Tracking broker and channel commission on charter bookings

A significant share of charter revenue doesn’t come from the guest directly but through brokers and sales channels; today, in many operations, those shares get dropped into a spreadsheet one by one at season end and reconciled by hand. As booking volume grows, that method turns into errors and payment disputes, because someone has to look up which rate applied to which booking. The point of charter commission tracking is to make that math automatic and undisputed on every booking.

Net and gross: who sees what

A booking carries two amounts: the gross the guest pays, and the net left after the channel’s commission is deducted. These need to sit in separate fields, with visibility tied to role — a broker or agency role sees only the net amount owed to them, while what the guest actually paid stays hidden from channel-facing roles. Without that separation, a broker could learn the guest’s real price and reach out directly to route around the commission — a recurring point of friction in the sector. The same split works inside the office too: sales sees the gross price, while only the accounting role sees both gross and net together to run reconciliation.

Commission rate is set per channel

Each broker or sales channel is configured with its own commission rate; when a booking comes in through that channel, the rate applies automatically. Rates can be updated mid-season, but a booking already confirmed keeps the rate that applied when it was made — past commission is never recalculated against a new rate. That’s the commission-side version of “the past never changes.”

The payout posts to the account automatically

When a booking is confirmed, the channel’s commission posts as its own entry to that broker’s or agency’s account. That means “how much do we owe this broker right now” has an answer straight from the account statement, mid-season, without opening a separate spreadsheet. Once payment is made, the entry closes; open payouts sit in their own list.

A period statement for reconciliation

At month end or season end, a payout statement can be pulled per channel — the bookings in that period, the rate applied, the total. That statement becomes the reference document for the reconciliation conversation with the broker, and money columns are visible only to the roles allowed to see them.

What happens to commission on a cancelled booking?

When a booking is cancelled under the defined cancellation policy, the channel’s payout follows the same rule: if the deposit is fully refunded, the payout drops to zero; if part of the deposit is withheld, commission continues to apply only to the withheld amount. This behaviour is configurable per company, but once set, it applies the same way to every cancellation — so “what happens to commission on this cancellation” is settled by looking at a pre-defined rule rather than arguing it with a broker case by case.

Direct sales sit in the same table

Bookings that come directly from a guest are recorded in the same system as channel bookings; a direct sale simply carries a zero commission rate, but the record goes through the same flow. That means the season-end report can compare “channel share” against “direct share” and what each channel actually costs, all in one table — and for operations working to grow their direct-sale share, that comparison feeds straight into season planning.

Example

A company takes 60% of its weekly charters through three different brokers, each on a different rate (15%, 18%, 20%). With 12 bookings in a month, each is calculated automatically against its own broker’s rate and posted to the matching account. The month-end statement shows each broker’s total payout and outstanding balance on a single line — a number that used to come from manually merging three separate spreadsheets, with whoever did it having to remember which booking carried which rate.

How Rotenta does it

1. Each broker or sales channel is registered with its own commission rate in channel and commission payout.
2. A booking entered through that channel locks in the rate that applied at the time of booking.
3. Once the booking is confirmed, the net/gross split is calculated and the channel’s payout posts to the account as its own entry.
4. When payment is made, the entry closes; open payouts stay visible in their own list.
5. At period end, a channel-by-channel payout statement is exported through reports, visible only to the roles allowed to see it.

If you’d like to set up your channels’ commission structure and existing broker agreements before the season starts, get in touch.

Frequently asked questions

Can the same broker charge a different rate in a different period?

Yes; once a rate is updated, only new bookings made after that date follow the new rate — past bookings are unaffected.

Can a broker see what the guest actually paid?

No; broker and agency roles see only the net amount owed to them, and the gross figure stays hidden from channel-facing roles.

Does commission post to the account automatically, or does it need manual approval?

It’s calculated and posted automatically the moment a booking is confirmed; no separate manual approval step is needed.

Do I need a separate spreadsheet to reconcile with a broker at season end?

No, the period payout statement comes directly from the system and can be used as the reference document in the reconciliation conversation.

Is commission tracking a separate tool, or part of the software?

That’s exactly the question worth asking when choosing charter software: whether commission runs in the same system as booking and the account, without needing a separate tool.