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Recruitment fee calculator for startup hiring
Compare a traditional placement fee with an agreed monthly percentage of salary. Model one hire or a whole hiring plan, see how the cost lands month by month, then send it to us.
Modelling one role at one salary. Switch to the team plan if you are hiring several different roles.
Your hiring plan
These figures are illustrative examples, not a quotation.
- Every percentage here is editable and is an example, not a standard SUS rate.
- Your SUS percentage, your buy-out value for each hire and all other commercial terms are agreed with you individually and confirmed in writing before work begins.
- The currency selector changes the modelling currency only. Figures are not converted between currencies.
- Over a long enough period the cumulative monthly cost can exceed a traditional recruitment fee. The calculator shows both the exact breakeven and the first full month above it, rather than hiding the crossover.
- This calculator models one salary figure throughout. If the employment offer includes a guaranteed future salary increase agreed at the outset, the actual SUS monthly fee would adjust when that guaranteed increase takes effect.
Modelled at the same salary and the same example percentages for each hire.
Changes the modelling currency only — figures are not converted between currencies.
The slider covers the most commonly modelled range; type any figure directly for higher or lower salaries.
Percentage of annual salary, invoiced at the point of hire.
Percentage of gross monthly salary per hire, charged monthly while that employee stays.
Billing stops when the employment ends, so this is how many monthly payments would be made.
Share these figures with a cofounder, or print a one-page summary for a board pack.
What this looks like
Illustrative model for 1 hire on £60,000, using the same salary and percentages across each hire.
- Traditional cost at the point of hire
- £12,000
- 20% of £60,000
- SUS cost per month
- £875
- 17.5% of £5,000 gross monthly salary
- SUS cost after 15 months
- £13,125
- £1,125 more than the traditional cost at this point
- Recruitment cash not needed in month one
- £11,125
- Cash you do not have to find in the first month compared with paying the traditional recruitment cost immediately. The cost is not removed: SUS payments continue every month the hire stays, and can exceed the traditional fee over a long tenure.
Month one, side by side
Traditional example
£12,000
recruitment cost today, when modelling 1 hire at 20%
SUS example
£875
recruitment cost in month one, at 17.5% of gross monthly salary
That does not mean the difference disappears. SUS changes when the recruitment cost is paid, and ties ongoing payments to the continuing employment of the hire. It is still a recruitment cost, paid over time.
- Traditional (dashed)
- SUS (solid)
Hover the chart, or focus it and use the arrow keys, to read the cumulative cost at any month.
Traditional recruitment: £12,000 paid in month one, unchanged thereafter. SUS: £875 each month, £13,125 in total after 15 months. Month 14 is the first full month where cumulative SUS cost is above the traditional fee.
Timeline
Cumulative SUS spend at each milestone, next to the traditional cost paid at the point of hire.
| Month | SUS paid to date | Traditional paid to date |
|---|---|---|
| Month 1 | £875 | £12,000 |
| Month 3 | £2,625 | £12,000 |
| Month 6 | £5,250 | £12,000 |
| Month 12 | £10,500 | £12,000 |
| Month 15(period modelled) | £13,125at or above | £12,000 |
At these example rates, Month 14 is the first full month where cumulative SUS cost is above the traditional recruitment cost. The exact breakeven is about 13.7 months.
If someone leaves
- They stay the full period. 15 monthly payments of £875 — £13,125 in total.
- They leave earlier. Billing for that employee stops from their final date of employment under the agreed terms, so no further monthly payments fall due for them.
Payments already made cover recruitment work already delivered; they are not refunded. The employee is employed by you, not by Startup Staffing.
Buying out the arrangement
- The buy-out value, or the basis for calculating it, is agreed with you in writing in your commercial terms at the outset, for each hire.
- You can exercise that pre-agreed option later under those terms, without a fresh commercial negotiation.
- Once it is paid, future monthly billing for that hire stops. Other hires are unaffected.
- Monthly fees already paid are not deducted, credited or refunded against the buy-out by default; they cover the months already elapsed.
Because the value is individually agreed, it is deliberately not calculated here.
These figures are illustrative examples, not a quotation.
- Every percentage here is editable and is an example, not a standard SUS rate.
- Your SUS percentage, your buy-out value for each hire and all other commercial terms are agreed with you individually and confirmed in writing before work begins.
- The currency selector changes the modelling currency only. Figures are not converted between currencies.
- Over a long enough period the cumulative monthly cost can exceed a traditional recruitment fee. The calculator shows both the exact breakeven and the first full month above it, rather than hiding the crossover.
- This calculator models one salary figure throughout. If the employment offer includes a guaranteed future salary increase agreed at the outset, the actual SUS monthly fee would adjust when that guaranteed increase takes effect.
What are you optimising for?
SUS suits some situations and not others. It is worth being honest about which one you are in before we talk.
Protect cash flow
You would rather keep working capital in the business than pay a large recruitment fee at the point of hire.
