In this paper a new method for the analysis of soft synchronous commutations in switching converters is presented. The method is based on the application of the compensation principle, and allows one to perform jointly the analysis of both hard and soft synchronous commutations. In the paper it is also shown that the proposed method enables one to highlight and explain some mechanisms, underlying soft synchronous commutations, that have not yet been evidenced in literature. In particular, it is shown that a soft commutation of a switching device can trigger the synchronous commutation of other switching devices, provided that proper conditions are met. For the analysis of such situations the derivatives of the currents and of the voltages of switching devices need to be watched. An example concerning the analysis of a ZCT dc-dc switching converter is discussed.