Contingent Labor Cost and Conversion Workbook

Answer the question finance keeps asking: should these agency workers be on our payroll, and what would we save. Four options side by side, on your numbers, with every default sourced.

A workbook built for the meeting where the number gets challenged

One Excel workbook, opened on a worked example, plus the guide that tells you the order to work in. Works in Excel or Google Sheets.

• Start Here. How the tabs fit together and the order to work in. One page, read it first.
• Contingent Labor Cost and Conversion Workbook. Seven tabs: the single-role four-way calculator with a breakeven read, the multi-role program model across pay bands, the burden builder, scenario compare with a recommendation cell, and an assumptions and sources tab that dates every default. Opens on a worked example. Works in Excel or Google Sheets.
• TrueStep HR Product License. What you can and cannot do with the files, including the consultant and white-label tiers.
• Using This Workbook in Google Sheets. The two-minute import path if your team lives in Google Sheets rather than Excel.

The method in the order the decision runs

The workbook moves from one role to the whole program, then stress-tests the answer before anyone presents it.

• Price one role four ways. Enter the pay rate, hours, and remaining need. The calculator prices the agency bill, a payrolling arrangement, and internal payroll with and without benefits, and reads the breakeven.
• Build your real burden. Replace the planning defaults with your rates: FICA and FUTA are fixed, your state unemployment and workers compensation are not. The burden builder assembles the real number line by line.
• Roll up the program. Model the whole contingent population across pay bands with per-band markup and burden. This is the tab that turns a hunch into a program-level annual savings figure.
• Compare scenarios and decide. Status quo, partial conversion, full conversion, side by side, with a recommendation cell driven by your inputs. Print it for the meeting.

Built to survive a skeptical CFO

A savings claim built on a made-up burden number dies in one meeting. This workbook is built so every figure can be traced to an input, and every input to a source.

• Every default sourced and dated. The BLS benefits share, the IRS statutory rates, and the survey markup ranges are named on the assumptions tab with the date each was checked.
• User inputs where averages lie. State unemployment and workers compensation ship as your inputs, never hardcoded, because no published average matches your rate notice.
• An honest crossover. When the remaining need is short or the buyout is high, the model shows the agency winning. A tool that always says convert is not trusted, and should not be.
• A worked example in every tab. The workbook opens on a realistic 40-worker program, not a blank sheet you have to decode.

Who it is built for and where to go if that is not you

Built for

• An operator or HR lead who needs a defensible answer to the payroll-vs-agency question this quarter.
• A finance partner who wants the assumptions on the surface instead of buried in a consultant deck.
• A consultant or fractional HR lead pricing a conversion case for a client.

If you are looking for

• A free, quick read on one crew. The free Staffing Agency vs Payroll Cost Calculator runs the four-way comparison in your browser.
• The classification and agency-terms layer. The Contingent Workforce Cost and Compliance Kit bundles this workbook with both.

Before you buy

How is this different from the free calculator?

The free calculator prices one crew in your browser. The workbook adds the program-level rollup across pay bands, the burden builder that replaces the defaults with your real rates, scenario compare with a recommendation cell, and the sourced assumptions tab, and it saves your work.

What burden figures does it use?

The defaults are an 18% statutory-only planning figure and a 30% with-benefits figure tracking the BLS finding that benefits run 30.1% of total compensation. Both are inputs: the burden builder assembles your real number from FICA, FUTA, your state unemployment rate, your workers compensation class rate, and your benefits load.

Does it handle overtime?

Yes. Hours and overtime hours are separate inputs, overtime is priced at time and a half on the internal routes and at the billed premium on the agency route, and the worked example carries five overtime hours a week so you can see the effect.

Is this legal or tax advice?

No. It is a cost model with planning figures. Worker classification and co-employment carry legal exposure, and the workbook marks where those questions start and routes them to qualified counsel.

Is it a subscription?

No. One-time purchase, no recurring fee. You keep the files.

Will it stay current as the figures change?

Each file carries a last-reviewed date so you can see how current it is, and the assumptions tab dates every default to its source, so a changed rate is a one-cell update rather than a mystery.

What is the refund policy?

Digital products are covered by a 14-day money-back guarantee. See the refund policy for the full terms.

What happens after I buy?

Your files are delivered as a digital download, and your receipt arrives by email. Open the Start Here page first; it tells you the order to work in. Questions or want a hand getting set up? Email support@truestephr.com.

Can I expense this purchase to my business?

Most customers buy TrueStep HR tools for business use, and a tool you use for work often qualifies as a deductible business expense. Whether it does for you depends on your situation, so confirm with your accountant. Your receipt arrives by email at checkout and works as documentation.

Planning figures built from sourced, dated defaults. General information, not legal or tax advice; confirm your own rates and terms before acting on the outputs.

How the download works

Your files arrive as a single ZIP download, best opened on a computer: save it, extract it (right-click and Extract All on Windows, double-click on a Mac), and open the Start Here file first. PDFs open in any reader, and the editable files work in Microsoft Word and Excel or their free equivalents, including LibreOffice and Google Docs and Sheets. No other software is needed. Step-by-step help for every device is at truestephr.com/pages/download-help.