Bookkeeping for staffing agencies
A staffing agency pays temporary workers every week and waits weeks to be paid by clients. Mispar tracks billings by client, reconciles temp payroll and employer costs, keeps receivables visible, and prepares monthly books in your own QuickBooks Online or Xero file. Plans start at $229/mo.
Best for: Small and growing staffing agencies, temp-labor firms, recruiters with contract placements and PEO-adjacent businesses.
By client
Client billings
Reconciled
Temp payroll
Listed
Receivables
Itemized
Payroll taxes
Where staffing agency books usually go wrong
- Billings and worker pay not matched by assignment.
- Payroll taxes and workers' comp not compared with margin.
- Slow-paying clients carried without aging.
How Mispar keeps your staffing agency books clean
Industry-specific accounts and categorization, with the reporting scope agreed before work starts.
Client billing by assignment
Record billings by client and assignment so margin on each account can be reviewed.
Temp payroll and employer costs
Reconcile weekly pay, employer taxes and benefits to payroll reports.
Receivables and aging
List open client invoices by age, since late payment is the main cash strain in staffing.
Permanent placement fees
Keep placement fees apart from hourly billing, with any refund terms recorded.
Workers compensation and insurance
Categorize workers compensation and liability premiums, which scale with payroll.
Recruiting and job board costs
Track recruiting spend by channel so cost of finding workers is visible.
Factoring and credit lines
Record factoring advances and fees or credit lines apart from operating income.
Background checks and onboarding
Keep screening and onboarding costs in their own accounts.
Timesheet approval and disputes
Record disputed or corrected hours by client so credits and rebills are traced and not buried in revenue.
Client concentration
Show how much of billings come from each client, so reliance on one account is visible in the monthly statements.
Reports a staffing agency can use
- Gross margin by client and assignment.
- Receivables aging by client.
- Payroll and tax cost by week.
A simple, predictable process
From kickoff to your first clean close, here is exactly what happens.
Map clients and payroll
We list clients, pay cycles and how timesheets turn into invoices.
Set up client and assignment tracking
Billings and payroll are tagged to each client.
Reconcile each month
Client payments, payroll, tax deposits and insurance bills are matched to the bank.
Deliver monthly statements
Monthly statements arrive ready for your CPA with an open-items list.
Illustrative example
Payroll for forty workers goes out every Friday while the largest client pays in 45 days. Showing the receivable by client makes the funding gap visible weeks before it bites. This is an illustration of the method, not a customer case or a guarantee.
Staffing Agencies bookkeeping — your questions
Can you track margin by client?
When billings and payroll can be tied to a client by timesheet or tag, yes.
How do you handle factoring?
Advances are recorded as financing with fees shown separately from revenue.
Do you run payroll?
No. We reconcile the reports from your payroll provider and your bank.
Can you track aging receivables?
Yes, listed by client and age in the monthly open-items sheet.
Do you work with staffing software?
We use its billing and payroll exports, matched to your bank.
What do you need each month to keep staffing agency books?
Timesheet and billing exports, payroll reports, tax deposit records, insurance invoices and access to your bank feeds.
Can you help with cash planning?
Monthly statements show the gap between payroll and collections. We do not give financial or tax advice.
Can you track margin by client?
Yes. Billings and worker cost are tied to each client.
What if a client disputes hours?
Corrections are recorded as credits or rebills against that client so revenue and payroll both stay accurate.
Explore other industries
Restaurants
Prime cost, tip pools, POS reconciliation, and food/beverage COGS — booked the way a restaurant actually runs.
Learn more →E-commerce
Multi-channel reconciliation, FIFO/weighted-average inventory, COGS at ship date, and sales-tax nexus done right.
Learn more →Retail
POS reconciliation, COGS, shrinkage, vendor payables, and sales-tax remittance — clean end to end.
Learn more →Customers slow to pay?
Our in-house collections team calls and emails customers who owe your company money, so you can stay focused on the work.