Take control of your compensation planning process with the Merit & Bonus Planner – an advanced, fully customizable Excel template designed for HR leaders, finance professionals, and people operations teams in scaling businesses.
Whether you’re managing a fast-growing SaaS startup, a data-driven eCommerce brand, or a rapidly expanding HealthTech company, this tool streamlines how you allocate merit increases and performance-based bonuses — all from a centralized, automated dashboard.
Built for Busy, Scaling Organizations:
Most small to mid-sized businesses don’t have time to build compensation models from scratch — nor the tools to track them efficiently. This planner eliminates that burden by providing ready-to-use automation, configurable parameters, and real-time budget tracking, so you can spend less time wrangling spreadsheets and more time making strategic decisions.
Key Features:
- Fully Configurable Performance Ratings: Set and adjust rating scales (1–5, 1–3, or custom) to reflect your internal evaluation framework.
- Customizable Merit Matrix & Bonus Weighting: Tailor merit increases and bonus targets by job level, performance rating, department, and location. Weight bonuses based on company, department, and individual KPIs.
- Automated Spend Calculations:
Instantly calculate:- Total merit and bonus spend vs. budget
- Average merit increase and bonus allocation by rating, level, and department
- Pro-rated compensation for new hires
- Interactive Dashboard: Visualize trends in real time: average merit by level, bonus breakdowns by rating, and top-line budget summaries.
- Discretionary Bonus Capability: Easily apply additional bonus amounts outside standard targets, with full visibility into total payout impact.
- Excel-Based With Macros & Formulas: No external tools required. Just open, configure, and start planning. Compatible with Excel for both Windows and Mac (macros may prompt permissions).
Use Cases:
- SaaS Company (50 employees) uses the planner for their annual compensation cycle — completing the entire merit and bonus planning process in under 2 hours with full alignment across HR and Finance.
- HealthTech Startup integrates departmental performance KPIs into weighted bonuses, improving transparency and fairness across cross-functional teams.
- Digital Agency configures rating tiers and bonus weights by seniority to reinforce retention incentives at scale.
What You Get:
- Excel file (.xlsx) with fully unlocked structure
- Built-in macros and drop-down controls
- Interactive dashboard
- Merit matrix and bonus targets by level, location, and rating
- Proration logic for new hires
- Bonus & merit configuration guidelines
- Instructions for customizing your version
Disclaimer:
This digital product is provided “as-is” without any warranties, express or implied. HR Launcher Lab makes no guarantees regarding accuracy, completeness, or suitability for any specific business use. Users are responsible for ensuring compliance with local employment laws and company-specific compensation policies.
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