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Suggestion: Before reading further, review the hierarchy terminology described in Hierarchy Terminology.

For example, suppose that the hierarchy in Figure 5 - 3 is in effect. When Oracle Sales Compensation receives a transaction where Smith is the credit receiver, Oracle Sales Compensation automatically applies the amount of sales credit from that transaction to Bigelow's and Cummins' compensation plans. If the revenue class of the commission transaction matches a revenue class on the plans of those salespeople, Oracle Sales Compensation applies the sales credit toward a commission payment.

In this scenario, Smith is a direct credit receiver, having been assigned sales credit for a transaction directly in order or billing systems. Bigelow and Cummins are indirect credit receivers, receiving sales credit because they are positioned above Smith in the hierarchy. A given salesperson in the hierarchy can be both a direct and indirect credit receiver if that salesperson generates sales revenue and also receives sales credit from other salespeople.

Each salesperson in the hierarchy receives indirect sales credit from salespeople in child positions, and rolls both indirect and direct credit received up to salespeople in parent positions. For example, Figure 5 - 4 shows two transactions: one where Smith receives $2000 of direct sales credit and Bigelow receives $1000 direct sales credit. Because Smith is at the lowest level in the hierarchy, Smith receives only $2000 of direct sales credit, while Bigelow receives $1000 direct sales credit plus $2000 of indirect credit from Smith. Cummins receives all of Bigelow's credit, both direct and indirect--a total of $3000.

A salesperson together with his/her ancestors in the hierarchy is known as a credit chain. An example of a credit chain is highlighted in Figure 5 - 5.

Oracle Sales Compensation rolls sales credit up to all salespeople within a given credit chain, whether or not a given salesperson within the chain is eligible to receive a commission from the credit.

For example, if Bigelow's compensation plan does not specify the STD Envoy revenue class (or any of its ancestors in the revenue class hierarchy), Bigelow is not compensated for the rollup credit, yet Cummins does receive a commission because the revenue class of the transaction matches a class on Cummins' plan.

Any salesperson in the hierarchy can roll credit up to more than one representative, as long as the rollup credit chains do not intersect, resulting in one salesperson being compensated twice for the same commission transaction. If you define two intersecting rollup credit chains, known as a diamond, Oracle Sales Compensation gives you an error message to let you know that this is illegal.

For example, suppose that, for each transaction he receives, Jones rolls credit up to his manager, Pete Bigelow, but must also roll credit up to a support representative for his territory. In the example in Figure 5 - 6, Jones rolls credit up to both Bigelow and Christine Niles, a Territory 4 Support Representative. However, these credit chains intersect at the root, resulting in credit receiver Cummins receiving compensation for Jones' transactions twice.

To roll credit up to more than one salesperson while avoiding double compensation, you need to create another root in the hierarchy. A root is a position in the hierarchy occupied by a salesperson at the top of a credit chain. For example, in Figure 5 - 6, Kelly Cummins is a root. If you define a rollup twice, Oracle Sales Compensation gives you the message "Diamonds and loops are not allowed."

One or more credit chains that have the same root form a branch of the hierarchy. While only one salesperson hierarchy can be effective at any given point in time, a single hierarchy can have multiple branches.

For example, Global Computers sales representatives such as Smith roll sales credit up their sales management chain, yet also roll sales credit across to Global consulting representatives in their territories. As shown in Figure 5 - 7, Global implements both rollup and roll-across credit from Smith by creating an additional branch in the hierarchy, and repeating Smith in the new branch at the lowest level.

Because sales consultant Niles is in a different tree of the hierarchy, no salesperson is compensated twice for the same transaction because the credit chains do not intersect: