A crucial part of financial planning is establishing revenue targets and a sales bonus plan for the coming year. To attract good salespeople, you need a clear and understandable bonus and compensation plan. Companies tend to make a number of mistakes in designing sales compensation plans, including: • Too complicated • Targets that are not revenue-related • The ratio of Bonus to Base salary is too high • Unpredictable payouts • Too many carve-outs • Creating incentives for time-shifting deal closes