Build the hiring budget
Bring together salary, FTE, guaranteed bonus, variable pay assumptions, employer costs and one-off hiring expenses. Group identical hires where the terms and timing are the same.
Hiring Budget & Timing Planner
Hiring Budget & Timing Planner
See when your next appointments become financial commitments.
A recruitment budget needs to show more than the salaries of the people you intend to hire. Start dates, guaranteed payments, variable incentives, employer costs and one-off hiring expenses all affect the commitment your business is making.
Use this free hiring budget planner to build a 12-month view of proposed appointments. Add roles individually or group identical hires, explore a later hiring schedule and separate fixed costs from variable pay assumptions. For HR teams, finance leaders and growing commodity businesses, it provides a common basis for discussing the plan before recruitment begins.
Enter your company and project details, choose the first month of your planning window and add your proposed hires. Start with your own assumptions, or load the fictional example to explore the tool.
Build your hiring budget
Build your hiring budget
- Enter your company, project, currency and the first month of the 12-month planning window.
- Add a role, department and original start month. Use Number of hires for people sharing the same costs and start date.
- Enter annual amounts per person. Base salary is adjusted for FTE; bonuses and other annual amounts are not automatically pro-rated.
- Select Add to plan. The form clears for the next role. Use Edit to change a saved row.
- Shift all starts later to compare timing. Select a chart month for its breakdown. Costs moved outside the window remain future commitments.
- Download Excel, or save a plan file to reopen later. There is no automatic saving.
Tab moves directly between fields. Alt + H opens help for the focused field; Escape closes it. You can also hover or tap a question mark.
Fixed cost within 12 monthsUS$0Pay, guaranteed bonuses and fixed employer costs
Variable pay + one-off hiring costsUS$0Variable assumptions and hiring fees shown separately below
Total at your assumptionsUS$0Incremental cost of the proposed hires within this window
0 planned hiresAnnual recurring run-rate once all hires start: US$0
Add a planned hire
Use one row for a role, or several identical hires with the same pay and start month. All cost inputs are per person.
Your monthly hiring budget
Explore the effect of changing start dates. Add a hire to begin.
Fixed costVariable scenarioOne-off hiring costs
Later starts move costs beyond this window; they do not remove the underlying commitment. Bonus amounts are accrued monthly for budgeting, rather than plotted by payout date.
Planned hiring rows
Your hiring plan starts here. Add a proposed role or load the fictional example to explore the tool.
| Role / department | Hires / FTE each | Original start | Scenario start | Fixed annual run-rate | Variable annual scenario | One-off hiring costs | Action |
|---|
How the figures are calculated
This is an incremental budget for planned hires, excluding your existing workforce. Base salary is multiplied by FTE. Guaranteed and variable bonuses are entered as annual amounts per position and are not automatically reduced for part-time work. Employer on-costs apply to base and bonuses; other annual fixed costs are added once. All costs are multiplied by the number of hires.
Annual recurring figures are divided by 12 and rounded to cents. Costs begin in the selected month, with a full month assumed. One-off hiring costs are allocated to that month. Starts after month 12 are outside the selected window, but remain included in the eventual annual run-rate. The figures are planning assumptions, not salary benchmarks, tax calculations or a payment schedule. Vacancy costs, lost revenue, recruitment payment milestones and future pay rises are excluded.
Employer-cost illustration sources, checked 29 October 2026: HMRC rates, UK minimum pension contributions, IRS employer Social Security and Medicare. Examples are guide calculations, not national averages. Update the rates for your planning year.
What You Can Plan
Test the timing
Move the proposed hiring schedule later and compare the monthly effect. Costs falling outside the planning window are deferred commitments, rather than an automatic business saving.
Share the assumptions
Review monthly totals and the eventual annual recurring cost, then export an Excel report for HR, finance and hiring managers to discuss together.
Using The Hiring Budget Calculator
What does the hiring budget planner calculate?
It estimates the incremental cost of proposed hires across a 12-month planning window. It separates recurring fixed costs, variable bonus assumptions and one-off hiring expenses, using the figures and start months you enter. It does not include your existing workforce unless those costs are represented separately outside the tool.
Can I model several people joining in the same role?
Yes. A row can represent one person or a group of identical hires with the same costs and start month. Use separate rows where salaries, packages or timing differ.
Does moving a start date later mean we save money?
It can reduce the cost recognised within the selected 12 months, while leaving the eventual annual recurring commitment unchanged. That is a timing difference. The planner does not estimate the revenue, productivity or operational effect of leaving a role unfilled.
Is this a payroll or recruitment-fee payment calendar?
No. It is a monthly budget model. Recurring annual costs are spread across months from the selected start month, with a full first month assumed. One-off hiring costs are placed in that month. Actual payroll dates, bonus payouts and staged recruitment-fee invoices may follow a different schedule.
Are the salary and employer-cost figures market benchmarks?
No. Enter your own planning assumptions. Employer on-cost is a flat percentage you choose; the tool does not calculate country-specific payroll taxes, thresholds or benefits. If you need evidence to support your remuneration assumptions, Imperium can scope a salary benchmarking project.
Can I save the plan and download it to Excel?
Yes. Download the Excel report to review the budget and its inputs. Use Save plan file to keep a JSON copy that can be reopened in this tool. There is no automatic saving, so download the plan file before leaving the page.
Can Imperium help turn the budget into a hiring programme?
Yes. We can help assess the brief, compare compensation assumptions with the relevant market and research the available talent. A defined requirement may suit Retained Search; a continuing hiring programme with changing priorities may suit a Search Partnership.
The next appointment is a commitment. Know what it means before you make it.
Build a Hiring Plan the Market Can Support
Connect the budget to the people, packages and timing needed to deliver it.
A financial plan is stronger when its assumptions reflect the market you intend to hire from. We can help you test the compensation, understand the relevant talent pool and refine the sequence of appointments.
For commodity trading houses, brokerages and related financial markets businesses, Imperium brings research and search together. Discuss a defined appointment or an ongoing Search Partnership built around your hiring programme.
Workforce planning resources
Explore Our Other Tools
Take the next part of your plan further. Use our free tools to explore team structure, budgets, packages, hiring priorities and the recruitment brief.
