True Hiring Cost Modeler

Why This Matters

Your clients are making six-figure decisions based on a salary number — not the real cost.

When a client says "we need to hire a $70k marketing manager," they're thinking $70k. They're not thinking $70k salary + $19k benefits + $6.4k payroll taxes + $6k recruiting + $3k onboarding + $8k ramp productivity gap = $112k in year one. That gap matters — especially for small businesses where one bad hire is a real financial event.

Hiring decisions made without full cost visibility lead to under-budgeted headcount plans, cash flow surprises mid-year, and the kind of phone calls you don't want to get in Q3.

💡 Your moment: Show a client the true cost of a hire before they pull the trigger — and you become part of the decision, not a spectator. Accountants who sit in on hiring conversations get called for everything else too.

Step 2 — Compensation

Annual Base Salary ($)

Benefits Load (% of salary)

Includes health, dental, vision, 401k, life/disability. Industry avg shown above.

Employer Payroll Taxes (%)

FICA 7.65% + FUTA 0.6% + avg SUTA ~0.85%. Ranges by state.

Step 3 — Acquisition Costs

Recruiting & Hiring Cost ($)

Agency fees, job boards, interviews, background checks. Benchmark auto-fills on role selection.

Time to Fill (days)

Days the role sits open — productivity gap while position is unfilled.

Onboarding & Training ($)

Orientation, training materials, manager/peer time during ramp

Equipment & Setup ($)

Laptop, software, workspace, access provisioning

True First-Year Cost

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Ongoing Annual Cost

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One-Time Hire Costs

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Ramp Productivity Gap

—

Open Role Cost/Day

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Full Cost Breakdown vs. Benchmarks

Component	Your Estimate	Industry Benchmark	vs. Benchmark

Sources: SHRM Human Capital Benchmarking Report 2023, SHRM Talent Acquisition Benchmarks, BLS Employer Costs for Employee Compensation (ECEC), LinkedIn Talent Trends, Jobvite Recruiting Benchmarks. SMB estimates derived from employer size cohorts under 500 employees.

What This Means for the Client

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