Car Sales Log Sheet: A Free Template to Check Your Commission
A car sales log sheet is your own record of every deal, kept so you can check the commission sheet against it. One row per deal: date, stock number, customer initials, new or used, buyer source, front gross, back-end, spiff, split, mini or percentage, commission expected, commission paid and the difference. The difference column is the one that pays for the habit.
Search this and you get template libraries, pin boards, a document-sharing site, a paid template shop, a form builder and two spreadsheet-template sites. Lots of grids. None of them is built for a commissioned rep, and none of them has a column for what you were owed.
This one is built to audit a commission sheet. Below is the log as a table, with three example deals worked through the free car salesman commission calculator. After it comes a CSV block you can paste straight into a spreadsheet.
What columns does a car sales log sheet need?
Thirteen, and each one is there to catch a specific mistake.
| Column | What goes in it | What it catches |
|---|---|---|
| Date delivered | The day the unit went out | A deal paid in the wrong month, or not at all |
| Stock number | The store's stock number | The one link between your log and the store's records |
| Customer initials | Initials only | Two deals on the same day getting mixed up |
| New or used | New or Used | A different pack or rate on each side |
| Buyer source | Marketplace, walk-in, website, referral, repeat | Nothing on the sheet. It tells you where your units come from. |
| Front gross | The front gross as the store reported it | A pack or a charge you didn't expect |
| Back-end gross | Only if your plan pays on it | A back-end share left off |
| Spiff | Any flat money on the unit | A spiff that never showed up |
| Split with | The other rep's initials, or blank | A split you didn't agree to, or a half unit counted as none |
| Mini or percentage | Which one the deal should pay | A mini paid on a deal that cleared it |
| Commission expected | What your plan says the deal pays | Everything above, in one number |
| Commission paid | What the sheet says you were paid | The store's number, side by side with yours |
| Difference | Paid minus expected | The deal to ask about |
Add a notes column if you want one, for unwinds, chargebacks and anything a manager told you at the desk. The calculator doesn't model chargebacks, so the log is where you track them. How they come off a check is in car sales commission chargebacks.
What does a filled-in log look like?
Here are three deals on one illustrative plan: 25% of front gross after an $800 pack, a $150 mini, and 5% of back-end gross. Every expected figure comes from the calculator's Deal by deal tab.
| Date | Stock | Customer | New or used | Source | Front gross | Back-end | Spiff | Split with | Mini or % | Expected | Paid | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10/02 | 24817 | J.M. | Used | Marketplace | $2,200 | $1,500 | $0 | % | $425 | $425 | $0 | |
| 10/05 | 24903 | R.T. | New | Walk-in | $900 | $0 | $100 | Mini | $250 | $150 | −$100 | |
| 10/09 | 24788 | A.K. | Used | Website | $1,800 | $800 | $0 | D.S. | % | $145 | $145 | $0 |
Row by row:
- The first deal cleared the pack by $1,400. That's $350 at 25%, plus $75 of back-end at 5%. Expected $425, paid $425.
- The second deal was thin. $900 of front gross is $100 over the pack, which is $25 at 25%, so it pays the $150 mini. Add the $100 spiff and it should be $250. The sheet paid $150. The spiff is missing.
- The third deal was a split. On its own it would pay $250 front and $40 back-end. Half of that is $145, and that's what the sheet paid.
Across the three, you expected $820 and were paid $720. The $100 difference sits on one line, with a stock number beside it. That's a two-minute conversation instead of a vague feeling the check was light.
Where's the template you can copy?
Copy the block below and paste it into a new spreadsheet. If it lands in a single column, use your app's split-text-to-columns option, or save it as a .csv file and import it. Then delete the three example rows and start your own.
Date delivered,Stock number,Customer initials,New or used,Buyer source,Front gross,Back-end gross,Spiff,Split with,Mini or percentage,Commission expected,Commission paid,Difference,Notes
10/02,24817,J.M.,Used,Marketplace,2200,1500,0,,Percentage,425,425,0,
10/05,24903,R.T.,New,Walk-in,900,0,100,,Mini,250,150,-100,Spiff missing
10/09,24788,A.K.,Used,Website,1800,800,0,D.S.,Percentage,145,145,0,Half dealTwo things make it better once it's in a spreadsheet. First, turn the difference column into a formula, paid minus expected, so it fills itself in. Second, add a total row at the bottom for expected, paid and difference. The total is what you hold up against the commission sheet at month-end.
Keep the expected column honest. Work it out from your written plan, deal by deal, in the calculator. Don't guess it from what deals usually pay.
How do you use the log at month-end?
- Fill a row the day the unit delivers. If front gross isn't final that day, leave it blank and fill it in when the deal is booked.
- Work out each expected figure in the calculator's Deal by deal tab, with your plan set up once. The calculator counts how many deals paid the mini, which is a quick check on the mini column.
- When the commission sheet comes, copy each deal's paid figure into the log.
- Read the difference column. Zero is the goal. Anything else is a deal to ask about.
- Compare the totals. If the lines all match and the total doesn't, look for a deal that's on the sheet and not in your log, or the other way round.
The volume bonus, the draw and anything carried in from last month don't belong to a single deal, so they live below the deal rows. The calculator's month-end check shows how they come off. How to check each of those lines is in how to calculate car sales commission.
Use Copy link to my plan in the calculator, too. It puts the whole plan and the month's deals in the link, and nothing you type is sent to a server, so the link is your only copy. Save one link a month next to the log.
What should you do when the numbers don't match?
Ask for the deal recap on that stock number. It shows the selling price, the cost the store used, the pack and anything else taken out before your gross. A difference often explains itself once you see it:
| What the recap shows | Where to look |
|---|---|
| A bigger pack than you expected | The pack differs by unit, or something was added to cost |
| Front gross lower than you were told at the desk | A trade was overallowed, or the deal changed after you left it |
| No spiff line | The spiff wasn't entered, or the unit didn't qualify |
| Half the commission | The deal was split, by agreement or not |
| Nothing paid at all | The deal hasn't funded, or it was treated as a house deal |
Ask calmly, with the stock number and the figure you expected. A rep with a log is asking about one line, which is a much easier conversation than "my check feels short." What a pack is, and how an overallowance comes off your gross, is in car salesman pay plans, explained.
What shouldn't go in the log?
Your customers' personal information. Initials and a stock number identify the deal, and that's all the log needs.
Leave out names, phone numbers, addresses, license numbers and anything from a credit application. The FTC's Safeguards Rule guidance for auto dealers says the rule applies to most dealers who finance or lease vehicles. Personal information a customer gives to get financing is customer information the dealer has to protect. A copy of it on your own phone, in your own spreadsheet, isn't protected by anything the store set up.
The store's records hold the rest. Your log only has to point to them.
What else can the log tell you?
Where your units come from. After a few months, sort the source column. If a third of your units came from your own Marketplace listings and almost none from the website, that's worth knowing when you decide where your time goes.
It also feeds the plan for next month. Your real average front gross, share of minis and unit count are the inputs for a car sales goal sheet. That works the month backwards from a pay goal.
If your own listings are a source you want to grow, autobook.io handles the posting. It imports your dealership's inventory from its website and writes an editable description for each unit. It posts to Facebook Marketplace from your own profile, in your own browser, in batches of up to 50. Posting a vehicle by hand takes 10 to 15 minutes. You still choose the units, answer every buyer in Messenger and close, and the buyers take roughly 40 minutes a day. It removes the grind, not the job. Plans start from $99/month, and across the network about one in nine posted vehicles sells. The log stays yours: autobook.io doesn't keep it for you.
Set your plan up once in the commission calculator, then work out each deal's expected line as it delivers.
Frequently asked questions
Is there a free car sales log sheet template?
Yes, the CSV block in this article. Paste it into any spreadsheet, delete the example rows, and add a formula for the difference column.
Should a salesperson keep their own deal log?
Yes. The commission sheet is the store's record. A log is yours, and it's the only way to point at one deal and say what you expected it to pay.
How do I work out the expected commission on each deal?
Enter your plan once in the calculator, then enter each deal in the Deal by deal tab with its front gross, back-end, spiff and split. The result is the expected figure for that row.
What if the store won't show me the deal recap?
Ask your sales manager which number the commission was figured on, in writing if you can. If your written pay plan doesn't say how front gross is calculated, that's the question to ask before next month.
Can I keep customer names in my log?
Keep initials and the stock number instead. That's enough to match the deal to the store's records, and it keeps customers' personal information out of your own files.