What is a Bonus Plan? A bonus plan is an agreement between the employer and employee to pay out a predetermined amount of money based on performance.Explore executive bonus plan examples for effective performance-based incentives that drive success and align leadership goals. This sample plan provides for an employer to pay employee bonus awards over a dollar threshold on a deferred basis. An incentive bonus agreement is a contract between an employer and employee that details information about a cash bonus offered as an incentive. In this article, I will show you how to create a simple plan that is easy to manage and provides protection to the company if financial goals are not met. These plans rely on the power of incentives to affect employee behavior. The foundation of any executive compensation plan is the base salary. Swan, a key employee of the Company ("Employee"). The life insurance policy, if properly structured, may provide an attractive benefit to the executive in the form of cash value growth.