How to calculate and track your recruiting spread

Spread is the gap between what your client pays and what your contractor earns. It's how your agency makes money, and it's how your commission is calculated. Understanding it isn't optional — it's the difference between guessing your paycheck and knowing it.

The basic math

Spread = Bill Rate − Pay Rate

If your client pays $85/hour and your contractor earns $55/hour, your weekly spread is:

($85 − $55) × 40 hours = $1,200/week

That's $1,200 per week flowing into the agency for as long as that contractor is billing. Over a year, that's $62,400 in gross margin from a single placement.

Why weekly spread matters more than placement count

New recruiters focus on placements. Experienced recruiters focus on spread.

Consider two scenarios: - Recruiter A: 5 placements, average $800/week spread = $4,000/week total - Recruiter B: 3 placements, average $1,500/week spread = $4,500/week total

Recruiter B has fewer placements but earns more. Spread quality matters more than volume.

How commission typically works

Most agencies use a tiered model. Example:

• $0-$5K weekly spread: 20% commission
• $5K-$10K: 25%
• $10K+: 30%

These tiers are progressive — each dollar earns at the rate of its tier. If your total weekly spread is $12,000: - First $5,000 × 20% = $1,000 - Next $5,000 × 25% = $1,250 - Last $2,000 × 30% = $600 - Total weekly commission: $2,850

What eats your spread

Falling off. When a contractor quits or gets termed, that spread disappears. If your $1,500/week placement falls off after 3 months, you just lost $78,000 in annual margin.

Rate compression. Clients push bill rates down. Candidates push pay rates up. Both squeeze your spread.

Locked-up placements. A signed offer that hasn't started billing yet. It's real pipeline but zero revenue until they start.

Track it or lose it

Most recruiters know their spread roughly. Few track it precisely. The recruiters who know their exact weekly spread, which placements are falling off, and what their commission will be this month are the ones who hit President's Club.

Candid.ai's Spread Tracker does this automatically — tracks every placement, calculates your commission in real-time, and flags placements at risk of falling off.