[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":45},["ShallowReactive",2],{"glossary-clawback":3},{"slug":4,"path":5,"title":6,"description":7,"term":8,"wordCount":9,"hasExample":10,"inboundLinks":11,"isPublished":10,"html":12,"data":13,"related":27,"lessons":40},"clawback","/glossary/clawback","What Is a Commission Clawback? Definition and How It Works","A commission clawback is when a company takes back commission you already earned — usually because the deal was canceled or refunded before the clawback period ends. It's a real, sometimes surprising risk, so you should always read the clawback terms before you accept a comp-heavy role.","Clawback",232,true,7,"\u003Cp>A commission clawback is when a company reclaims \u003Ca href=\"/glossary/commission/\">commission\u003C/a> you were already paid because the deal fell apart — a customer canceled, refunded, or didn't renew within the clawback window. Most comp plans have a clawback period (often 60–180 days from the signature) during which a refund reverses your payout, taken out of a future check. Clawbacks are common and mostly reasonable in subscription and long-term deals, but the terms vary wildly and are easy to miss.\u003C/p>\n\u003Ch2 id=\"in-plain-english\">In plain English\u003C/h2>\n\u003Cp>A clawback is the fine print that says "we paid you for a deal that didn't stick, so we're taking it back." It's the downside to the \u003Ca href=\"/glossary/accelerator/\">accelerator's\u003C/a> upside. The deal gets signed, you get paid, and then the customer cancels — so the company pulls the money back. Whether that surprises you or not depends entirely on whether you read the clawback policy before you started.\u003C/p>\n\u003Ch2 id=\"why-it-matters-to-you\">Why it matters to you\u003C/h2>\n\u003Cp>This is the term that separates reps who understand their comp from reps who get shocked in month three. Before you accept a role, ask about the clawback period and what triggers it. A reasonable plan will state it plainly; a suspicious one will be vague. Along with the \u003Ca href=\"/glossary/draw/\">draw\u003C/a> and the \u003Ca href=\"/glossary/accelerator/\">accelerator\u003C/a>, the clawback completes the picture — the true cost of a "great \u003Ca href=\"/glossary/commission/\">commission\u003C/a> plan" is only fair once you've read how it can come back.\u003C/p>\n",{"title":6,"description":7,"primaryQuery":14,"term":8,"publishedAt":15,"author":16,"reviewedAt":17,"example":18,"relatedTerms":19,"lessons":24},"what is a commission clawback","2026-09-10","closers","2026-09-24","\"The deal refunded in month two, so my commission got clawed back out of next month's check.\"",[20,21,22,23],"commission","draw","accelerator","quota",[25,26],"/academy/sdr/sdr-quota","/academy/sdr/how-to-read-a-sales-comp-plan",[28,31,34,37],{"slug":20,"path":29,"title":30},"/glossary/commission","What Is Sales Commission? Definition and How It Works",{"slug":21,"path":32,"title":33},"/glossary/draw","What Is a Draw Against Commission? Definition",{"slug":22,"path":35,"title":36},"/glossary/accelerator","What Is a Sales Accelerator? Definition and How It Pays",{"slug":23,"path":38,"title":39},"/glossary/quota","What Is a Quota in Sales? Definition and How It Works",[41,43],{"path":26,"title":42},"How to Read a Sales Comp Plan: Base vs Variable + 11 Red Flags",{"path":25,"title":44},"What Is an SDR Quota? How Sales Development Numbers Work",1792888521621]