Gross Commission Income (GCI)
The top-line revenue number for every real estate agent — and the foundation for every other business metric that matters.
What is GCI?
Gross Commission Income (GCI) is the total commission earned from all real estate transactions in a given period — before any deductions. It represents your gross revenue contribution, before your brokerage takes its split or any other fees are applied.
GCI is the most fundamental metric in a real estate agent's business. It determines tax obligations, drives income forecasts, and is the basis for calculating every other performance metric.
Annual GCI — a worked example
For a full year or quarter, GCI is the sum of all commissions earned across every transaction you closed in that period. Both buyer-side and seller-side transactions count separately — each represents its own commission income.
Why GCI is not the same as income
A common mistake is treating GCI as take-home income. In reality, GCI is gross revenue. From this number, several deductions reduce what the agent actually keeps:
An agent earning $200,000 GCI may net $110,000–$130,000 before tax. Understanding the gap between GCI and net income is essential for informed business planning.
Why GCI matters for forecasting
GCI is the input for every meaningful projection an agent needs. Your year-end income forecast, quarterly tax estimate, financial runway calculation, and pipeline valuation all start from GCI. Without accurate, real-time GCI tracking, all downstream metrics are unreliable.
Key insight: Tracking GCI monthly against seasonality-adjusted expectations gives the clearest signal of whether you're ahead of or behind your annual goal — before a slow quarter turns into a financial problem.
How Agent Runway tracks GCI
Agent Runway automatically calculates your GCI, net agent income, year-to-date pace, and projected year-end total every time you log a deal. Your brokerage split, transaction fees, and expense deductions are applied automatically so you always see the real number — not just the gross. Seasonality-aware forecasting shows exactly where you're tracking against your annual goal.
Read: How agents track GCITrack your GCI automatically with Agent Runway
Log your deals, set your annual goal, and see your real-time GCI pace, net income, and year-end forecast — all in one dashboard.