DEALER PAYROLL · FORD DEALERSHIPS

One Ford rooftop. Three pay rulebooks. And the office reconciles all three by hand. One close should carry all three.

A Ford point pays flat-rate techs across Ford SLTS warranty and customer-pay time, sales on negotiated Ford Blue front-end gross, the same salesperson on a fixed no-haggle Model e spiff, Ford Pro commercial on a volume plan, F&I on chargebacks, and hourly crew — all in one run. Generic payroll knows one commission rule. WageTime runs the Ford pay run the way it works: the flat-rate true-up, the two-rulebook commission close, the STARS cert ladder, and the draw ledger — every EIN in the group, one Friday.

Built on infrastructure processing $30B+ in payroll & taxes · 1.5M+ employees paid

WageTime serves independently owned and operated dealerships. WageTime is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by Ford Motor Company; Ford Blue, Ford Model e, and Ford Pro are named only to describe the dealerships we serve. All trademarks belong to their respective owners.

SOUND FAMILIAR?

Three pay logics under one roof — and the last week of the month disappears reconciling them.

No other domestic brand forces three comp rulebooks together the way a Ford point does. Each is either hours of unpaid office work or a liability quietly compounding while nobody has time to check.

THREE RULEBOOKS

Ford Blue, Model e, and Ford Pro pay by different rules

A negotiated Ford Blue front-end gross, a fixed no-haggle Model e spiff, and a Ford Pro commercial volume plan can land on one salesperson in one month. Generic payroll knows one commission rule and leaves the other two to a spreadsheet.

WARRANTY DRAG

Ford SLTS warranty time runs tighter than customer-pay

Ford flags warranty jobs at fewer hours than the same customer-pay job, so a warranty-heavy period pulls a flat-rate tech toward the minimum-wage floor. The true-up is owed whether or not anyone did the math — and right now that math lives in the controller’s head.

QUIET LAPSES

STARS certs move the rate. Payroll finds out last.

A tech clears Senior Master, or an EV high-voltage cert lapses. The flat-rate figure should move on the effective date. Instead it moves three paychecks later, as a retro adjustment and an argument at the parts counter.

DOUBLE ENTRY

Flag hours live in the DMS; warranty claims live in Ford’s systems

Every period someone exports closed repair orders from CDK, Reynolds, Dealertrack, or Tekion and re-types the hours, while the warranty claims sit in PTS, SERVIS2, and OASIS. Every re-typed number is a chance to short a flat-rate check.

MULTI-ROOFTOP

The Ford store, the second rooftop, and the commercial center, one Friday

The retail Ford store, the second rooftop, and the Ford Pro commercial vehicle center are each their own LLC with their own filings — and the group still closes payroll once, on the same day. Generic providers answer with three logins and a consolidation workbook.

OFF-SCHEDULE MONEY

Factory spiffs, CSI money, and charging reimbursements land mid-cycle

Ford spiffs, OneCX/CSI bonuses, and Ford Pro home-charging driver reimbursements clear off your pay calendar — and still owe correct tax treatment and, often, a check this week, not at the next scheduled run.

Each of the four screens below is shown with sample store data. The commercial-pay and survey-bonus details get straight answers in the FAQ.

01
FLAT-RATE TRUE-UP

The minimum-wage check runs every period, whether anyone remembers or not.

Ford publishes warranty flag times through its Service Labor Time Standards, and warranty jobs pay fewer hours than the same customer-pay job — so a warranty-heavy stretch drags flat-rate earnings toward the minimum-wage floor. Every period, each tech’s flat-rate earnings are divided by actual clock hours and tested against the floor. A shortfall becomes a documented true-up earning on the run — before the check goes out, not after a claim comes in.

app.wagetime.com/service/effective-rate

Effective-Rate Check · Jun 16–30

Warranty mix 39%2 techs below floor
Flag hours off closed ROs · Ford SLTS warranty times run tighter than customer-pay · effective rate = flat earnings ÷ clock hours, tested at $16.50/hr
TechWarranty shareFlat earningsClock hrsEffectiveTrue-up
D. Okonkwo #1219%$3,540.0074.0$47.84
R. Vance #0828%$2,730.0076.0$35.92
C. Ellis #2158%$1,560.0069.0$22.61
B. Naylor #1726%$884.0067.0$13.19$221.50
T. Suarez #2562%$560.0060.0$9.33$430.00
True-up total on the Jul 3 run · earning code TRUEUP$651.50

Replaces the by-hand check the controller runs when there’s time — because the SLTS shortfall doesn’t wait for when there’s time.

02
TWO COMMISSION RULEBOOKS

A negotiated Ford Blue truck and a fixed-price Model e EV, settled in one close.

A Ford salesperson can close a negotiated Ford Blue truck and a fixed no-haggle Model e EV in the same month — two commission rules in one close. Ford Blue pays front-end gross; Model e sells at fixed Ford.com pricing and pays a flat per-unit spiff. WageTime settles both, nets F&I chargebacks against the month, applies draw offsets against the running balance, and rolls any unreconciled deal forward instead of holding the whole close hostage.

app.wagetime.com/payroll/commission-close

Commission Close · June

6 no-haggle Model e deals1 negative draw carried
Ford Blue pays negotiated front-end gross · Model e pays a flat $500/unit spiff at fixed Ford.com pricing · both settle in one close
SalespersonBlue unitsBlue grossModel e unitsModel e flatDraw offsetNet
Angela P.9$7,020.003+$1,500.00−$3,000.00$5,520.00
Marcus D.6$4,380.002+$1,000.00−$3,000.00$2,380.00
Sofia M.8$5,600.001+$500.00−$3,000.00$3,100.00
Tyler B.4$1,900.000−$3,000.00−$1,100.00 carried
3 paid · 27 Ford Blue + 6 Model e units · Tyler B. −$1,100 draw carried, not clawed from final pay$11,000.00 netpays on the Jul 3 run

Replaces the two-tab spreadsheet that tries to pay a negotiated deal and a fixed-price deal with one formula.

