Pharma and life sciences
Medical representative incentives calculated from stockist data and paid in days.
Pharma companies pay medical representatives on division slabs, headquarter gates and stockist secondary sales that arrive late and get revised. Kennect is pharma incentive compensation software that pulls that data and applies every rule in a dated plan version. Each representative sees the payout before the cycle closes.
Updated on 14 Oct 2026
Built for scale
60,000 and ₹1,200 crore: Kennect client data, approved proof points. 5 days: Kennect customer outcome, mid-sized Indian pharma. 80%: Kennect customer outcome, claim register.
The problem
What a pharma incentive cycle costs today.
A pharma incentive cycle starts with stockist secondary sales that arrive weeks after month end and change after returns and expiry adjustments. Divisions run different slabs, headquarters carry gates, and first line managers earn on their teams. In many companies it runs in spreadsheets the field cannot see.
Stockist data lands weeks after the month closes
Late payoutsSecondary sales come from stockist statements and distributor systems in different formats. The incentive team cleans and maps them by hand, so payouts land two to three months after the work.
Every division runs its own slabs and gates
Spreadsheet sprawlCardiac, diabetes and acute divisions set different products, slabs and coverage gates. Each one lives in a separate workbook, and one formula change can alter hundreds of payouts without anyone noticing.
Representatives cannot see how the payout was reached
Trust and attritionA representative sees a final number with no slab, gate or stockist line behind it. Queries pile up after payout, and top performers read the silence as a reason to leave.
The payee map
Kennect reads each source, maps every payee to a headquarter and division for the month, and pays from one dated plan version.
Plan mechanics
How pharma incentive compensation software pays each rule.
Pharma plans combine division slabs, stockist secondary sales incentive rules, coverage gates and team payouts in one cycle. These are the mechanics we see in Indian pharma plans, and how Kennect runs each one.
Sources: Kennect discovery calls with Indian pharma and medtech companies; Kennect product documentation.
Compliance
Pharma incentive plan compliance under the Code on Wages.
The Code on Wages, 2019 came into force on 21 November 2025. Section 2(y) keeps commission out of wages, but excluded pay above half of total remuneration is added back. That changes the base for gratuity and other wage-linked dues when incentives form a large share of pay. Under Section 143(3)(i) of the Companies Act 2013, the auditor reports on internal financial controls, and incentive accruals sit inside that scope. Kennect records each payout against the plan version, the source data and the approver. It also holds every representative’s monthly incentive by component, which HR needs for the wage test.
Score to payout
From stockist file to payout, on one engine.
Every pharma plan rule held in one dated version
- Division slabs, headquarter gates and launch contests sit in one plan library with effective dates.
- Plan changes go through maker-checker approval before any payout uses the new version.
- Each closed period is locked, and every later recalculation is logged with reason and approver.
- Auditors and finance pull the full record for any representative, month or division from one place.
Stockist data turned into payouts, then recalculated when revised
- Kennect ingests stockist, distributor and SFA files and maps each line to a headquarter.
- Returns, expiry and breakage are netted before achievement, using the territory map for that month.
- A revised stockist statement triggers recalculation, with the difference posted to the next payout.
- Calculation runs 90x faster than the spreadsheet process it replaced, so a rerun no longer delays payout.
Each representative sees the payout and the next slab
- Representatives see month-to-date incentive, achievement and the sales needed for the next slab.
- Earnings detail shows every product line, gate and recovery that adds to the total.
- A query is raised against the exact record, with status visible until it is resolved.
- What if shows the payout at a higher sales figure before the month closes.
The representative app
Medical representative incentive software in every pocket.
Representatives open Kennect on the phone they already carry, in English or Hindi. They see what they have earned, what is held and why, and what one more week of sales would add. Managers see the same view for their team.
HomeMonth incentive, achievement and the gap to the next slab on one screen.
Earnings detailEvery product line, gate and recovery that adds up to the total.
Raise a queryA question raised against the exact stockist line, with live status.
What ifThe payout at a higher sales figure, before the month closes.
Going live
Live on real payouts in eight weeks.
We start from your current incentive circulars and the data you already hold. Each division’s plan is configured from what your team issues today.
We map your stockist, SFA and HRMS files as they are.
