the agent receives afterward says the same thing.

Where Deskwork fits, and where it does not

To be plain about it: Deskwork does not send a CDA to the title company, and it does not fill in a title company's form. You keep the CDA your office uses today. What Deskwork does is the work around it. The closing sheet works out the figures that go on your CDA, keeps them on the file between closing and pay day, and holds the signed CDA on the file's checklist, in your Google Drive.

The figures, worked out once

On the closing sheet the broker types the final sale price, the commission as a percent or a flat amount, the deductions off the top, the loan type and the closing date. The split lists each agent with their percent, any admin fee, a plan for this deal only if one applies, and their share of the transaction fee. Deskwork prices it on the agent's plan and cap and shows a preview of each statement before anything is issued. On a file where one agent represents both sides, it asks for the listing side's commission and the buyer side's, and prices them in that order.

Deskwork's closing screen: the files at final review, ready to close, with their agents, closing dates and prices — Closing: the files at final review, with their agents, dates and prices.

Kept between closing and pay day

Closing a file and paying it are often days apart. Close transaction keeps every figure as it was typed, on the file. After a reload, in another tab or on another day, the closing sheet opens that file on those figures, not on the contract price. Pay & archive works them out again through the same rules, asks first, and issues the statement. The price, commission and deductions you put on your CDA are the ones the statement is priced on. The agent's cap is read on the day you pay, so check the preview if another of their closings was paid in between.

The agent's commission statement in Deskwork: the sale, the office's share and the fee, what they are paid, and where it leaves their cap — The statement Pay & archive issues, from the figures kept at closing.

The signed CDA on the file's checklist

Checklists sets the document lines a new file is given. Add a line for the signed CDA, and one for the settlement statement if you collect it, and new files ask for them. The screen shows what the change does to files already open before you apply it there. The document goes to that file's folder in your brokerage's Google Drive, and the office approves it like any other document. At final review the broker sees whether it is there before closing the file.

Who can change the figures

Closing is the office's screen; agents do not see it. The broker-owner closes and pays a file, and the office manager reviews. Every save records who changed what and keeps the version it replaced, and a recall undoes the last move with a reason on record.

Questions brokers ask

Does Deskwork send the CDA to the title company?

No. You send your CDA the way you do today. Deskwork works out the figures that go on it, keeps them on the file, and holds the signed copy on the file's checklist.

Is the agent's commission statement the same as a CDA?

No. A CDA tells the title company how to pay out the commission. The statement tells the agent what they were paid and why: the split, the fees and their cap. Deskwork builds the statement from the same figures you typed at closing.

What if the price changes at the closing table?

Type the final sale price on the closing sheet. If the file is already closed, the broker-owner can still change its figures on the closing sheet until it is paid, and the changes are kept. Nothing is issued until Pay & archive.

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.