Recruiter billing changes by engagement type. Everhour supports cleaner time, reporting, and invoice workflows behind client charges.
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A recruiting invoice should reflect the service that created the charge: contingency placement, retained executive search, temporary staffing, contract staffing, outplacement, outsourcing, or HR consulting. A direct-hire placement invoice commonly bills the employer after a successful hire, while a retained search invoice follows the payment schedule in the engagement letter. Staffing invoices usually repeat by week or month and show labor charges tied to workers, roles, or assignments.
The invoice should make the billing trigger obvious. For a contingency recruiter, that means naming the placed candidate, role, employer, start date if relevant, agreed salary basis, and fee percentage. A common employer-paid recruiter commission is 20% to 30% of first-year salary, while management-executive searches are often described at 25% to 35%. The employee usually pays nothing under the employer-paid placement model.
Use line items that match the engagement instead of forcing every recruiter invoice into one generic service line. A direct-hire invoice can show "Placement fee, Senior Account Executive, Jane Lee, 22% of $115,000 first-year salary." A retained search invoice can show "Retained executive search, milestone 2, candidate presentation phase." A staffing invoice can list weekly labor by role, worker, bill rate, and period covered.
Strong recruiter invoices also include invoice number, invoice date, client legal name, recruiter or agency name, payment terms, remittance details, and a short service description. Add reimbursable expenses only when the agreement allows them, and label them separately from placement or staffing fees. If the client uses purchase orders, departments, cost centers, or hiring manager approvals, include those references before sending the invoice.
The United States does not use a national VAT or GST invoice regime, and private-sector invoices do not follow one prescribed federal format. Invoices still matter as supporting documents for business records because they show transaction amounts and sources of receipts. Sales and use tax treatment depends on state and local rules, nexus, service taxability, and where the sale occurs.
Recruiting services need a careful state-level review before adding sales tax. California generally taxes retail sales of tangible personal property and only some service or labor charges, while Texas defines 16 broad taxable service categories. Do not add a United States VAT or GST number. If a seller makes taxable sales, state-level registration, such as a seller permit or sales-tax account, applies where required.
A free invoice works for a single placement fee, a one-time retainer milestone, or a simple staffing charge that you can document from the agreement. It is enough when the invoice total comes from one hiring event, one client, and a clear payment term such as net 15 or net 30. The client should be able to approve the invoice without asking for missing role, candidate, or period details.
A managed workflow becomes necessary when recruiters bill across many clients, searches, and staffing assignments. Everhour reports can group tracked work by client, project, member, task, date range, and invoice status, then export the data as CSV, Excel/XLSX, or PDF. That gives recruiting teams a clearer approval trail before billable time, expenses, and recurring charges move into client invoices.
This content is for general information only, may not be fully up to date, and is provided without any warranty or liability.
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The invoice timing should follow the written engagement agreement. Placement fees are generally contingent on the employer and candidate agreeing to employment, and headhunter fees are normally paid only when the candidate is hired. Some agreements use acceptance, start date, guarantee period, or another defined event as the billing trigger, so the invoice should mirror that term.
A placement-fee line should show the role, candidate name if appropriate, employer, fee basis, fee percentage, and total amount. A common employer-paid recruiter commission is 20% to 30% of the new hire's first-year salary. Executive roles can use higher percentages, so the invoice should cite the rate from the client agreement instead of relying on a market convention.
Recruiter invoices in the United States do not need a VAT or GST number because the country does not use a national VAT or GST invoice regime. Sales and use tax obligations come from state and local rules. A recruiter that makes taxable sales may need state-level sales-tax registration where required, but that is separate from a VAT or GST identifier.
Retained search invoices follow a written fee and payment schedule, often across phases such as launch, shortlist, or completion. Contingency invoices usually bill after a successful hire. Executive-search engagement terms should be in writing and cover scope, timing, fees, payment schedule, deliverables, guarantees, off-limits, conflicts, and data management where those terms apply.
Temporary staffing charges can use the same basic invoice structure, but the line items need different detail. When the agency remains the worker's employer and supplies labor to a client, the client may pay a recurring fee. The invoice should show the billing period, worker or role, hours or units billed, rate, and any approved expenses or markup details from the agreement.
Everhour Reporting lets recruiting teams build reports with 45+ columns, filters, grouping, date ranges, and invoice status fields. A team can group billable work by client, project, member, or task, then export CSV, Excel/XLSX, or PDF reports for client review before invoicing.
Everhour Billing & Invoicing converts uninvoiced billable time and expenses into invoices, with line-item grouping by project, task, person, date, or other available breakdowns. Non-billable tasks stay out of the billable total, and exported invoices can move to QuickBooks Online, Xero, or FreshBooks as drafts.
Use Everhour Reporting to group recruiter time by client, search, role, and billing status before invoice creation, giving recruiting teams cleaner exports and a stronger approval trail.
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