--- title: Cost of an Empty Seat Calculator (Free Tool) | Funded.club description: Calculate what an unfilled role costs your startup each day in lost revenue or output and founder time, and compare it with the recruiting fee to fill it. image: https://funded.club/hubfs/og_image_funded.png --- [![Primary\_logo](https://funded.club/hubfs/Primary_logo.svg)](https://funded.club/) [Book a call](https://funded.club/contact-us) - [Hire](https://funded.club) - [Pricing](https://funded.club/pricing) - [Find a job](https://funded.club/startupjobs) - [Case Studies](https://funded.club/case-studies) - [Locally](https://funded.club/case-studies/locally) - [Supernova](https://funded.club/case-studies/supernova) - [Isolocity](https://funded.club/case-studies/isolocity) - [WeTravel](https://funded.club/case-studies/wetravel) - [Digital Science](https://funded.club/case-studies/digital-science) - [Blog](https://funded.club/blog-results) - [Resources](https://funded.club/resources) - [Predict success](https://signup.predict.ventures/) - [Growth Planner](https://funded.club/growth-planner) - [Glossary](https://funded.club/glossary) - [FAQ](https://funded.club/faq) - [Contact us](https://funded.club/contact-us) [Book a call](https://funded.club/contact-us) - Engagement options: - [Hiring solutions](https://funded.club) - [Pay-as-you-go](https://funded.club/pricing) - Membership plan FREE TOOL # Cost of an empty seat calculator An open role is not free. Put a number on the revenue or output you lose for every day a seat stays empty, add the founder time it eats, and compare it with what the recruiting fee costs. How does this role create value? It brings in revenue (sales)It builds or runs things Currency$£€ Base salary (per year) New revenue this hire should bring in each month once ramped Value the role creates, as a multiple of salary (your assumption)1.5x salary2x salary3x salary4x salary Founder hours per week spent covering the gap or hiring Value of one founder hour How many days do you expect the seat to stay empty? What the empty seat costs \- Cost per day empty \- Cost over your timeline \- Saved if hired in 33 days Cost of the vacancy Recruiting fee for the same hire Every input is your own assumption, so the result is only as good as the numbers you enter. The 33 days is Funded.club's average from kick-off to hire, not a guarantee for every search. Want that seat filled sooner? One dedicated recruiter, first screened candidates within 7 days, and a low fixed fee agreed upfront. [Book a free call](https://funded.club/contact-us) ## How the calculation works For a revenue role, each day empty costs the monthly revenue the hire would bring in once ramped, divided by 30. For other roles it uses a multiple of salary as a rough measure of the output the team loses, which you choose. Founder time is added on top, because a gap is usually filled by the most expensive person in the company. It deliberately leaves out harder-to-count costs such as a delayed launch, a slipped fundraising milestone or a tired team quietly looking for other jobs. If any of those apply, the real number is higher. Our guide to [the cost of a slow hire](https://funded.club/blog/cost-of-a-slow-hire-startup) goes through them. To see when the search needs to start, use the [hiring timeline estimator](https://funded.club/hiring-timeline-estimator). To price a whole hiring plan, try the [growth planner](https://funded.club/growth-planner), or browse all our [free hiring tools](https://funded.club/free-hiring-tools). ## Frequently asked questions ### What is the cost of an empty seat? It is the value a role would have created during the days it stays unfilled, plus the cost of covering the gap, often in founder time. For sales roles it is mostly lost revenue; for other roles it is delayed output. ### Is it worth paying a recruiter to fill a role faster? Compare the fee with the cost of the extra days the seat would stay empty. If each week open costs more than the difference in fees, a faster search usually pays for itself. ### How much does Funded.club charge? A low fixed fee per hire agreed upfront, from $4,900 to $21,900 depending on salary, averaging 6 to 9% of salary. See our [pricing](https://funded.club/pricing) for the bands. 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Chamber of Commerce: 63083809    VAT (BTW): NL855084844B01 ## Contact Us - [Hiring service](https://funded.club) - [Pricing - Recruiting projects](https://funded.club/pricing) - [Find a job](https://funded.club/startupjobs) - [Our team](https://funded.club/fundedteam) - [Blog](https://funded.club/blog) - [Case studies](https://funded.club/case-studies) - [Startup resources](https://funded.club/resources) - [FAQ](https://funded.club/faq) - [Contact Us](https://funded.club/contact-us) ## Follow Us © 2019-2026 All rights reserved. - [Privacy Policy](https://www.iubenda.com/privacy-policy/56133290) - [Cookie policies](https://www.iubenda.com/privacy-policy/56133290/cookie-policy) - [Terms of Use](https://funded.club/terms) ```json { "@context" : "https://schema.org", "@id" : "https://funded.club/#organization", "@type" : "Organization", "areaServed" : [ "North America", "Europe", "Asia-Pacific" ], "description" : "Fixed-fee recruiting partner for funded startups and fast-growing teams across North America, Europe and APAC. 500+ startups helped since 2019. Fixed fees from $4,900 to $21,900 per hire, averaging 6-9% of salary. First candidates in 7 days.", "foundingDate" : "2019", "knowsAbout" : [ "Startup recruiting", "Fixed-fee recruitment", "Technical recruiting", "Executive search" ], "legalName" : "Funded.club B.V.", "logo" : "https://funded.club/hubfs/Primary%20logo.jpg", "name" : "Funded.club", "sameAs" : [ "https://www.linkedin.com/company/funded-club/", "https://clutch.co/profile/fundedclub", "https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/funded-club", "https://www.facebook.com/Funded.club/", "https://x.com/club_funded" ], "url" : "https://funded.club/" } ``` ```json { "@context" : "https://schema.org", "@type" : "WebSite", "description" : "Fixed-fee startup recruiting for startups and scale-ups. Hire smarter, scale faster with Funded.club.", "name" : "Funded.club", "publisher" : { "@id" : "https://funded.club/#organization" }, "url" : "https://funded.club/" } ``` ```json { "@context" : "https://schema.org", "@type" : "WebApplication", "applicationCategory" : "BusinessApplication", "description" : "Free calculator for the cost of an unfilled role at a startup: lost revenue or output per day, founder time, and the recruiting fee for the same hire.", "name" : "Cost of an empty seat calculator", "offers" : { "@type" : "Offer", "price" : "0", "priceCurrency" : "USD" }, "operatingSystem" : "Any", "publisher" : { "@id" : "https://funded.club/#organization" }, "url" : "https://funded.club/cost-of-empty-seat-calculator" } ```