Recruiting billing software
Your retained search has agreed stages and still tends to invoice as one lump at the end. Smarfle holds each stage on the search so it raises when it is reached, which is the difference between a retainer and a contingency.
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$8,420
47
Acme Office Park
Monthly maintenance
$485
Riverside Apartments
Quarterly service
$1,200
Downtown Plaza
Monthly recurring
$320
West End Hotel
Bi-weekly contract
$680
Real Smarfle UI · Live data from your recruiting CRM
Why generic billing software fails recruiting owners
Generic billing tools weren’t built for recruiting. Smarfle was.
Generic billing software
What everyone else gives you
- A large placement fee arrives slowly as a check
- Retained search billing is applied differently on every engagement
- Guarantee periods are tracked by hand and the obligation is forgotten
Smarfle for recruiting
Built for your actual workflow
- A route built for large sums is offered on the document, so the fee lands in days
- A monthly arrangement runs on its own cadence for each search
- Each placement carries its guarantee date and prompts you before it expires
How recruiting billing works in Smarfle
From the first touch to the closed loop. No missing pieces.
- 1
The engagement type is chosen up front
Contingent or retained, and on what terms, is recorded before the search starts, because those two behave nothing alike once money is involved.
- 2
A retained search bills on its agreed stages
Kickoff, shortlist and hire each carry an amount defined in writing, so a milestone reached is a milestone billed rather than a discussion.
- 3
The placement fee raises on the start date
The charge goes out the day the candidate begins, while the hiring manager who fought for the role is still the person it reaches.
- 4
The guarantee clock starts with the placement
Its length and its expiry sit on the record from day one, so a replacement obligation is something the business can see rather than something one person remembers.
- 5
A credit attaches to the placement it relates to
A replacement or a refund is recorded against the original fee, so the history reads as one relationship rather than two unconnected documents.
Where recruiting billing breaks down
The friction every recruiting owner recognizes.
Retained search bills on milestones nobody defined
A staged engagement where the stages were described in a conversation. When the shortlist lands, whether that triggers a payment depends on what both sides happen to remember.
Cash is lumpy and overheads are not
Two placements in a month and none the next. Researchers, job boards and rent cost the same every week regardless, and retained work is the only thing that smooths it.
A guarantee is a liability with no owner
Ninety days of replacement obligation on every placement. The revenue is recognized immediately and the risk sits somewhere nobody is actively tracking.
Retained searches billed at the end
A retained search has agreed milestones and usually invoices as one lump at the finish. Hold the stages on the search so each one raises when it is reached rather than all of it when the placement lands.
18
Retained searches a year
3
Stages each
~54
Billing points
Based on typical recruiting operations. Your numbers may vary.
Features powering recruiting billing
Each one a deep-dive in its own right.
Guarantee terms are fields you define
The guarantee window, the start date and the replacement condition are your own fields on the placement, so a liability has a date attached to it.
Learn moreClient companies hold their own contacts
A hiring manager, a finance contact and the roles they own sit under one company, so an invoice reaches the person who pays it.
Learn moreSearch stages are quoted and accepted
Each stage of a retained search is agreed as a signed estimate, so the milestones exist as a document rather than as an understanding.
Learn moreRetained and contingent work separate
Labels split the searches that bill in stages from the ones that bill on a start, so cash you can forecast is not mixed with cash you cannot.
Learn moreRecruiting billing software questions
Moving your recruiting billing software off another tool?
Most recruiting businesses arrive at Smarfle from one of the tools below. See a side-by-side comparison.
Other recruiting tools
Smarfle ships billing software alongside the rest of your CRM.
Billing software for other industries
Same billing engine, tuned for each vertical.
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