How job math works: gross, parts, commission, and company profit

When you close a job, Dispatch Bros splits the money with one simple chain: net is gross minus parts, the technician's commission percent applies to the net, and the company keeps the rest. Who paid for parts decides who gets the parts money back; referral payouts, card processing fees, and sales tax each subtract from one side of the split. The close form shows all of this live before you save, so nothing is a surprise.

The basic split

Using the values you enter as Gross Total and Parts Cost:

The live panel in the close form labels these Net (Gross - Parts), the technician payout line, and Company Share.

Worked example

A $1,000 job with $200 of parts and a technician on 50% commission:

• Net = $1,000 − $200 = $800
• Commission = 50% of $800 = $400

Now parts mode decides the rest:

Both columns add up to the same $1,000 — parts mode only moves the $200 reimbursement to whoever actually paid for the parts. In the live panel, the side holding the parts is marked with an "incl. parts" note.

Referral payout

When a referral company is attached with a rate, the referral payout is that percent of the net, and it comes out of the Company Share — the technician's payout is unaffected. Example: a 10% referral on the $800 net above pays the partner $80 and reduces the company share by $80.

Card processing fee

When the Form of Payment is a credit card and your processing fee is configured, the fee is your configured percent of the gross (not the net). It is then subtracted from one side:

• Company Pays Fee — subtracted from the company share.
• Tech Pays Fee — subtracted from the technician payout.

If only one payer is enabled in your settings, that side is fixed and the form just shows an informational line. Both enabled → you choose per job.

Sales tax

Sales Tax % works the same way but applies to every payment method, not just cards: the tax amount is that percent of the gross, subtracted from whichever side you pick with Company Pays Tax / Tech Pays Tax. The percent you enter becomes the default for your next close.

Deposits

A deposit collected earlier doesn't change the split — the gross you enter is the full job total. The close form shows the deposit banner and a Remaining Balance line (gross minus deposit) so you can confirm what was still owed at the door.

The banner separates the two numbers on purpose. Deposit is what was collected, Job Total is the price recorded when that deposit was taken, and Gross is what you are entering now. They can differ legitimately - added work raises the gross above the price first quoted.

What is never legitimate is a gross BELOW the deposit, so that close is refused. Every downstream number - net, commission, technician payout, company share, tax and card fee - is derived from the gross, so entering the remaining balance instead of the full price understates all of them by exactly the deposit, permanently and without any later warning.

Where the numbers go

The saved finance record stores every input and every computed value — gross, parts, net, the commission rate used, tech payout, company share, and the fee/tax snapshots. Payroll and the Finance ledger read these records, so closing accurately is what makes payroll and your finance reports accurate.