Line Item vs Total Amount in Zoho PRM Commissions

Zoho PRM: Line Item vs Total Amount

Partner Commissions in Zoho PRM can work out the commissionable value of a transaction in two ways: by line item, or by total amount. The choice decides whether commission is calculated on the individual products and services in a transaction or on the transaction's overall value, so it should reflect how your organisation recognises partner contribution.

Line Item

Commission is calculated separately for each product or service, based on that item's own value, and the results are added together to give the commission for the deal. With a 10% rate on a deal of Product A at $10,000 and Product B at $5,000, Product A earns $1,000, Product B earns $500, and the total is $1,500.

It works best for deals with multiple products or services, where some offerings matter more than others, or where you want to steer partners towards particular products.

Total Amount

All items are added together and commission is applied once to that total, without looking at items separately. With a total deal value of $15,000 and a 10% rate, the commission is $1,500.

It works best for revenue-focused incentives, deals where every item is treated equally, and simpler commission setups.

Key Differences

Line itemTotal amount
Product-level evaluationDeal-level evaluation
More flexibleSimpler
Rewards specific contributionsRewards overall deal value

How to Choose

  • Choose line item if partners influence specific parts of a deal.
  • Choose total amount if partners are responsible for the entire deal.
A point worth noticing: in Zoho's own example both methods give $1,500, because one flat 10% rate is applied to every item. The two only produce different results when something else differs between items, for example when you restrict commission to certain products (line item plans show a Commissions for field for this) or apply different rates. If every item earns the same rate, choosing between them is mainly about how you want to report and explain the commission.
You choose this in Step 1 of a plan. See Configure Partner Commissions and Structures in Partner Commissions.
Need help? 1 Cloud Consultants can help you decide whether line item or total amount suits how your partners sell. Book a discovery call with 1 Cloud Consultants.