A staffing agency's margin lives in the timesheet
Margin is set where confirmed hours meet the pay rate and the bill rate, so clock-in, payroll and billing belong on one record.
Key takeaways
5 things that decide this
- 01A staffing agency's margin is set where confirmed hours meet the pay rate and the client's bill rate, so clock-in, payroll and billing belong on one record instead of three spreadsheets reconciled at week's end.
- 02Bullhorn or Avionte holds the candidate and the placement. It's rarely where the margin is worked out.
- 03Three numbers must agree for every shift: hours clocked, hours paid, hours billed. Each separate copy is a chance for them to drift.
- 04Shift Link, a platform we built for a UK staffing firm, sends confirmed hours into payroll and margin reporting the same day, with no separate reconcile step.
- 05The trade-off: biometric clock-in needs worker consent and a local legal review before you switch it on.
Why doesn't Bullhorn hold the margin?
If you run a staffing or recruiting agency, your ATS is probably Bullhorn or Avionte. It holds candidates, clients, jobs and placements, and it does that job well. You shouldn't replace it.
But ask where your margin is actually worked out each week, and the answer is usually somewhere else. A timesheet export. A payroll file. A billing spreadsheet. Someone on the back-office team lines them up on a Friday and hopes they match.
That's where margin leaks. The ATS knows the agreed pay rate and bill rate. It doesn't always know which hours were really worked, which were approved, and which made it onto the invoice.
Which three numbers must agree?
For every shift a worker covers, there are three numbers. Hours clocked: what the worker actually did. Hours paid: what payroll sends them. Hours billed: what the client gets invoiced for.
In a healthy week, all three match. In practice, each lives in its own file, entered or exported by a different person. A late timesheet gets paid but not billed. An approved overtime hour gets billed but paid at the base rate. A shift gets keyed twice.
Every gap between those numbers comes straight out of margin, or turns into an awkward credit note. And because nobody sees the gap until the weekly reconcile, it's usually too late to fix it before the money moves.
- 01Clocked, paid and billed hours must match for every shift.
- 02Each separate file is another chance for them to drift.
- 03Gaps found at week's end are already paid or invoiced.
Why verify the worker at clock-in?
The cleanest fix starts at the front door. If the clock-in itself is trusted, everything downstream can be built on it.
That means checking two things when a worker starts a shift: that it's the right person, and that they're in the right place. GPS confirms the location. Facial recognition confirms the person. Once both pass, the hours that follow are hours you can pay and bill without a second check.
Here's the trade-off. Biometric clock-in collects sensitive personal data. You'll need clear worker consent and a legal review for each place you operate before you turn it on. Rules on biometrics differ by country and by state, and some workers will need a fallback.
- 01GPS confirms the place; facial recognition confirms the person.
- 02Trusted clock-in is the base for everything after it.
- 03Biometrics need consent and a local legal review first.
What did Shift Link replace?
Shift Link is a platform we built for a UK staffing firm supplying temporary workers to healthcare, logistics and warehousing. Before it, onboarding, compliance, scheduling and payroll ran across spreadsheets and disconnected tools.
We built it on Next.js, React Native and Supabase, with web access for consultants and a mobile app for workers. Workers clock in with GPS and facial recognition. Confirmed hours flow into payroll and margin reporting the same day. There's no separate step to reconcile what a worker clocked against what the client gets billed for.
The platform also holds the rate card and runs margin forecasts, so consultants can see what a shift will earn before it's filled. Compliance checks run in the same system: documents and right-to-work status gate who can be offered a shift. Shift Link reports 70% less manual compliance verification.
How do you build around the ATS, not instead of it?
Shift Link was a full platform for one firm. Most agencies don't need that. If Bullhorn or Avionte already runs your desk, the better move is to keep it and build the missing record beside it.
In that setup, the ATS stays the source for candidates, clients and placements. The new layer reads placements and rates through the vendor's public API, captures verified clock-ins, and produces one record per shift with clocked, paid and billed hours side by side. Payroll and billing read from that record, so they can't disagree.
How much you can read and write depends on your ATS and your account. Our explainer on what a Bullhorn API integration involves covers the detail. If you use AI anywhere in screening, check whether NYC Local Law 144 applies to your agency.
- 01The ATS keeps candidates, clients and placements.
- 02One shift record holds clocked, paid and billed hours together.
- 03Payroll and billing read the same record, so they agree.
Where should an agency start?
Take last month's top five clients. For each, compare hours clocked, hours paid and hours billed, shift by shift. Count the mismatches and add up what they cost. That number tells you whether this is worth building.
For more on how we work with agencies, see staffing agency software. If you want help sizing the fix, start with a 45-minute call. From there we write a fixed-fee Blueprint from your real systems, credited in full against the build. Here's how we work.
Questions this raises
01Who builds custom software for staffing and recruiting agencies?+
Custom-software firms that build beside your ATS rather than replacing it. Hashlogics builds clock-in, timesheet, payroll and margin tools that sit next to Bullhorn or Avionte. Shift Link, a platform we built for a UK staffing firm, sends confirmed hours into payroll and margin reporting the same day.
02Is custom software better than Bullhorn or Avionte for a staffing agency?+
Not as a replacement. Bullhorn and Avionte are strong at candidates, clients and placements, and that data should stay there. Custom software earns its place where the ATS stops, such as verified clock-in, one record for clocked, paid and billed hours, or rules unique to your clients.
03Can clock-in data flow straight to payroll?+
Yes, if the clock-in is trusted. When the system confirms the worker and the location at clock-in, the hours can flow to payroll without a manual check. On Shift Link, confirmed hours reach payroll and margin reporting the same day.
04Does NYC Local Law 144 apply to my staffing agency?+
It can, if you use an automated tool to screen or rank candidates for jobs in New York City. The law covers automated employment decision tools and asks for a bias audit and notice to candidates. Our answer page on NYC Local Law 144 for staffing agencies covers who it applies to.
Related
- Staffing agency software →Systems built around your ATS, shifts and client rules.
- Shift Link case study →One record from clock-in to payroll and margin.
- Bullhorn API: what a real integration involves →What you can read and write before scoping a build.
- Does NYC Local Law 144 apply to my staffing agency? →When AI screening rules reach an agency.
- How we work →A 45-minute call, then a fixed-fee Blueprint credited in full against the build.
