Search Firms Get Paid on Time When Every Fee Term Is on File
Search firms get paid on time when every fee term is on file and every invoice follows it, and the AgentWorks Placement Billing Agent is what makes sure both happen. It carries placement billing and collections for the owner, the office manager or the finance person who bills placements by hand today, so they and the recruiters can spend their time with candidates and client companies instead of chasing money.
What it takes off your plate
At many firms, fee agreements live in email threads, shared drives and recruiters' memories. When a placement closes, someone builds the invoice from what they think the terms were: the percentage, the base salary it applies to, whether a sign-on bonus counts, the payment terms. Mistakes happen, and the client catches them, which delays payment and strains the relationship.
Guarantee periods are tracked on a calendar, if at all. When a placed candidate leaves early, the recruiter starts a replacement search right away without documenting the claim, so nobody can later show what was agreed. Meanwhile, past-due invoices sit unnoticed until the monthly finance review, when they are already old and harder to collect.
What the Placement Billing Agent does, step by step
The Placement Billing Agent starts with the reminders and follow-ups nobody enjoys sending.
- Captures the fee terms at placement. When a placement is marked in Bullhorn or your ATS, the agent pulls the signed fee agreement for that client company and records the fee basis, percentage, payment terms and guarantee period on the placement.
- Confirms the details. It asks the recruiter to confirm the start date and the compensation the fee applies to, and flags any gap between the offer and the agreement for the owner.
- Generates the invoice. It builds the invoice from the agreement, not from memory, and sends it to the client's billing contact once the owner or office manager approves.
- Follows up on payment. As the due date approaches, it sends a courteous reminder. When an invoice goes past due, it follows up on the schedule your firm sets and escalates to the owner before the relationship is at risk.
- Tracks the guarantee. It watches each placement's guarantee window and checks in with the client and the candidate as it nears the end.
- Documents the claim. If a client invokes the guarantee, the agent records the notice, the reason given, the dates and the terms that apply, confirms them with the client in writing, and opens the replacement search in the ATS with the claim attached. Whether the claim qualifies stays with the owner.
Where the work is recorded
Every invoice, reminder, payment and guarantee claim lands on the placement and the client company in the CRM your team already uses, and the fee terms sit on the placement in the ATS. Invoices and payments post to your accounting system, so the numbers match everywhere.
The next morning, the owner opens one view: invoices sent, invoices due this week, past-due fees by age, and placements inside their guarantee window. When a client calls about a charge, anyone in the office can see the agreement, the invoice and every message about it.
What your people do instead
Recruiters stay with the work that earns the next fee: sourcing, preparing candidates, closing offers and checking in with new placements. The owner spends client time on the next search instead of an awkward collection call. The office manager answers client questions with the agreement in hand, and nobody has to guess what was promised when a hiring manager remembers the terms differently.
Billing is the last step of a longer relationship. Placements that start and stay are the ones that get paid, which is why the Placement Onboarding Agent carries the offer through to day one. And steady collections pay for steady growth, as the Business Development Agent keeps new job orders coming in. For hourly desks, staffing agencies keep hourly candidates when interviews book by text, and every one of those placements still needs a clean invoice.
The Placement Billing Agent records, invoices, reminds and documents. Your people keep the relationships that bring the next req.
One next step
If your past-due fees only show up at the monthly review, start with the free Industry Assessment for recruiting. It shows which workflow an agent should take first in your firm. You can see every agent built for recruiting and staffing firms on the AgentWorks recruiting page.
See where the Placement Billing Agent would start in your recruiting business.
I'm Paige, the Recruiting ambassador here. The free Industry Assessment reads your website and asks how calls, follow-ups and records happen today, then shows the first workflow worth handing to an agent like this one — and what your team gets back. Leave your email and I'll send the link.
Paige replies from recruiting@agentworksstudio.com. One email with the link — no list, no drip, unless you ask for the weekly letter. Or go straight there →