Time-to-Fill Cost Calculator

Put a number on the cost of leaving a role open. Enter each role’s salary, the value it produces, and the days it has been open, and the workbook returns the net cost of the vacancy, the cost across every open role, and what hiring faster would save.

A working model, not a blank grid

Set working days per year and benefits as a percent of salary, then list each open role with its salary, a value multiplier, the days open, and any coverage cost. The workbook returns the role’s daily value, the value lost while it is empty, the loaded pay you are not spending, and the net cost of the vacancy, role by role with a running total. A one-page Summary totals every open role, shows the average days open and the net cost per day, and estimates what cutting your time to fill would save. A Benchmark tab holds time-to-fill and cost-of-vacancy figures from SHRM and public research, and it opens on a worked example so the logic is clear before you change anything.

A vacancy is not free and it is not the whole salary either

Two shortcuts get this wrong: treating an open role as costing nothing because no one is being paid, or counting the full salary as lost. The honest number sits between them, the value the role would have produced minus the pay and benefits you save while it is empty, plus any coverage cost. For a role worth about its pay, the net can be small or even negative, which the workbook shows rather than hides. The value multiplier is the one real judgment call, about 1.0 for support roles and higher for revenue or hard-to-cover ones; keep it consistent across roles so the comparison stays fair. The net cost per day is the lever: each day you trim from time to fill saves about that much across every open role.

Built for

• A talent acquisition or HR leader who needs to put a defensible number on open roles and the cost of a slow process, role by role.
• A finance or HR partner weighing the payback of hiring faster, or of the coverage and overtime a long vacancy runs up.
• A hiring manager or operator who wants to show what an unfilled seat is costing rather than argue it in the abstract.

If you are looking for how many recruiters it takes to fill your open roles faster, the Recruiter Capacity Planner runs that. To decide whether to fill faster with an outside agency or your own recruiters, see the Agency vs Internal Recruiter ROI Calculator.

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; add roles by inserting rows, and duplicate the file to price a second set of openings. Checkout delivers an instant download link, with the same link emailed on your receipt.

What does the paid workbook do that a free calculator does not?

This workbook lists every open role on one sheet, totals the value lost net of the pay you save, and returns the net cost per day, the lever faster hiring pulls. It adds a board-ready summary, an estimate of what cutting a set number of days would save, and a sourced Benchmark tab, and every formula is open, so you set the value multipliers to your own roles and reuse the file as openings change. A quick browser estimate prices one role; this prices every open role at once and keeps the file.

How do I set the value multiplier?

It is how much annual value a role produces for each dollar of salary. Support roles sit near 1.0, where the output is worth about the pay, so a vacancy roughly breaks even against the salary saved. Revenue-generating or hard-to-cover roles are worth more; the Benchmark tab puts revenue roles at 1.5 to 3 times pay. Keep your multipliers consistent across roles so the comparison stays fair.

What is the refund policy?

Digital products are covered by a 14-day money-back guarantee. See the refund policy for the full terms. Questions? Email support@truestephr.com.

These are planning estimates, and the value multiplier drives them. Set the multipliers consistently across roles, lean conservative, and treat the output as a floor for sizing the cost of open roles.

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.

Scope

This tool is a planning and analysis model. Its outputs depend entirely on the inputs and assumptions you enter, and they are estimates for decision support, not accounting, tax, or legal conclusions. It is not legal, tax, or financial advice, and it is not a substitute for qualified counsel on your specific situation. Check the assumptions against your own data and have any decision with pay, headcount, or separation consequences reviewed against applicable law before you act on it.