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Worked example
Real numbers from this tool, line by line.
A $160,000 OTE pays an SDR moving into a US Account Executive role $136,000 if they reach 70% of a $900,000 quota, which leaves $24,000 below the number on the offer letter. That is the worked example in this tech sales interview prep kit, with these inputs:
| Line | Value |
|---|---|
| Annual quota | $900,000 |
| Average deal size | $30,000 |
| Win rate on qualified opportunities | 20% |
| First meetings that become opportunities | 50% |
| Deals to close per year | 30 |
| Qualified opportunities needed | 150 |
| First meetings needed per year | 300 |
| First meetings to book per month | 25 |
| Pipeline you must create per year | $4,500,000 |
| Quota-to-OTE ratio | 5.63x |
| Base salary (50/50 split) | $80,000 |
| Variable pay at 100% of quota | $80,000 |
| Effective commission rate on bookings | 8.89% |
| Pay at 70% attainment | $136,000 |
| Gap below OTE | $24,000 |
| Federal tax withheld per monthly commission check (22%) | $1,026.67 |
The final-round question: how will you hit the number?
Most AE loops end with a business-plan round. The panel gives you a quota and asks how you would hit it. The kit works it backwards: $900,000 divided by $30,000 is 30 deals. At a 20% win rate that is 150 qualified opportunities. If half of your first meetings turn into opportunities, you need 300 first meetings a year, or 25 a month, and $4,500,000 of pipeline. Those are the numbers you say out loud, built from the posting instead of a generic rule of thumb.
The offer question: what does the OTE really pay?
OTE assumes 100% of quota. Type the attainment you expect after asking the recruiter what share of the team hit plan last year. At 70%, the $80,000 variable becomes $56,000, so total pay is $136,000. The effective commission rate, $80,000 over $900,000, is 8.89% of every dollar you book.
The 22% on each commission check
IRS Publication 15 for 2026 keeps the flat withholding rate on supplemental wages at 22%, or 37% above $1 million in a year, after P.L. 119-21 made the rates permanent. If your employer withholds commissions at that flat rate, a monthly check of $4,666.67 at 70% attainment has $1,026.67 withheld for federal income tax, before Social Security, Medicare and state tax. Withholding is not your final tax, but it is what lands in your account.
Three situations, three different answers
- A $1,200,000 quota with $40,000 deals, a 25% win rate and a $180,000 OTE paid 60/40: 20 first meetings a month, $158,400 at 70%, a $21,600 gap.
- An SMB seat with a $600,000 quota, $12,000 deals, a 20% win rate, 40% meeting-to-opportunity and a $120,000 OTE: 52.1 first meetings a month and $3,000,000 of pipeline; at 85% attainment it pays $111,000.
- The worked example above: 25 meetings a month, $136,000 at 70%.
Free and paid
Free in the browser: the complete final-round quota math with your numbers, nothing locked, no sign-up. The paid .xlsx ($21, one payment) adds the offer check for after the recruiter calls: base and variable split, commission rate, pay at attainment, gap to OTE and the withholding line. For comparison, tech-sales programs on Whop sell for $66 and $999.
15 seconds — what it actually does
Questions people ask
What does the tech sales interview prep kit calculate?
From 8 inputs it runs 12 formulas. Free in the browser: deals, opportunities, first meetings, meetings per month, pipeline dollars and quota-to-OTE ratio for the final-round plan. In the workbook: base and variable pay, effective commission rate, pay at your attainment, the gap to OTE and the 22% federal withholding on each monthly commission check.
Who is it for?
SDRs and BDRs in US B2B software sales interviewing for a first Account Executive role, and career changers finishing a tech-sales program. If a hiring manager will ask you to walk through how you would hit a $900,000 quota, or a recruiter is about to quote an OTE, this gives you the numbers in your own words.
Why not just use free interview prep or a chatbot?
Free prep gives sample answers and a generic pipeline rule of thumb. It does not take the quota, deal size and win rate from your own posting and return the meetings per month you must book, and it does not show that a $160,000 OTE paid 50/50 lands at $136,000 if you reach 70% of quota.
What is free and what is paid?
Free, with no sign-up: the complete final-round quota math with your own numbers, nothing hidden. Paid, once: the .xlsx with all 12 formulas for the offer stage, covering base and variable split, commission rate, pay at attainment, the gap to OTE and the federal withholding on commission checks, in Excel, LibreOffice or Google Sheets.
What does it cost compared with a course?
Tech-sales programs on Whop sell for $66 (Sales Interview ToolKit Full) and $999 (Digital Gold). This is a one-time $21 workbook. In the worked example, accepting a $160,000 OTE without checking attainment hides a $24,000 gap at 70% of quota, and each monthly commission check has $1,026.67 withheld for federal tax at 22%.
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