Recruiter Commission Calculator — Splits, Draws and Fees

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Placement & Splits

Candidate Base Salary

Agency Placement Fee 20%

Standard agency placement fees range between 15% and 25%.

Your Commission Cut 30%

Your cut of the placement fee (after corporate overhead/house splits).

Team Split Share 100% (No Team Split)

If you split the desk commission with a sourcer or account manager (e.g. 50/50 split).

Desk Fee Deductions

$ / month

Draw-Against-Commission Balance

If your agency paid you a draw, this balance is recovered first.

Your Net Commission Check

$5,450

Net payout from a total fee of $24,000

Payout Element	Value	% of Total Base Salary

Recruiter Payout Share

Typical agency brackets: 30% standard, rising to 40% after $100k generated fee.

Guide: Recruiter Commissions & Payout Structures

How do staffing agency placement fees work?

A staffing agency placement fee is the percentage of a hired candidate's first-year base salary charged to the client company as a recruitment service fee.

This fee is calculated based on candidate baseline compensation (typically between 15% and 25%, rising up to 30% or 35% for executive searches). For example, if you place a candidate at a $120,000 base salary with a 20% placement fee, the client pays your agency $24,000.

What is a recruiter commission split and tier structure?

A recruiter commission split is the percentage of the final placement fee paid to the recruiter, which often scales progressively through billing milestones.

Staffing firms rarely pay recruiters the entire fee. Junior recruiters start at 15% splits, whereas senior recruiters can negotiate 40% or 50% splits. Tiers increase splits as year-to-date billings hit milestones (e.g., 25% cut on the first $50k, and 45% once you bill past $150k).

What is a draw against commission in recruitment?

A draw against commission is a regular salary advance paid to recruiters that is later deducted from their earned placement commissions.

Recoverable Draw: Any advance must be paid back from your future commissions. If you fail to generate commissions, your draw balance accumulates as debt to the firm. This calculator simulates a recoverable draw, where your draw balance is deducted from your placement payout first.
Non-Recoverable Draw: The agency pays you a minimum guarantee. If you don't generate deals to cover it, the debt is wiped clean at the end of the month (though repeated failure leads to termination).