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Fractional vs full-time sales hire cost calculator
A full-time sales director costs far more than the salary. This calculator adds employer National Insurance, pension, the agency fee or direct hiring costs, your own time and the months before the hire is fully productive, so you can compare the first-year cost with a fractional quote. CIPD puts senior hiring costs at typically £6,000 to £19,000.
The default is my estimate for a UK SME. Change it to your own figure.
CV review, interviews, chasing, offer.
Enter a monthly fee to compare. Fractional fees depend on days a week and scope, so I quote them after a call.
First-year cost of a full-time hire
£83,771
- Base salary and variable pay
- £60,000
- Employer National Insurance
- £8,250
- Employer pension
- £1,321
- Agency fee at 20%
- £12,000
- Your time on the hire (30 hours)
- £1,200
- Job ads and tools
- £1,000
Cost of hiring alone
£14,200
Typically £6,000 to £19,000 for a senior role, CIPD
Paid before full productivity
£23,190
4 months of employment cost
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The same result, plus what it means for a business like yours.
Where these numbers come from
- A poor hire at mid-manager level on £42,000 can cost a business more than £132,000, roughly three times salary. Source: REC.
- Median cost per hire is £1,500 for employees and £2,000 for senior managers and directors, including in-house time, advertising and agency fees. Source: CIPD Resourcing and Talent Planning Report 2024.
- The average cost of filling a vacancy including labour is £6,125, rising to £19,000 for a manager role. Source: CIPD, via Talent Insight Group.
- Agency fees run at 15 to 20% for standard roles and 20 to 30% for senior or hard-to-fill roles. Source: Alto Accounting, Amberjack.
- Managing a single hire takes an in-house recruiter around 30 hours. Source: NatWest Mentor.
- Employer National Insurance is calculated at 15% above £5,000 and employer pension at 3% of qualifying earnings. Both are general UK rules; check them with your accountant.
What does it calculate?
The first-year cost of a full-time sales director or head of sales: base salary and any commission, employer National Insurance at 15% above £5,000, employer pension at 3% of qualifying earnings, the agency fee or direct hiring costs, the hours you spend on the hire, and job ads and tools. It also shows how much you pay before the hire reaches full productivity, usually three to six months.
How do I read the result?
The headline is what the first year costs. "Cost of hiring alone" is the money spent before the person starts. Enter a fractional quote and you see the two side by side. A fractional arrangement has no recruitment cost, no ramp and 30 days' notice.
Why build the number from its parts?
Because hiring costs vary hugely by route, and a single figure would be wrong for most businesses. The default salary of £60,000 is my estimate for a UK SME sales director or head of sales, with a London option, and you can change every default.
From experience
Seehab AhmedFounder, Stratus Growth
Recruitment agencies open at 20 to 25% and settle around 15% for senior roles, with 15 to 20% typical for SMEs hiring one-off. For a £60,000 sales leader, hiring through an agency at 15% comes to about £10,500 to £12,500 once around 30 hours of internal time and £500 to £2,000 of ads and tools are added. Hiring directly comes to about £1,500 to £3,500.
Questions people ask
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