DEALER PAYROLL · AUDI DEALERSHIPS

The factory writes the pay terms. Payroll should be keeping them.

An Audi store runs on factory-written pay terms: the AEP sponsorship, the Guild ladder, three high-voltage levels, Twin Cup money, and a lease-built EV floor. WageTime keeps those terms as configured payroll, for one store or the whole group.

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WageTime serves independently owned and operated dealerships. WageTime is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by Audi of America, AUDI AG, or the Volkswagen Group. All trademarks belong to their respective owners.

SOUND FAMILIAR?

Brand programs are pay plans in disguise.

An Audi store’s payroll problems aren’t generic dealership problems with four rings on top. They come from a factory that writes wage terms into its programs, a service career ladder with money on every rung, and a sales floor whose deal structure the lease desk decided years ago. Each one is either office hours nobody bills or a promise quietly drifting out of compliance.

THE SPONSORSHIP CLOCK

The AEP agreement is a pay plan with a deadline

Sponsor an apprentice through the Audi Education Partnership and the dealer signs for real terms: a wage floor for bay time, an assigned mentor, eight weeks of Audi Academy training inside an 18-month clock, and a certified technician the store keeps for two years. Today those terms live in a folder, and payroll keeps them from memory.

GUILD MATH

Four rungs, and the rate is always one step behind

Specialist, Expert, Master, Master Guild: every rung moves the flat-rate figure. A tech passes the last course on a Tuesday and the office hears about it after the period closes, so the new rate arrives as a retro adjustment and a hallway apology.

TWO WINNERS, ONE PRIZE

Twin Cup money lands on two pay plans at once

The team that wins is a technician and a service advisor together. One is paid on flag hours, the other on labor gross. The store’s recognition check has to reach both correctly, off the pay calendar, with taxes handled, and today that means the office improvises.

THE MAGNA PUSH

A store-wide scoreboard, paid out one department at a time

Chasing Magna Society turns customer-experience metrics into money for advisors, Brand Specialists, and the BDC, each on a different underlying plan, each paid when scores post rather than when the calendar says. The all-departments bonus sheet only the GM understands is a pay run wearing a costume.

THE RETURN WAVE

94% of the EVs went out on leases. They all come back.

A lease-built EV floor guarantees the service drive a scheduled wave of return inspections and reconditioning flags, much of it gated to high-voltage-certified hands. Those hours pay at their own rates, and they reach payroll today the same way everything else does: re-keyed.

THE HYBRID DESK

Base-plus-commission sells beside straight gross

Audi showrooms staff Brand Specialists on salary-or-hourly-plus-commission hybrids while the used floor often runs classic percentage-of-gross. Two comp philosophies, one month-end close, and a down-market year where minis and volume money do most of the earning.

Five of these become real product screens below, with sample store data. The desk math gets straight answers in the FAQ.
01 · THE SPONSORSHIP FILE

How do you pay an AEP apprentice through the 18-month window?

The sponsorship agreement becomes configured pay rules in WageTime instead of office memory: the apprentice’s bay-time wage runs hourly above the program floor, and the pay basis flips to flat rate on the certification date, scheduled in advance.

  • Mixed hourly and flag weeks compute overtime on the weighted-average regular rate.
  • Mentor premiums pay as their own earning code.
  • Two years of documented wage history, ready to show anyone who asks.
app.wagetime.com/people/sponsorship

AEP Sponsorship File · Service Dept

1 rate flip scheduled3 sponsorships active
Bay-time floor $15.00/hr per sponsorship terms · mentor premium pays as its own earning · flip runs on the certification date
$15.00Bay-time floor/hr
Aug 24Rate flip runs
24 moWage history kept
PersonBasisStatus
T. Willems (apprentice)Mo 16/18 · $26.00 flat Aug 24Hourly $19.50Flip scheduled
J. Okonkwo (apprentice)Mo 7/18 · above $15.00 floorHourly $17.00Clear
R. Stavros (mentor)+$150.00/period mentor premiumFlat rate $38.50Paying
L. Fontaine (apprentice)Mo 2/18 · weighted-average OTHourly $16.00Clear
3 sponsorships active · 24 months of wage history exportable1 flip scheduled Aug 24the new flat rate starts on the certification date

Replaces the folder where the AEP agreement lives, and the payroll surprise on graduation day.

02 · GUILD AT THE TOP

What moves the rate between Specialist, Expert, Master, and Master Guild?

The credential that earned the rate moves it: each technician’s flat-rate figure in WageTime binds to the rung with an effective date, so the rate changes the day the tech clears Specialist, Expert, Master, or Master Guild.

