Only people with the Manage incentive plans permission can see and manage incentive plans. Managers are notified when payouts are added for their direct reports, and anyone who can see the payroll cycle can see how an incentive amount was calculated. Incentive plans are also called bonus plans or variable pay plans.

Before you start

• You need access to Settings > Permissions to change permission groups.
• The Incentives section only appears in permissions when your company has both Compensation and Goals.

Steps

Give someone access to incentive plans (admin)

1. Go to Settings > Permissions.
2. Open the permission group you want to change.
3. Select the Incentives section.
4. Enable Manage incentive plans.
5. Click Save changes.

What each permission allows

Manage incentive plans applies to the whole company. It has no scope such as "For direct and indirect reportees": a person with the permission sees every plan and every person in it.

Rules and behavior

• If a person doesn't have Manage incentive plans, then the Incentive plans tab, the plan pages and the Incentive plans tab of a goal are hidden.
• If a person has Manage incentive plans, then the goals list shows an Incentive plans column and every goal detail shows an Incentive plans tab.
• If a person can see an employee's compensations in the payroll cycle (Compensation > Cycles), then hovering an amount that came from an incentive plan shows the plan name, the overall payout percentage and each goal with its weight. The View plan button only appears for people with Manage incentive plans.
• If a payout is sent to payroll, then the direct manager of each paid person receives an email and an in-app notification titled "Variable compensation added for your direct reports".
• If you sign in as another person ("become" or impersonation) with restricted access, then Send to payroll cycle is not available.
• One (Factorial's AI assistant) helps with incentive plans for admins with Manage incentive plans only.

Limitations

• There is no read-only permission for incentive plans. A person either manages every plan or sees none.
• Managers can't see their team's incentive plans or estimated payouts in the plan pages unless they have Manage incentive plans.
• Employees can't see their own incentive plan or estimated payout in Factorial.
• Manage incentive plans can't be limited to some plans, teams or legal entities.

Troubleshooting

• Symptom: "I have Manage incentive plans but I can't add a missing compensation." → Cause: Add compensation to contract also needs permission to edit that person's contract, and the person's legal entity needs a currency. → Fix: Ask an admin for contract editing permission, or add the variable compensation from the person's contract.
• Symptom: "A manager says they got an email about variable compensation but can't open the plan." → Cause: The notification goes to every direct manager, but the plan pages need Manage incentive plans. → Fix: This is expected. The manager can review the amounts in the payroll cycle if they can see it.
• Symptom: "The Incentives section is missing in Settings > Permissions." → Cause: Your company doesn't have both Compensation and Goals. → Fix: Contact your account manager.

FAQ

1. Who can create incentive plans?

Anyone in a permission group with Manage incentive plans enabled. Admins have it by default.

2. Can I let a manager see only their team's plan?

No. Manage incentive plans gives access to all plans in the company, and there is no narrower option.

3. Can employees see how their bonus was calculated?

Not from the incentive plan pages. Anyone who can see a person's compensations in the payroll cycle can hover the incentive amount to see the plan, the payout percentage and the goals behind it.

4. Who gets notified when payouts are sent?

The direct manager of each person who received a payout gets an email and an in-app notification. Admins don't get a separate notification.