Which deal do you cap on?

A cap does not change your split gradually. It changes once, inside one specific deal, and every deal after that one is worth more than every deal before it. Put your own numbers in and see where the line falls.

What this is doing

Your cap is not measured in deals or in volume. It is measured in company dollar: the brokerage's share, accumulating against an annual ceiling. Divide the ceiling by the company dollar on one deal and you get the number of deals it takes to fill it, which is almost never a whole number.

So one deal each year straddles the line. It owes only the room that was left, and keeps the rest. That deal is worth a third figure that matches neither the ones before it nor the ones after, and it is the one that makes people think the accounting is broken.

What it does not know

Real books are not made of identical deals. This assumes one average sale price at one rate, which is the right way to see the shape and the wrong way to file your taxes.

It also ignores referral fees, admin fees, per-deal expenses, and any step-down in the post-cap fee. Your cap year probably runs from your start date rather than from January. And your independent contractor agreement (ICA) governs all of it.