03
THE STARS LADDER

In through ASSET or FACT, up to Senior Master — the rate follows the tier on its effective date.

Ford technicians climb their own ladder — in through Ford ASSET or FACT, tracked by a STARS ID, up through Ford Master to Senior Master, across five specialization categories: Driveability, Engine, Transmission, Steering & Suspension, and General Line. In WageTime, rates bind to those tiers and to EV high-voltage or Commercial Vehicle Center premiums, each with effective dates: level up and the new rate starts on the right day; let a cert drift toward lapse and it’s flagged before it lands, with the cost in plain numbers.

app.wagetime.com/service/cert-ladder

STARS Ladder · Service Dept

1 renewal at risk1 rate change queued
TechFord tierRate ruleWatchingStatus
D. Okonkwo #12Senior Master · Engine, Transmission$46.00/flag hr (base $44 + $2 high-voltage)High-voltage premium expires Sep 5 → $44.00 if lapsedAt risk
R. Vance #08Ford Master · Driveability$37.00/flag hrSTARS recert due Mar 2028Current
C. Ellis #21Ford Master via ASSET · Steering & Suspension$28.00 → $33.00/flag hrSenior Master review passedRate change Aug 1
B. Naylor #17General Line via FACT$22.00/flag hrTwo STARS courses scheduledCurrent
Lapse impact — D. Okonkwo: −$2.00/flag hr high-voltage premium at his current 79.0 flag hrs≈ −$158 / period

Replaces the whiteboard of who’s Senior Master and whose high-voltage cert is due — and the retro-pay cleanup after a quiet lapse.

04
DRAWS & RECOVERY

Draw balances tracked like the receivables they are.

Every advance, every commission offset, every month’s net — a running ledger per salesperson with threshold flags. When a thin Model e month or a soft Ford Blue month leaves a draw underwater, it’s visible in month one, not month three. And a guardrail your attorney will appreciate: recovery from a final paycheck is blocked in states that prohibit it, automatically.

app.wagetime.com/draws/tyler-b

Draw Ledger · Tyler B.

Balance −$2,650
MonthDrawCommissionsMonth netBalance
March$3,000$3,240+$240$0
April$3,000$2,300−$700−$700
May$3,000$2,150−$850−$1,550
June$3,000$1,900−$1,100−$2,650
Plan rule FD-SLS-02Flag > $2,000 · 3 deficit months

Replaces discovering a −$2,650 balance in month three — or in the exit interview.

Ford dealer payroll FAQ

We sell Model e EVs at fixed no-haggle prices but negotiate on Ford Blue trucks — can payroll run both commission rules in one month-end close?

Yes — the month-end commission close runs both rules in one pass. Negotiated Ford Blue deals pay front-end gross; fixed no-haggle Model e deals pay a flat per-unit spiff. Both settle against the same running draw ledger, F&I chargebacks net against the month, and unreconciled deals roll forward instead of holding the close.

Our EV and commercial techs carry Ford high-voltage and CVC certifications on top of Senior Master — do those premiums bind to the rate on their effective date?

Yes. Rates bind to certifications with effective dates, so a Ford high-voltage or Commercial Vehicle Center premium stacks on a Senior Master base and starts on the day the cert takes effect. Let one drift toward lapse and it’s flagged before it lands, with the per-period cost shown — not a retro adjustment three paychecks later.

How do you handle Ford Pro commercial and fleet salespeople who are on a volume pay plan instead of retail front-end gross?

A commercial or fleet salesperson can run on a volume plan in the same close as retail front-end gross — the commission close handles both. Ford Pro home-charging driver reimbursements are treated as a taxable, reportable earning, and pay on an off-cycle run at no extra cost if they land mid-cycle.

Warranty jobs pay fewer hours under Ford SLTS than the same customer-pay job — does the true-up catch a warranty-heavy tech automatically?

Yes. Ford’s Service Labor Time Standards flag warranty jobs at fewer hours than the same customer-pay job, so a warranty-heavy period pulls a flat-rate tech’s effective rate down. Each period, flat-rate earnings are divided by clock hours and tested against the wage floor; a shortfall posts as a documented true-up earning before the check goes out.

Our flag hours and warranty claims live in PTS, SERVIS2, and OASIS through FMCDealer — do you re-key those or import them?

Neither is re-keyed. We import clock and flag hours off your closed repair orders so there’s no double entry, and the warranty claims you file in Ford’s systems stay there. Finished payroll posts to QuickBooks mapped by department. Tell us your DMS on the demo and we’ll confirm the exact flow for your setup.

We gate advisor and salesperson bonuses on Ford OneCX survey scores and President’s Award goals — can the run book those to the right person and period?

Yes. When a CSI or survey threshold gates a bonus, that bonus is booked to the right person and pay period once you confirm who cleared it. Off-cycle bonus runs cost nothing extra, so a spiff that clears after the close still pays on time with correct tax treatment.

Bring your worst Ford close.

Last month’s Ford Blue and Model e deals in one sheet, a warranty-heavy fortnight of SLTS flag hours, the STARS list off the whiteboard, one draw that’s underwater. Twenty minutes with a payroll specialist on a live demo store — if WageTime can’t carry all three rulebooks, you’ll know before the meeting ends.

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