Managing Your Travel Business: Tips for Tracking Commissions
by John Hawks

There's an old proverb in business: Nothing happens until somebody sells something.

Of course, there's another side to the story if you run your own home-based travel business: Nothing truly happens until you've collected the commissions on those sales!

Unless you operate on a 100 percent "net" basis (e.g., you package your own trips from scratch), you probably spend lots of time keeping track of the commissions you're due on previous sales, reconciling the checks and deposits from your suppliers with what you're honestly due, and badgering those suppliers if you've been shorted any pay. For many home-based (and storefront) agents, tracking and reconciling commissions is the least enjoyable part of your week.

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