We configure every division’s plan from the circulars you send.
We run Kennect beside your spreadsheet until the numbers match.
Sales operations keeps the SFA, distribution keeps the DMS and stockist feeds, HR keeps the HRMS and finance keeps the ERP. Kennect reads from each and returns approved payouts to payroll.
Connect
Stockist, SFA and HRMS feeds connected and mapped to headquarters.
Parallel run
One full cycle calculated in Kennect and matched against your sheet.
First live payout
Representatives paid from Kennect, with the app live from day one.
By role
What each leader gets from the same number.
Run pharma sales force incentive management by division, region and headquarter while there is still time to act.
Accrue incentives from locked plan versions, with every payout traceable for the auditor and the board.
Replace division workbooks with one plan library, and rerun a revised stockist month in one step.
Give representatives a payout they can check line by line, with every month’s incentive held by component.
See this month’s incentive, the next slab and every line behind the number on your phone.
Questions leaders ask
Pharma incentive questions, answered.
How should a pharma company calculate MR incentives on stockist secondary sales?
Calculate MR incentives on secondary sales net of returns, expiry and breakage, mapped to the headquarter that owned each stockist that month. The mechanism is a monthly territory snapshot joined to stockist statements, then division slabs and coverage gates applied in order. Revisions are recalculated and the difference carried to the next payout. Kennect is MR incentive calculation software that runs this end to end, from stockist file to approved payout.
Does the Code on Wages change how pharma companies treat incentives paid to medical representatives?
Yes, where incentives form a large share of pay. The Code on Wages, in force since 21 November 2025, excludes commission from wages under Section 2(y). Excluded pay above half of total remuneration is added back as wages, which raises the base for dues such as gratuity. Kennect holds each representative’s incentive by component and month, so HR can run that test from one record.
What does the auditor check in a pharma incentive payout under the Companies Act?
The auditor checks that incentive accruals and payouts follow approved rules under working controls. Under Section 143(3)(i) of the Companies Act 2013, the auditor reports on internal financial controls, so plan approvals, data sources and recalculations need a record. A spreadsheet with overwritten cells cannot show who changed what. Kennect locks each closed period and logs every change against the plan version, data file and approver.
How do we stop MR incentive queries from piling up after every payout?
Show each representative how the payout was reached before it is paid. Queries come from missing context: which stockist lines counted, which gate held the amount and which slab applied. When the payee sees those lines, routine questions stop, and the rest arrive with the record attached. Kennect gives representatives an earnings detail and a raise a query flow, and one Indian pharma client saw 80% fewer queries.
How long does it take to move from Excel to pharma incentive compensation software?
Plan for about eight weeks to the first live payout. The time goes into mapping stockist and SFA data, configuring each division’s plan from its circular and running one parallel cycle against the existing spreadsheet. The parallel run is what earns finance’s sign-off. Kennect has taken pharma teams live in eight weeks, using the files and circulars they already hold.
How should first line manager incentives work when representatives transfer mid-month?
Credit the manager who owned the headquarter on each day of the month. The mechanism is a dated hierarchy snapshot, where sales and gates are attributed by days in role and both managers are paid their share. Without that snapshot, transfers create disputes that surface after payout. Kennect holds a monthly hierarchy version and prorates targets, sales and payouts by days in role.
Can life sciences sales compensation software run pharma and medtech incentives together?
Yes, if the plan engine treats products, territories and payees as configuration. Pharma pays on stockist secondary sales and coverage, while medtech pays on direct orders, installations and service contracts with longer cycles. Both need slabs, gates and recoveries on a dated plan. Kennect runs both on one engine, so a group with pharma and device divisions keeps one audit trail.
How do we know if our pharma incentive plan is changing representative behavior?
Compare achievement before and after the change, against representatives the change did not touch. The mechanism is a scheme-level comparison across the same division and months, with and without the slab or contest. Across 7,765 representatives, Kennect clients saw attainment rise from 97.3% to 100.7% after moving to Kennect. Kennect reports achievement by plan version, so each change is measured on its own.
Next step
Send us one incentive circular.
Share a division’s current incentive circular and a month of stockist data. In a working session, we configure that plan in Kennect and show your team the payout each representative would have seen.