If you’re tired of chasing down approvals for sales comp every month, you’re not alone. Manual processes are slow, error-prone, and honestly, a pain. This guide is for sales ops, finance, or anyone stuck in the middle of a compensation approval mess. Here’s how to actually automate it in Spiff—without getting lost in buzzwords or endless “optimization” talk.
Why Automate Sales Compensation Approvals?
- Manual approvals are slow. Chasing signatures or emails eats up hours.
- Mistakes creep in. Copy-paste or “final-final” spreadsheets? No thanks.
- People get frustrated. Sales reps want clarity, managers want control, and you want your life back.
Automation isn’t magic, but it does mean fewer headaches and less time spent on admin.
Before You Start: What You Actually Need
Let’s get honest: you don’t need a “transformation initiative.” You do need:
- Spiff admin access. If you can’t tweak workflows or permissions, talk to whoever owns Spiff at your company.
- A basic handle on your comp plans. Know which teams, managers, and payees need approvals and on what schedule.
- A list of who approves what. This matters more than you’d think—get it right up front.
- Data integrations sorted. If your CRM or payroll data isn’t coming into Spiff cleanly, fix that first. Automation won’t save bad data.
Step 1: Map Out Your Approval Workflow
Before you click anything, sketch out how approvals should work:
- Who reviews comp statements? (Direct managers? Finance? Both?)
- Do approvals happen monthly, quarterly, or after every deal?
- Is there a backup approver if someone’s out?
Pro Tip: Keep it simple. One or two approval layers max. More layers = more delays.
What to skip: Don’t try to automate every exception or “edge case” from day one. Cover 95% of your cases, then deal with outliers manually.
Step 2: Set Up Approval Chains in Spiff
Now, let’s get into Spiff:
- Log in to Spiff with admin rights.
- Go to Team Setup (sometimes called “Organization” or “Users,” depending on your version).
- Assign managers to each team or payee. These are your first-line approvers.
- If needed, assign a second-level approver (like Finance or a VP).
Spiff calls these “approval chains.” Make sure each payee routes to someone who will actually review and click “approve”—not someone who ignores notifications.
What works: Simple, direct chains. Manager → Finance. Or just Manager, if that’s all you need.
What doesn’t: Vague chains (“Sales Leadership”) or sending approvals to a group inbox. That’s a ticket to nowhere.
Step 3: Configure Approval Triggers
Spiff lets you control when approvals kick off. For most, you want approvals to start:
- When a comp statement is generated (e.g., end of month)
- Or after payroll is ready, but before payments go out
To set this up:
- In Spiff, go to Compensation Cycles or Statements.
- Find the option for “Approval Required” or “Enable Approvals.”
- Choose your trigger (monthly, quarterly, or custom).
- Test with a single team or a dummy statement first.
Pro Tip: Don’t automate mid-cycle changes or clawbacks. Manual review is safer for anything that smells like an exception.
Step 4: Customize Approval Notifications
If you want approvals to actually happen, you need to get in front of people. Spiff can send:
- Email notifications
- Slack/Teams messages (if you’ve hooked it up)
- In-app alerts
Make sure:
- Approvers know what to look for (“You have a comp statement to approve for May” is better than “Action required”).
- Reminders are set (weekly or daily, but don’t annoy people into tuning them out).
- There’s a clear “what to do if you’re out” process.
What works: Clear, direct subject lines. “Approve May Comp for John Doe.”
What doesn’t: Over-notifying. If people get 10 reminders a day, they’ll start ignoring all of them.
Step 5: Test the Approval Flow—For Real
Before rolling out to the whole company, run a test cycle:
- Pick a small team or even just yourself.
- Generate a sample comp statement.
- Walk through the whole approval chain: submission, notification, approval (or rejection), and finalization.
- Double-check:
- Were notifications timely?
- Did the right people get them?
- Was it clear what to do?
- Did the approval actually block payment until finished?
Pro Tip: Ask a manager or finance user to try it out. Don’t just test as the admin—real-world users miss things you won’t.
What to ignore: Don’t get bogged down trying to script every possible outcome in your first test. Focus on the basics: right people, right time, right data.
Step 6: Roll Out to the Whole Team
Once you know it works:
- Train managers and approvers. Short Loom video or screenshot walk-through is enough.
- Announce the change. Focus on what’s easier (“No more spreadsheets. You’ll get notified when there’s something to approve.”)
- Set a go-live date that isn’t right before a big commission run or end-of-quarter. Give people a few days’ notice.
- Monitor the first real cycle. Be available for questions and quick fixes.
What works: Quick feedback loops. If something’s confusing, fix it now—not next quarter.
What doesn’t: Long, formal “training.” Most people just want to know what button to click.
Step 7: Handle Exceptions and Edge Cases
No automation is perfect. Some stuff will fall outside the flow:
- Disputes or corrections
- Out-of-office approvers
- Special deals or exceptions
Best approach:
- Keep a manual backup process (email, Slack DM, whatever) for true one-offs.
- Document how to escalate when someone’s out or a statement needs review.
- Use Spiff’s audit logs to track who did what, in case someone says, “I never saw that.”
Pro Tip: Resist the urge to automate every weird scenario. That way lies bureaucracy and headaches.
Step 8: Review and Improve
After a cycle or two:
- Ask: What’s still manual? Where are approvals getting stuck?
- Are people actually reviewing, or just rubber-stamping?
- Is there a pattern to exceptions?
- Are notifications working, or are folks missing them?
Tweak as you go—don’t wait for an annual review.
Honest Pros and Cons of Spiff’s Approval Automation
What works:
- Handles the “happy path” (normal approvals) very well.
- Audit trails are clear—who approved what, when.
- Integrates with common tools (Slack, Teams, etc.) if you set it up.
What doesn’t:
- Complex, multi-layered approval logic can be tricky. Don’t expect a “build anything” workflow engine.
- Exceptions still need manual work—don’t try to automate every edge case.
- If your data integration is flaky, approvals will break or route wrong. Garbage in, garbage out.
Final Thoughts: Keep It Simple, Iterate Fast
Automating sales comp approvals in Spiff is about making life easier, not perfect. Start simple, cover your main flows, and don’t twist yourself into knots trying to automate every scenario. Real-world teams change, comp plans change, and you’ll need to tweak things over time. Get the basics right, listen to feedback, and adjust as you go.
The real win? Less time chasing signatures, more time actually supporting your sales team.