Bonus Pool Allocation Calculator
How a fixed bonus pool divides among a team when each person's share is weighted by salary and a performance rating — each person's bonus, its share of their salary, and what the pool is worth as a share of payroll.
A pool is a fixed sum; the question is the split.
How the bonus pool allocation calculator works
A pool is a fixed sum; the question is the split. The usual rule weights each person by salary times a performance multiplier, so a higher earner with the same rating gets a proportionally larger bonus and a stronger rating lifts anyone's share. Divide each weight by the total and multiply by the pool — the sum is the pool exactly, whatever the ratings.
Formula: weightᵢ = salaryᵢ × ratingᵢ; bonusᵢ = pool × weightᵢ / Σ weights
Worked examples
| Inputs | Pool as a share of payroll | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Five people, mixed ratings | 13.19% | about 13% of payroll |
| Everyone meets expectations | 13.19% | pro rata to salary |
| A smaller pool | 4.4% | the same shares, a third the size |
FAQFrequently asked questions
How is a bonus pool usually split?
By salary times a performance multiplier, so the bonus tracks both seniority and contribution. Some schemes use target percentages of salary instead; the arithmetic is the same with the target as the rating.
Why does the sum come out exactly?
Because each share is a fraction of the total weight. The ratings scale the shares against each other, not the pool.
What multipliers are typical?
Zero for unsatisfactory, 0.8 for developing, 1.0 for meets, 1.2 to 1.5 for exceeds, 2.0 for exceptional. Keep the scale simple enough to explain to the people on it.
What share of payroll should a pool be?
Five to fifteen per cent for most staff, more for sales and executive roles. The share-of-payroll row shows what the pool you have implies.
Should the pool be salary-weighted at all?
It is the norm, but an equal split is defensible in small teams where everyone contributes alike. The flat-alternative row gives that figure for comparison.
Where these figures come from
- CIPD — Employee turnover and retention factsheet — the turnover and stability index definitions used here
- US Department of Labor — the federal labour department
Last checked: September 2026. These are standard management definitions; where practice varies, the page says which convention it uses.