  • Expiration alerts fire at 30, 60, and 90 days.
  • Mid-period changes split the period correctly.
  • ASE credentials expire on their five-year cycle; HV levels gate e-tron work.
  • A lapse warns with a dollar figure attached, not a retro adjustment.
app.wagetime.com/service/guild-ladder

Certification Ladder · Audi Service

1 lapse approaching1 promotion queued
Rate rules follow the rung · HV level is a separate gating credential · alerts fire 30/60/90 days out
4Techs on the ladder
$4.00Lapse cost/flag hr
30/60/90Alert days out
TechFlat rateWatching
M. Castile #02Master Guild · HV Level 3$46.00/flag hrASE recert Mar 2027
A. Brandt #06Master HV 2 · $35.00 if lapsed$39.00/flag hrL1 expires Sep 12
S. Iyer #09Expert HV 2 · $36.00 Aug 1$31.50/flag hrMaster review passed
D. Marsh #14Specialist · HV Level 1$24.00/flag hrTwo courses to Expert
4 techs · 1 lapse would cost $4.00 per flag hour from Sep 12promotion effective Aug 1applies to August days only

Replaces the whiteboard ladder, and the retro check that follows a quiet recert lapse.

03 · TWIN CUP MONEY

How does one team award pay a flat-rate tech and a commissioned advisor?

Recognition money runs as its own WageTime bonus run, so one team award lands correctly on two pay plans: the technician on flag hours and the advisor on labor gross.

  • Bonus earning codes ride an off-cycle run, at no extra cost.
  • Each winner’s underlying pay plan stays untouched.
  • Withholding is handled on the run, not improvised.
  • Runner-up spiffs ride the same run, each as its own earning line.
app.wagetime.com/payroll/recognition-run

Recognition Run · Twin Cup Team · Off-cycle

Off-cycle run · $0 extraTaxes handled on run
Bonus pays as earning code TWINCUP · underlying plans untouched · run date Jul 18, three days after the regional
A. Brandt #06Winner$1,500.00
Tech · $39.00/flag hr · plan sameSeparate line
N. DuvalWinner$1,500.00
Advisor · base + labor-gross commSeparate line
S. Iyer #09Runner-up$500.00
Tech · $31.50/flag hr · plan sameSeparate line
K. AldanaRunner-up$500.00
Advisor · base + labor-gross commSeparate line
One off-cycle recognition run · zero spreadsheet math$4,000.00runs are unlimited, so this one costs nothing extra

Replaces the envelope math, and the argument about whose pay plan the team money belongs to.

04 · THE MAGNA SCOREBOARD

Can one store-wide push pay bonuses across every department correctly?

Yes: WageTime splits the money the way the store does, paying a store-level Magna score department by department, each pool with its own approver, on an off-cycle run when scores post mid-cycle.

  • Role-based access: the service manager sees the drive’s pool, not the showroom’s.
  • Bonus codes pay out without touching base plans.
  • Reporting rolls up per department or combined.
  • Magna scores the store on customer-experience metrics plus business standards.
app.wagetime.com/reports/department-bonus

Store Push Payout · Q2 · Scores posted Jul 10

4 departments · 4 approversOff-cycle run Jul 17
Store-level program, department-level payouts · each pool approved by its own manager · combined view for the GM
$12,950.00Store push total
29People paid
Jul 17Off-cycle run date
DepartmentPoolStatus
Service drive11 people · R. Whitfield$5,500.00Ready
Sales floor9 people · D. Camara$4,500.00Ready
Parts counter5 people · L. Bright$1,750.00Ready
BDC4 people · holds its own pool$1,200.00Pending approval
29 people · three pools ready, one pending, nothing blockedapproved pools run Jul 17 at no extra cost

Replaces the all-departments bonus spreadsheet that only the GM understands.

05 · THE RETURN WAVE

Who gets paid right when the leased e-trons come back?

The recon lane imports into WageTime with everything else: lease-return and CPO reconditioning flags land beside warranty and customer-pay time, in their own bucket at their own rate, tied to the tickets they came from.