Share hiring risk differently
Billing is linked to the employee remaining with you, so the recruitment cost tracks the outcome rather than the introduction.
Build a team
Several hires close together, where the combined upfront fees would be difficult to absorb in one month.
Prefer a one-off fee
If you have the cash available and want the cost closed off on day one, a traditional fee is simpler — and SUS is probably not the right fit.
Know the cost. Now sharpen the requirement.
Our free hiring brief builder turns the role you are modelling into a proper technical brief — what success looks like, the genuine must-haves, and where you would flex. Print it, share it with your co-founder, or send it straight to us.
The salary you are modelling comes with you, so you do not start from a blank page.
How the two fee models compare, without using the calculator
A traditional recruitment fee is a single invoice at the point of hire, calculated as a percentage of the first-year salary. The Startup Staffing model replaces that with an agreed monthly percentage of the employee's gross monthly salary, payable for as long as that person stays. The total you pay therefore depends on tenure: short tenure costs less than a traditional fee, and long tenure eventually costs more. The calculator on this page simply shows where that crossover falls for your own figures.
- The maths
- Traditional fee = annual salary × traditional percentage. Monthly SUS fee = (annual salary ÷ 12) × monthly percentage. Cumulative SUS cost = monthly fee × months employed.
- Currency is display only
- You can model in any of the supported currencies. Nothing is converted between them and no exchange rate is applied — the figures are simply presented in the currency you pick, and offering a currency is not a claim to operate in that market.
- Where this model does not fit
- If you expect very long tenure and have the cash to pay a fee up front, a traditional fee can work out cheaper. The calculator shows that crossover honestly rather than hiding it.
- What is actually agreed
- Percentages are agreed individually and confirmed in writing before any work starts. Everything shown here and in the calculator is illustrative modelling.
| Figure | Traditional | Startup Staffing |
|---|---|---|
| When you pay | Once, at the point of hire | Monthly, while the employee remains employed |
| Amount at hire | £12,000 | £0 |
| Amount per month | £0 | £875 (17.5% of £5,000 gross monthly salary) |
| If they leave early | Fee already paid; recovery depends on a rebate clause | Monthly fee stops |
| Crossover point | — | month 14 is the first full month above the traditional fee (exact breakeven about 13.7 months) |
This calculator models one salary figure throughout. If the employment offer includes a guaranteed future salary increase agreed at the outset, the actual SUS monthly fee would adjust when that guaranteed increase takes effect. Nothing on this page is a quote, and nothing you enter into the calculator is sent to us or stored on our servers.
Planning several hires: sequence, timing and recruitment cash
A hiring plan is a list of the roles you expect to open, roughly when each one starts, and what each one costs in the month it starts. Recruitment fees are a separate cash line from salary, and their shape differs by model: a traditional fee is a single invoice in the month of the hire, while a monthly model spreads a smaller amount across the months that person stays. Planning the sequence therefore changes when money leaves the business, even when the number of hires does not change.
- Why sequencing matters
- Three hires in one month create one large recruitment invoice; the same three staggered across six months spread that cash. Neither is automatically right — the planner shows both so you can decide against your own runway.
- What the planner models
- Recruitment fees only, month by month: the traditional fee for each hire at its start month, the monthly Startup Staffing fee from that month onwards, the cumulative totals and where they cross over.
- What it deliberately does not model
- It is not a runway calculator. Salaries, employer costs, equipment, notice periods and taxes are not included, and no benchmark headcount or hiring sequence is implied by any suggested starting plan.
- Currency is display only
- You can model in any supported currency. Nothing is converted, no exchange rate is applied, and offering a currency is not a claim to operate in that market.
Your plan stays in your browser. It is saved locally so you can come back to it, and nothing is sent to us unless you deliberately start a conversation — and even then the plan itself does not travel with the enquiry.
Get my SUS rate
Send us the plan you have modelled and we will come back with a rate and terms to discuss. This is an enquiry only — it is not a quotation and not acceptance of any contractual terms.
Attached to your enquiry
1 hire · £60,000 salary · 20% traditional example · 17.5% SUS example · 15 months · £12,000 traditional vs £875 per month.
Related reading
Guides from the resource hub that cover the thinking behind this page. Each one is written by us and reviewed before publication.
- Startup hiring costs
What a startup hire actually costs
The full cost of a startup hire: recruitment fee, cash timing, ramp-up, the cost of a leaver and the internal hours nobody budgets for.7 min read · Reviewed 15 August 2026 - Recruitment models
How to compare an upfront fee with a monthly recruitment fee
A four-axis method for comparing any one-off placement fee with any monthly percentage model: total cost, cash timing, exit risk and day-one commitment.8 min read · Reviewed 15 August 2026 - Startup hiring costs
How to budget recruitment costs across a hiring plan
How to turn a list of roles into a recruitment budget: sequencing, cash timing per month, the cost of slippage, and what to show against runway.9 min read · Reviewed 15 August 2026