Service advisor pay plan calculator

How much do service advisors make?

Sources: CADA 2026 National Workforce Study, NADA 2021 Dealership Workforce Study. The Canadian numbers come from the payroll of 629 dealerships, so they include commission and bonuses.

Your first year will probably be lower. Advisors on r/serviceadvisors say it takes a couple of years to build a clientele. Many stores book repeat customers with whoever served them last, so a new advisor starts with fewer of them.

What's a good commission percentage for a service advisor?

It depends on what the % is paid on. 8% of GP pays a lot less than 8% of total sales on the same RO. So first, find out which one your plan uses. Then let's look at all three.

On GP, parts and labor. We read 33 US plans advisors posted on r/serviceadvisors. The middle one paid 8%. Half of them paid between 6% and 11%.

On total sales. Published US plans pay 4.75% to 6.2% of RO sales (2026 job posting, NADA-hosted sample plan).

Per hour sold. Posted plans paid $3.50 to $14 for each labor hour sold. What you make depends on how many hours you can sell. One posted Lexus plan needed about 40 hours sold a day to hit its top bonus.

In Canada, plans look different. The few that Canadian advisors posted paid 1% to 3.5% of GP, usually on top of an hourly wage or a bigger base. Compare your yearly pay to the CADA numbers above instead of your % to US plans.

How does a service advisor pay plan work?

Almost every plan is built from the same six parts. What changes from store to store is the mix.

Before you do any math, check two things. Is it GP or total sales? And is your base a salary or a draw? Those two change the answer more than the % does.

How do I know if my pay plan is good?

Grab your advisor report. On Reynolds it's often the 3611. Every DMS has one. If you get a comp sheet every month, use that.

Find your GP (or total sales) for CP, warranty and internal. Then run the plan on a normal month and a slow one.

Say your plan is a $4,000 draw plus 8% of CP and warranty GP.

• Normal month, $70,000 GP. 8% is $5,600. You already got $4,000 from the draw, so the commission check is $1,600. You made $5,600.
• Slow month, $45,000 GP. 8% is $3,600. You got $4,000. You're $400 short. Does that carry over? Ask.

Then add up the year and compare it with the number in the offer.

And check your manager's math every month. Mistakes happen.

Red flags in a service advisor pay plan, and what to ask

These are the clauses that cost advisors the most. Each one comes with the question that brings it out.

What to ask before you take a new pay plan

Ask for 3 to 6 months of advisor sales reports, names removed. It's a fair ask. Run the top, middle and bottom advisor through the plan, in a slow month and a busy one. If the manager says advisors clear $100K, the reports should show it.

Count the names, too. If a lot of last year's names are gone, ask why.

Then ask how appointments get handed out. If repeat customers go to whoever had them last, you start with the oil changes.

How can a service advisor make more money?

So how much of your pay is you, and how much is the store? Well, it's a little bit of both. Your labor rate and your car count come from the store. In our data, most of the difference in average ticket between advisors comes from the store they work at.

But inside the same store, the gap is still big. The top advisor sells about a third more CP work than the one in the middle. They work with the same techs and the same labor rate.

We looked at about 8 million closed ROs from dealerships that use Kimoby, November 2025 to October 2026. Most of them come from Canadian stores. Here's what the top advisors do differently.

Sell one more job over $500

Top advisors write about as many small tickets as everyone else. The difference is jobs over $500. A typical advisor turns about 2 cars in 10 into one. The top 10% get about 3 in 10. That's more than 90% of the gap.

Many of those estimates never get an answer. More than half of the estimates sent by text in our data have no answer on record. Some were answered by phone, so the real number is lower. But when customers do answer, 7 or 8 in 10 say yes to some of it. No answer in an hour? Call.

On a 5% plan, writing as many big jobs as the top 10% is worth about $31,100 a year in the US and C$24,500 in Canada.

Sell the whole job

Put everything the tech found on the estimate, one line per item. Let the customer pick. In the US, estimates with 8 or more lines brought in $410 on average, against $238 for a one-line estimate. A partial yes still pays you.

Write down every no. The typical declined job is worth $174 in the US and C$205 in Canada. Only about 1 in 100 comes back within six months. Bring it up at the next visit.

It's not the script, either. We compared the texts of the highest-ticket and lowest-ticket advisor in the same store. They were as likely to include a price, and as likely to ask for a yes. A new script won't close the gap.

Protect your %

If CSI moves your %, every survey counts. One 2026 job posting pays 4.75% under the CSI target and 5.5% at the top. For a typical US advisor, that's about $6,400 a year for the same work.

Customers rate their advisor higher when they get photos or video during the work. In the J.D. Power 2026 CSI Study, they scored 907 out of 1,000 in mass market and 928 in premium. Only about 1 in 4 mass-market customers get them.

Selling more won't cost you the customer, either. In the same store, customers of the highest-ticket advisor come back about as often as customers of the lowest-ticket one.

One caveat. Some stores send the heavy work to certain advisors, and our data can't fully separate that. If you're new and you're getting the oil changes, it's probably how appointments are routed.

Do this tomorrow

• Count your jobs over $500 every night. Aim for one more than your average.
• Put everything the tech found on the estimate, one line per item.
• No answer on an estimate after an hour? Call.
• Text a photo or video of what the tech found.

How do I ask my manager for a better pay plan?

Bring your numbers. Your manager gets paid on a lot of the same ones you do, like CP gross and CSI.

Ask for one change at a time. For example: "If I raise my average ticket by $50, can the plan pay a higher % above that line?"

Many stores run one plan for every advisor, so a full rewrite just for you is a long shot. A higher % above a target is easier to say yes to.

Do service advisors get overtime?

In the US, usually not. Service advisors are exempt from federal overtime (Encino Motorcars v. Navarro, 2018). Minimum wage still applies. Some hourly plans pay overtime anyway, so check yours. Your employer also can't stop most employees from talking about pay with coworkers (NLRB).

In Canada, it's provincial. In Ontario and Quebec, commission pay still has to reach minimum wage.

This isn't legal advice. Your state or provincial labour office can confirm.

FAQ

Is 8% of gross a good pay plan?

It's right in the middle. In 33 US plans advisors posted online, the middle one paid 8% of parts and labor GP. Whether it's good for you depends on your volume and your base. Also check if CSI can take part of it away.

Is a draw the same as a salary?

No. A salary is paid no matter what you sell. A draw is an advance on your commission. In a slow month you get the draw and nothing more, and some plans carry the shortfall into the next month.

Should a service advisor be paid on gross or total sales?

Total sales is easier to check, because you can see the whole RO. Gross pays a higher % on a smaller number, and you can't see the cost side. Neither is better on its own. Run both on your real numbers.

Where do I find my monthly gross?

On your advisor report in the DMS. On Reynolds it's often the 3611. Your monthly comp sheet has it too. If you don't get one, ask for it.

How many surveys does it take to miss CSI?

With 10 surveys a month, two scores below a 10 can drop you below target on some OEM programs. Ask your manager how many surveys you get and if there's a minimum.

How can a service advisor make more money?

Sell more jobs over $500. In Kimoby data, the top advisor in a store writes about as many small tickets as everyone else. But they turn about 3 cars in 10 into a job over $500, against 2 in 10 for a typical advisor.

Data: about 8 million closed repair orders from dealerships using the Service Lane OS, November 1, 2025 to October 8, 2026. Most of them come from Canadian stores. Pay benchmarks from CADA and NADA. Posted plans from r/serviceadvisors. Not legal advice.