Headcount Growth Planner
Plans headcount growth over time by department, forecasting total cost per new head and tracking revenue per employee. Helps leadership decide how many people to hire and when, based on revenue targets and cost constraints.
HR - Headcount Growth Planner.xlsx
Excel (.xlsx) — No macros — Works in Excel, Google Sheets, LibreOffice
What This Spreadsheet Solves
- No structured plan for how many people to hire and when
- Headcount growth outpaces revenue, eroding margins
- Cannot model the cost impact of different growth scenarios
- Revenue-per-employee declining but no one is tracking it
- Department hiring requests are disconnected from company financial targets
Who This Is For
- HR directors building annual headcount plans
- CFOs modeling growth scenarios
- Department heads justifying team expansion
- Operations leaders balancing capacity and cost
Inputs
- textDepartment
- #Current Headcount
- #Planned New Hires per Quarter
- $Average Fully Loaded Cost per Hire
- $Projected Quarterly Revenue
Outputs
- Total headcount by quarter by department
- Incremental cost per quarter
- Revenue per employee trend
- Cost-to-revenue ratio over time
- Headcount growth rate vs. revenue growth rate
- Break-even headcount at current revenue
How Calculations Work
The model starts with current headcount and adds planned hires each quarter. Cost per quarter multiplies new hires by their fully loaded cost, prorated for partial quarters. Revenue per employee divides projected quarterly revenue by total headcount. The cost-to-revenue ratio tracks whether headcount spend is growing faster than revenue. Break-even headcount shows the maximum team size sustainable at current revenue.
Example Use Case
Scenario: Engineering has 20 people, plans to add 3 per quarter at $130,000 fully loaded. Revenue is $2M/quarter growing 8% quarterly.
Result: Q4 headcount: 32. Q4 cost: $4.16M annualized. Revenue per employee drops from $100K to $84K by Q4. Cost-to-revenue ratio rises from 52% to 57%. Break-even headcount at current revenue: 31.
What You Get — 5 Sheets
Technical Details
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I estimate fully loaded cost per hire?
Use the Employee Cost Calculator template or add salary + benefits + taxes + overhead. A common rule of thumb is 1.3x to 1.4x base salary.
Can I model different growth scenarios?
Yes. Duplicate the INPUT sheet for each scenario (aggressive, moderate, conservative). The LOGIC sheet references whichever INPUT sheet is active.
What is a healthy revenue-per-employee ratio?
It varies by industry. SaaS companies typically target $200K-$300K. The key is that the ratio should not decline quarter over quarter.
Should I include contractors in headcount?
Track them separately. The CONFIG sheet has a toggle to include or exclude contractors from the headcount and cost totals.
How far out should I plan?
Four quarters is standard. Extend to 8 quarters for strategic planning. Accuracy decreases beyond 2 quarters.
Download Headcount Growth Planner
Ready to use immediately. Enter your data in the INPUT sheet, see results in OUTPUT.