  • 94% of Audi’s U.S. electric vehicles leave the store on a lease.
  • HV premiums bind to the credential, not the guess.
  • Imported hours arrive matched to the pay period.
  • Tell us your DMS on the demo; we’ll confirm the exact flow.
app.wagetime.com/time/recon-import

Recon Lane Import · Lease Returns · Jun 16-30

12 returns processed1 ticket open
Sample tickets · Q4 e-tron return inspection · 1.8 recon hrs · e-tron GT battery-health check · HV Level 2 required · 2.6 recon hrs
39.1Recon hrs imported
8e-tron tickets
0Hours re-keyed
TechRecon hrsStatus
M. Castile #02HV 3 · wty 18.2 · CP 30.414.6Ready
A. Brandt #06HV 2 · wty 22.8 · CP 26.911.2Ready
S. Iyer #09HV 2 · wty 16.4 · CP 31.79.8Ready
D. Marsh #14HV 1 · wty 12.1 · CP 24.33.5 (non-HV only)1 ticket open
4 techs · 39.1 recon hrs at recon rates · HV level shown beside 8 e-tron ticketsposts to the Jul 3 run

Replaces the recon hours penciled onto the used-car manager’s clipboard.

PRICING

Simple payroll pricing. No surprises.

Full-service payroll is $10 a month per person paid that month, plus $50 a month per company, with unlimited runs. No long-term contracts, no per-run charges.

  • Full-service payroll, unlimited runs
  • Federal, state & local tax filing
  • Year-end W-2s & 1099s
  • Direct deposit, checks & pay cards
  • Contractor payments & filings
  • Off-cycle runs & bonuses, no extra fee
  • Employee paystubs & W-2 access
  • QuickBooks integration
$10/mo per person paid
+ $50/mo per company

Off-cycle runs and bonuses cost nothing extra. No long-term contracts; cancel anytime.

Example: 50 people paid × $10 + $50 company = $550 for the month

HR & hiring, onboarding, PTO, time tracking, benefits, and workers’ comp are optional add-ons, priced separately when you’re ready.

See a demo
THE INFRASTRUCTURE BEHIND WAGETIME
$35B+
in payroll & taxes paid
2.8M+
employees paid
4.3M+
W-2s & 1099s filed
100%
of tax filings automated

Audi dealer payroll FAQ

How does the commission close work when Brand Specialists are on base plus commission?

The base runs as salary or hourly on the regular cycle, and the month-end commission close computes the rest: gross commissions, unit minis, volume tiers, and F&I with chargeback netting, with draw offsets applied against a running ledger. In a year like 2025, when Audi of America sold 164,942 vehicles, 16% fewer than the year before, minis and volume money carry more of the check.

We run the Audi store next to a Volkswagen rooftop and a used lot. Separate LLCs, one office?

That structure is WageTime’s default shape. The Audi LLC, the VW LLC, and the used-car company each keep their own EIN, and every federal, state, and local filing runs per company with deposits included. The office signs in once, approves the group’s Friday in one sitting, and pulls reports per rooftop or rolled together, with no consolidation workbook in between.

Our hours live in the DMS and our warranty times in Audi’s systems. How do they reach payroll?

We import clock and flag hours so there’s no double entry. Closed-ticket flag time and time-clock hours land in one review screen, split warranty, customer-pay, and recon, matched to the pay period. Whether the store runs CDK, Reynolds & Reynolds, Dealertrack, or Tekion beside ElsaPro and ODIS, nobody re-keys the paying numbers. Tell us your DMS on the demo and we’ll confirm the exact flow for your setup.

Do warranty-heavy weeks still trigger a minimum-wage true-up at an Audi store?

Yes, and the four-ring drive earns them: factory labor allowances price warranty work leaner than customer-pay guide times, so a stretch of warranty-heavy e-tron and recall tickets can pull a flat-rate paycheck toward the statutory floor. WageTime runs the effective-rate math on every tech every period and puts any make-up pay on the run as its own documented earning.

Who is allowed to flag e-tron high-voltage work, and how does payroll know?

Audi defines three high-voltage technician levels, from no live-part contact up to work on energized systems. In WageTime each tech’s HV level is a credential on the employee record with expiration alerts, its rate premium binds to that credential with an effective date, and a lapsed certification ends the premium on the day it lapses, not three checks later.

What does it cost?

$50 per month per company plus $10 per month per person paid that month, no long-term contracts, cancel anytime. A 54-person Audi store runs $590 for the month: $50 base plus $540 in per-person fees. Payroll runs are unlimited, so Twin Cup recognition runs and mid-cycle bonus payouts cost nothing extra, and year-end W-2s and 1099s are included, with 1099 contractors running alongside W-2 employees.

Bring the sponsorship file.

The AEP agreement, the Guild whiteboard, last month’s commission board, a fortnight of recon flags off the lease returns. Twenty minutes with a payroll specialist against a live demo store: if WageTime can’t keep the brand’s pay terms for you, you’ll know before the call ends.

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