Cost Per Hire Calculator

Build your real cost to fill a role on the SHRM and ANSI standard. Enter your external recruiting spend and the recruiter and hiring manager hours, and the workbook prices the staff time most teams miss, then returns your cost per hire, the split between external and internal cost, and the figure as a percent of first-year salary.

One Excel workbook that builds cost per hire from your own numbers

A working model, not a blank grid. You enter your recruiting spend and the hours your team spent, the workbook prices the staff time and runs the SHRM and ANSI formula, and it opens on a worked example so the logic is clear before you change anything.

• Cost Per Hire Calculator. Enter your external spend, job ads, agency fees, background checks, and referral bonuses, then the recruiter and hiring manager salaries and the hours each spent on the hire. The workbook prices that time from salary over 2,080 working hours, adds the recruiting tools, and returns your cost per hire, the external and internal split, and the cost as a percent of first-year salary. It opens on a worked example so the method is clear before you change the inputs.
• A board-ready summary, current benchmarks, and the method in plain English. A one-page Summary pulls the cost per hire, the split, and the figure against the SHRM benchmark into a snapshot for a budget conversation. A Benchmark tab holds current cost-per-hire ranges from the SHRM 2025 report, and the Notes tab documents how each number is built.

Three steps from your recruiting costs to a cost per hire

You set your external spend, add the internal time, and the workbook returns the cost per hire and the split.

• Enter your external spend. Fill the amber cells for job ads, agency or recruiter fees, background checks and assessments, referral bonuses, and any other outside cost for the period you are measuring.
• Add the internal time. Enter the recruiter and hiring manager salaries and the hours each spent, plus your recruiting tools. The workbook prices the time from salary over 2,080 working hours, so the staff cost is built up rather than guessed.
• Read the cost per hire. The workbook divides total recruiting cost by your number of hires and shows the cost per hire, the external and internal split, and the cost as a percent of first-year salary.

The cost teams miss is their own time

Job ads and an agency fee are the cash you write a check for, and they are the part most teams count. The recruiter and manager hours behind every hire rarely show up anywhere, which is why the standard counts staff time and the real figure usually runs higher than the invoices alone.

• The formula is the SHRM and ANSI standard. Cost per hire is total internal plus external recruiting cost for a period, divided by the hires in that period, so the result lines up with how the figure is defined and benchmarked.
• Staff time is priced, not assumed. Recruiter and hiring manager hours are valued from each salary over 2,080 working hours, so the time spent screening, interviewing, and closing carries a dollar figure instead of disappearing.
• A low number can hide missing costs. A result well under the benchmark can mean you run lean or that costs are being left out, and a high internal share points to where recruiter and manager time is going, so the split is as useful as the total.

Who this calculator fits and where to go if that is not you

Built for

• A recruiting or HR leader who needs a defensible cost per hire on the SHRM and ANSI standard, built from real spend and real hours.
• A finance or HR partner setting a recruiting budget who wants the internal time counted alongside the agency invoices and job board spend.
• A small business owner or hiring manager who wants to know what filling a role costs before approving the next req.

If you are looking for

• The yearly cost of seats sitting open from slow hiring, not the spend to fill them. The Vacancy Cost Calculator prices the output lost while roles wait to be filled.
• Whether to fill roles with an outside agency or your own recruiters, the ROI comparison rather than a blended cost per hire. The Agency vs Internal Recruiter ROI Calculator runs that decision.

Before you buy

What format is it and can I edit it?

It is one Excel workbook that also works in Google Sheets. Every input and formula is editable, and the file is yours to keep. Duplicate it to measure another role or the next quarter, and keep the same method each time so the trend stays comparable.

There is a free version of this calculator. Why pay for this one?

The free tool gives a quick browser estimate from a few inputs and resets when you close the tab. This workbook is the model you keep: it runs the full SHRM and ANSI formula, prices the recruiter and hiring manager time most teams leave out from each salary over 2,080 working hours, splits external spend from internal time, shows the cost as a percent of first-year salary, and rolls it into a board-ready summary against the current SHRM benchmark. You set your period once, duplicate the file per role or quarter, and read every formula instead of trusting a single number.

How accurate is the result?

It is only as good as the costs and hours you enter, so treat the output as a planning estimate. Keep your spend and your hires in the same period, count offers that became starts rather than offers made, and use your own salaries and hours rather than the example figures. The math is correct for the inputs.

What does the cost include?

Two groups of cost. External is job ads, agency or recruiter fees, background checks and assessments, and referral bonuses. Internal is the recruiter and hiring manager time, priced from salary over 2,080 working hours, plus your recruiting tools. The workbook adds both, divides by your number of hires, and shows which side carries more of the cost.

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?

Checkout delivers an instant download link, and a receipt with the same link arrives by email. Open the workbook in Excel or Google Sheets, enter your recruiting costs and hours, and read your cost per hire. If a file gives you trouble, email support@truestephr.com.

Planning estimates and general business information, not legal or tax advice. The result depends on the costs and hours you enter, so keep your spend and your hires in the same period and count offers that became starts. Last reviewed June 2026.