Staffing markup calculator vs. TempWorks
Different jobs: one prices a single placement in your browser right now; the other runs an agency's whole front and back office as a paid subscription.
TempWorks is a well-known staffing agency software suite, described on its own site (tempworks.com) as covering applicant tracking, CRM, timekeeping, payroll processing, invoicing, tax compliance and reporting for staffing and recruiting firms. It is the kind of system an agency runs its whole desk on once it has clients, workers, and payroll cycles to manage continuously — onboarded, configured with the agency's own rates and terms, and paid for every month it runs.
That is a different job from the one this page does. This calculator has no account, no client records, no payroll run, and nothing to configure ahead of time. It exists for the narrower question that comes up dozens of times a week on a staffing desk, often while someone is still on the phone with a client: given this pay rate and this markup, what does the placement actually earn once employer burden, funding the payroll, and bad debt are all counted — and what markup does it need to hit a real target margin?
| Question | Where to answer it |
|---|---|
| What does this one placement's markup actually earn once FICA, FUTA, SUTA, workers' comp, PTO, benefits and payment terms are counted? | This calculator — it prices the placement from numbers you already have on a rate notice and policy declaration, with no setup. |
| Run my agency's applicant tracking, client CRM, timekeeping, payroll and invoicing day to day? | TempWorks or a comparable paid platform — ongoing operations across many workers and clients are a job this page does not attempt. |
| What markup do I need to quote right now to hit a 20% gross margin on this specific comp code and term? | This calculator — the break-even markup and target-margin markup are computed instantly from the figures you type, with a markup ladder for negotiating a discount. |
| Keep a system of record for placements, timesheets and pay runs across the whole desk? | TempWorks or a comparable paid platform — this page remembers nothing between visits except what your own browser stores locally, and makes no claim to be a system of record. |
This calculator is deliberately the opposite shape from an agency-wide platform: nothing to configure, nothing billed monthly, and nothing typed here ever leaves your browser. That makes it a fast, honest gut-check on one quote — not a competitor to the operational system an agency runs its business on, which is exactly the job a platform like TempWorks is built for.
It needs no account and no sign-in: it is a static page, the arithmetic runs in your browser, and once it has loaded it keeps working with the connection off. TempWorks prices its software by quote rather than publishing a rate card, so no dollar figure for it is stated here — only its well-documented category and feature set.
Common questions
Should I use this calculator or a platform like TempWorks?
They serve different needs and most agencies that adopt a platform still reach for a quick standalone calculator when pricing one placement on the phone. TempWorks is a paid, all-in-one staffing agency software suite — applicant tracking, CRM, timekeeping, payroll processing, invoicing and reporting — built to run an agency's ongoing operations end to end, described on its own site. Getting a number out of a system like that means it is already configured with your burden rates, tax setup and client terms, which takes onboarding and an active subscription. This calculator needs none of that: type a pay rate, a markup, your SUTA and workers' comp rate, and your payment terms, and it shows the loaded cost, the real gross margin behind the markup, the break-even markup, and the markup a target margin needs — in your browser, with no account, in the time it takes to load the page.
Is this page affiliated with TempWorks?
No. This site is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by TempWorks Software, Inc. TempWorks is named here only to describe what this calculator is and is not.
Open the staffing markup calculator to price your own placement, or read why markup and margin are not the same number in staffing.