How do bonus pools work, and how do I configure one?

Purpose

A bonus pool is the recipe for how each ProPay's worker share gets divided up. This article shows you how to set one up and explains every field.

When To Use This

Use this when:

• You're setting up Protiv for the first time
• You want to change how bonuses split between roles
• You need to add a custom pool for a specific branch or division

Before You Start

Have answers ready for:

• What % of the worker share goes to crew vs crew lead vs manager vs company vs other?
• How long should you hold bonuses per role (retention days)?
• Should the bonus assign to current or previous pay period?
• Should deductions show on the statement?
• Should negative balances roll over?
• Should split job savings be enabled?

You can change these anytime, but knowing the answer saves a lot of back-and-forth.

Quick Path

1. Go to Settings → Bonuses
2. Click Add Bonus Pool (or edit an existing one)
3. Set the 5 percentage splits — must total 100%
4. Set retention days per role
5. Configure statement options
6. Save

Step-by-Step

Step 1: Open the bonus pool modal

Go to Settings → Bonuses. Click + Add Bonus Pool or edit an existing pool.

Step 2: Set the percentage splits

Five role buckets. They must total 100%:

• Crew %
• Manager %
• Crew Lead %
• Company %
• Other % (for custom pool members)

Common starting splits:

If you set Other > 0%, the pool MUST have explicit members. You'll see a member-selection step.

Step 3: Set retention days per role

Retention holds back a portion of the bonus until tenure threshold is met. Configure days per role:

• Crew retention days
• Crew Lead retention days
• Manager retention days
• Other retention days

Common defaults:

• Crew: 90 days
• Crew Lead: 90-180 days
• Manager: 180 days

If a worker leaves before the retention period, they forfeit the retained portion.

Step 4: Configure statement options

Three toggles:

Assign to period: Current or Previous

• Current — Bonus appears on the pay period when work was done
• Previous — Bonus appears on the prior period (used by some payroll setups)

Include deductions on statement

• On — Deductions show as line items on the bonus statement
• Off — Deductions still apply but aren't itemized for the worker

Roll over negative balances

• On — If a worker's net statement is negative, that balance carries to next period
• Off — Negative balances don't carry; they're written off

Split job savings

If on, savings split per split_job_savings % between company and workers. If off, all savings go to the bonus pool.

Step 5: Save

Review and save. The pool is now available to assign to ProPays.

Custom Pools

For special cases (e.g. office staff bonus, salesperson commission share), you can create a pool with the Other % > 0 and assign explicit members.

Per-Branch Pools

You can configure different pools per branch or division. This is useful when:

• Different branches have different cost structures
• A specific division needs a different bonus model
• You're testing a new pool structure on one branch first

Common Mistakes & How To Fix Them

• "My percentages don't add to 100" Protiv won't save until they do. The error message tells you the gap.

• "All my workers got crew shares but I expected crew lead shares too" Make sure crew lead workers are flagged as crew leads in their profile. The system uses worker role, not job position, to allocate.

• "Retention is being applied to people who've been here for years" Retention is per-bonus, not per-worker. New bonuses still go through retention even if the worker is tenured. That's expected.

• "I changed the pool but old ProPays didn't update" Pool changes apply to NEW ProPays going forward. Old ones keep their original calculation unless explicitly recalculated.

Related Articles

• What are the 4 bonus distribution types?
• How do I set custom bonus pools per branch?
• What is a deferred bonus pool?
• How is a ProPay calculated? (Hours budget type)