Individual skill
audit-the-base-not-the-rate
Use this skill when a percentage in a commercial term is being set, questioned, or is producing a number nobody expected — sales commission, revenue share, affiliate and creator payouts, channel margin, agency fees, referral fees, rebates. Triggers: "reps are hitting quota but margin isn't moving", "what does this promo actually cost us", "our partner payouts are higher than the model", "is 15% a fair rate", "we're renegotiating the split", "the comp plan is paying out on deals we lost money on". It finds what the percentage multiplies, identifies the condition under which that choice starts to matter, quantifies the gap at that condition, and identifies the clause to revisit.
skills/roman-palii/audit-the-base-not-the-rate/SKILL.md
Source commit 5d786aad0c7b2ca59b1abf1f601f9407ca261996
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- Yes
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- Observed behavior
- Instructions only
- Last checked
- Nov 11, 2026
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- 237
- Repository last updated
- Oct 20, 2026
- License
- MIT
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SKILL.mdcore · 8,908 bytes
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Percentages get negotiated loudly. Bases get agreed in a subordinate clause. The rate is what everyone argues about and the base is what determines the money.
**This is a check, not the answer.** Run it, state what it found in a line or two, then return to the question actually asked and answer that. If someone asks whether a discount is survivable, the base is one input among retention, cash flow, acquisition cost and cost to serve — surface it, quantify it, and move on. An answer that audits the clause thoroughly and never addresses the decision is a worse answer, however correct the audit.
A term counts as unambiguous only when it states which side of fees, tax and refunds it sits on. "The amount actually paid" does not: it reads as the customer's payment or as what settled to you after processing, and those are different numbers. If the clause does not say which, the base is undefined — name both readings and price the gap, however confident the wording sounds. Where it genuinely does say, confirm it in a sentence and spend nothing further on it.
## Find the multiplicand
Every percentage term multiplies something. Locate the noun, not the number:
- **Sales commission** — bookings, billings, recognised revenue, or cash collected? Before or after discount? Before or after churn and clawback? Of revenue or of gross margin?
- **Supplier or creator revenue share** — list price or the price actually paid? Gross or net of processing fees? Does it reach shipping and tax?
- **Affiliate and channel payouts** — order total or product subtotal? Before or after a discount code? New customers only, or every order the cookie touches?
- **Agency fees** — gross media spend or net? Does it include the platform's own fees?