What staffing agency software covers, from recruiting and placements to scheduling, time capture, payroll and billing, the features that matter for temp and light-industrial agencies and how to evaluate vendors.
| Step | What software supports |
|---|---|
| Client order | Recording job orders, rates, shifts and requirements |
| Recruiting | Job posting, applicant tracking, screening |
| Onboarding | Digital paperwork, Form I-9, tax forms, policies, e-signatures |
| Matching and scheduling | Finding qualified, available workers and confirming shifts |
| Time capture | Clock-ins at client sites, breaks, overtime |
| Approval | Client or supervisor approval of timesheets |
| Payroll | Paying workers, often weekly |
| Billing | Invoicing clients at bill rates with markups |
| Reporting | Fill rates, margins, overtime, turnover |
Map how each step works in your agency today, who does it and where errors or delays happen. That map is your shopping list. See our guide on how to start a staffing agency for the wider business context.
To build shifts, approve swaps and spot coverage gaps in one place, see EZTime employee scheduling software.
In staffing, the hours a worker records drive both what you pay and what you bill. Errors hit twice: an unrecorded hour underpays the worker and loses billable revenue; an inflated hour overbills the client and damages the relationship. Look for:
Staffing firms and their clients often share responsibility for compliance, for example for safety. Your contracts should define who does what, and your software should help you document your part.
Temporary workers choose agencies partly on how easy they are to work with. A good worker app lets people see open shifts, accept assignments, get directions and site instructions, clock in and out, see hours and pay and update their availability. Test the app with a few of your workers. If it is confusing, they will call your office instead, and your recruiters will spend their day on phone calls.
Clients want shifts filled, accurate invoices and minimal admin. Useful client-facing features include online order requests, visibility of who is scheduled, real-time attendance alerts for no-shows, simple timesheet approval and invoices that match approved hours. Reducing invoice disputes speeds up payment, which matters for agency cash flow.
Some platforms cover everything from recruiting to billing. Others focus on one area, such as applicant tracking, time capture or payroll, and integrate with the rest. All-in-one platforms reduce integration work but may be weaker in some areas. Integrated stacks give flexibility but require reliable connections. Whichever you choose, the data path from approved hours to payroll and billing must be automatic and auditable.
Agency owners need a clear view of the business every week: hours billed, gross margin by client and by worker type, fill rates, overtime that was not billed at overtime rates, and workers who are close to overtime across assignments. Check whether the software can show these numbers without exporting to spreadsheets, and whether recruiters and account managers can see the figures relevant to them. Good data also supports conversations with clients about rates, attendance and turnover at their sites.
Staffing software is commonly priced per internal user (recruiters and back-office staff), per active worker each month, per placement or as a combination. Model the cost at your current volume and at your expected peak season volume. Seasonal agencies may see costs swing widely under per-worker pricing. Include implementation, integrations and data migration in your estimate.
A light-industrial staffing agency places 300 workers a week at warehouses. Hours arrive on paper sign-in sheets faxed or photographed by client supervisors, and Monday payroll often runs late. The agency introduces mobile clock-ins at client sites with supervisor approval in an app. Invoice disputes drop because clients approve hours before billing, and payroll is processed on time even in peak season.
EZTime is not an applicant tracking or billing system. It covers the workforce operations side: schedules, open shifts, GPS-stamped clock-ins from the mobile app or a kiosk at client sites, break tracking, timecard corrections with approval and payroll-ready reports, with job and client tracking to separate hours by client. See event staffing.
It supports recruiting, onboarding, scheduling, time capture, payroll and client billing for staffing firms.
Accurate time capture and approval, because hours drive both worker pay and client billing.
Hours for the agency in a workweek are generally combined, so overtime may apply even if no single client exceeds 40 hours.
Often both. Contracts should define responsibilities, and records should document training and supervision.
Commonly per internal user, per active worker or per placement, or a combination.
It depends on size and needs. The key is an automatic, auditable path from approved hours to payroll and billing.
EZTime’s labor rule alerts warn about weekly hour limits, short rest between shifts, overtime thresholds and employees who forgot to clock out. See current plans and what each one includes on the pricing page.