Guide: Bonus Budget Multiplier

Bonus Budget Multiplier

The Bonus Budget Multiplier gives administrators greater control over how bonus budgets are calculated, without affecting bonus payouts.

This feature introduces a new field (incentive_program_X_budget_multiplier) that is used exclusively to shape the budget side of the bonus equation, separate from the performance-based incentive_program_X_plan_proration used to calculate payouts. 

📹 Watch the Budget Multiplier Tutorial: Bonus Budget Multiplier

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Key Benefits

Separate Budget Control
Dedicated Budget Multiplier functionality allows bonus pool budgets to be adjusted independently of individual performance calculations.

Enhanced Calculation Options
Ensures that manager budgets properly reflect any multiplier applied at the bonus line level.

Improved Consistency
Provides more flexibility when applying corporate-level multipliers across departments, business units, or the organization as a whole.

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How the Budget Multiplier Works

The Budget Multiplier is an optional field that lets you adjust the bonus budget without changing how much employees actually receive. It applies only to the budget calculation and gives you more flexibility when planning or reporting on bonus programs.

Example

Use the Budget Multiplier when you need to increase the budget available for a bonus program. For instance, if company performance warrants a 10 percent increase in budget, you can set the Budget Multiplier to 1.10. This raises the budget shown to managers, but it does not change the bonus amounts employees earn.

Plan proration still controls how payouts are calculated, based on performance or eligibility. The two work independently; one affects the budget, the other affects the payout, giving you full control on both sides.

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Budget Calculation

Percentage-based bonuses:

Budget = Salary × Target % × Plan Proration × Budget Multiplier

Nominal bonuses:

Budget = Target Amount × Plan Proration × Budget Multiplier

• plan_proration continues to drive actual payout calculations

• budget_multiplier only impacts the available budget

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Data Fields and Placement

Field: incentive_program_X_budget_multiplier where X is the number of the incentive program to edit
Type: Decimal range with 1 as 100% (e.g., 1, 1.05, 0.90)
 

Each bonus program can have its own budget multiplier.

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Controlling Visibility in the UI

You can choose whether or not to show the Budget Multiplier column to managers.

Go to Config > Active Features and look for the setting called Show Budget Multiplier Column under the section Bonus Columns - My Team. If this box is checked, the Budget Multiplier will appear in the manager view. If it’s unchecked, it will be hidden.

This gives admins control over whether the Budget Multiplier is visible during the planning process. Visibility of the budget multiplier does not change the calculations - any loaded budget multipliers will still apply even if the column is hidden.

You can also rename the Budget Multiplier column on this page.