Pay structure modelReviewed by Adroit Staffing editorial reviewPractice guidance, no data claims9 min read
The short answer
OTE is base salary plus variable pay at 100% of quota — a forecast, not a guarantee. Two roles with the same OTE can be very different jobs, because the base-to-variable split decides how much risk the seller carries and the plan rules decide when, and whether, the variable element is actually paid.
Key facts
- OTE
- Base plus variable earnings at 100% of quota
- The real question
- What share of the team reached OTE last year
- Decides the risk
- The base-to-variable split
- Figures on this page
- None — structure and illustrative arithmetic only
OTE, decoded
On Target Earnings is a forecast, not a salary. It describes what someone earns if they hit exactly 100% of quota, which means the number is only as honest as the quota behind it and the payment rules attached to it.
How to read the figures on this page
This page publishes definitions and structure only. No market salary ranges appear anywhere on it, and the arithmetic below is illustrative — chosen to show how the maths works, not to suggest what any role pays.
What the data labels mean
- Sourced market data
- Taken from an external published source, cited with the date it was read.
- Adroit original data
- Drawn from our own briefs and placements, with the method described below.
- Explanatory guidance
- Explains how pay is structured. Makes no claim about current market levels.
- Illustrative example
- Arithmetic to show how the structure works. Not a market range.
- Source required
- Defined but not published: we do not hold data we can attribute yet.
What each term means
Explanatory guidanceThe vocabulary a candidate will use in a first conversation, and what to confirm about each.
| Term | Definition | Question to ask |
|---|---|---|
| OTE | Base plus variable earnings at 100% of quota | What share of the team reached it last year? |
| Base | Fixed salary, paid regardless of performance | Is it liveable through ramp? |
| Variable | The commission or bonus element of OTE | Is it commission, bonus, or a mix? |
| Quota | The target the variable element is measured against | How was it set, and when is it reset? |
| Attainment | Performance against quota, usually as a percentage | Measured on what — bookings, revenue, cash? |
| Accelerator | A higher rate on performance above target | Where does it start, and is it capped? |
| Decelerator | A lower rate below a threshold | What is the threshold, and is there a floor? |
| Ramp | Reduced quota or guaranteed variable while onboarding | How long, and is the guarantee repayable? |
| Clawback | Recovery of commission already paid | Which events trigger it, and for how long? |
Where OTE misleads
Explanatory guidance| Pattern | What it looks like | What to check |
|---|---|---|
| Uncapped headline | "OTE £X, uncapped" with no base stated | The base, first — uncapped is not an amount |
| Unreached target | Attractive OTE, nobody at 100% | Attainment distribution for the last full year |
| Late payment | Healthy OTE, commission on cash collection | Average time from signature to payment |
| Moving quota | Quota reset mid-year after a good quarter | Whether quota changes are contractual |
Base versus variable
Weighting by role, described qualitatively. We publish no percentage split as a market norm, because the defensible split depends on cycle length, deal size and how much of the pipeline the seller creates.
Sales Development Representative
Weighted towards base
Much of the outcome sits with the closing team and with inbound volume, so a large variable share transfers risk the role cannot control.
Account Executive
Weighted towards variable
The seller controls the outcome most directly, so the variable share is usually the largest of any individual contributor seat.
Enterprise Account Executive
Roughly balanced
Long cycles and few deals mean a heavily variable package produces a volatile year, which pushes packages towards a stronger base.
Sales Manager or Head of Sales
Roughly balanced
Variable pay usually follows team attainment, and sometimes retention or hiring, so it moves more slowly than an individual number.
Customer Success or Account Management
Weighted towards base
Retention and expansion are slower-moving and partly delivery-dependent, so variable pay is typically a smaller bonus element.
What moves the number
Direction of travel only. We do not publish a percentage uplift for any of these unless the size is evidenced.
Payment trigger
Explanatory guidanceMoves pay in either direction
Commission on signature, on invoice and on cash collection produce very different real earnings in the same year, especially where payment terms are long.
Quota credit rules
Explanatory guidanceMoves pay in either direction
Whether multi-year contracts, renewals and expansion carry quota credit changes attainment more than the commission rate does.
Worked examples
Reading a quoted OTE
Illustrative example- Advertised OTE
- 100 units
- Base
- 60 units
- Variable at 100% quota
- 40 units
- Earnings at 70% attainment
- 88 units
Unit-based deliberately: it shows that a 30% miss against quota costs 12% of earnings on this split. Substitute your own base and variable to see the real exposure.
Why the split matters more than the headline
Illustrative example- Package A
- 70 base / 30 variable
- Package B
- 50 base / 50 variable
- At 100% quota
- Identical earnings
- At 60% quota
- A pays 12 units more
Two packages with the same OTE are different jobs. The split describes how much risk the seller carries.
Method and refresh
- Structure and definitions are reviewed twice a year, and immediately if a legal or reporting requirement changes.
- Any figure carries the publisher and the date it was read, beside the figure rather than in a footnote.
- Where we use our own placement and brief data, we say how many roles it covers and over what period.
- A figure whose source has not been re-checked within the cadence is removed rather than left standing.
- Refresh cadence
- Reviewed every six months, and whenever a cited source publishes an update.
- Next review due
Use this with
- How sales compensation is structured
The components of a package and what to check about each one.
- How to hire an Account Executive
The brief, the evidence to look for and the usual failure points.
- Sales career map: SDR to CRO
Where each seat sits, so a package can be pitched at the right level.
Ask for the attainment distribution, not the average
An average attainment figure hides the shape of the team. One person at 180% and four at 45% averages out to something respectable and tells a candidate nothing useful. The number that matters is how many people reached 100%, and whether the ones who did had anything the new hire will not have.
The same question works in reverse when you are the one hiring: if you cannot answer it about your own team, your advertised OTE is a hope rather than a forecast.
Publish the base as well as the OTE
- Candidates with financial commitments filter on base, whatever the OTE says.
- An OTE with no base reads as an attempt to hide the base.
- Publishing the split removes a whole category of late-stage dropout.
- It also forces an internal decision that otherwise surfaces at offer stage.
Common questions
- Is uncapped OTE a selling point?
- Only alongside evidence that people reach target. Uncapped upside above an unreachable quota is worth nothing, and experienced candidates read it that way.
- Should OTE include a ramp guarantee?
- State them separately. A guarantee is a real part of first-year earnings, but blending it into OTE overstates the steady-state figure.
- Why don't you publish salary ranges on this page?
- Because a range without a source and a date is guesswork with a confident font. Our role-specific pay pages stay unpublished until each figure can be attributed.
Sources and review
- Written by
- Adroit Staffing
- Reviewed by
- Adroit Staffing editorial review
- First published
- Last reviewed
Reviewed every six months, and re-checked whenever a cited source changes. Next review due by . If a figure here no longer matches what you are seeing, tell us and we will re-check it.
This page is practice guidance from our own Sales and GTM recruitment work. It makes no claims about current market data, so it cites no external figures.