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Recruitment agency margin calculator: percent, fixed and custom modes

Three ways to apply margin to a proposal and when each makes sense.

The margin strip sits at the top of the Roles & Base Pay section in the proposal builder. Three modes — pick the one that matches how this client agreed to be priced.

Margin strip in the proposal builder showing the margin value, percent symbol, and three mode buttons (%) (£/hr) (Custom) with Percent active
Percent mode is the default — one margin value applied to every shift on every role.

Percent (the default)

You set a single margin percentage for the whole quote. Bill rate per shift = true cost / (1 - margin%). The simplest mode and what every quote starts in.

Fixed

You set a single £/hr margin for the whole quote. Bill rate per shift = true cost + £fixed. Used when a client has agreed a flat hourly fee rather than a percentage.

Custom (Agency plan and above)

You set a different margin per cell — different per role, different per shift. A common setup is lower margin on the bread-and-butter Day shift, premium margin on Bank Holiday cover. Click the per-shift margin column in the role detail rate card to set overrides.

Proposal builder in Custom margin mode showing the per-shift margin override column populated with different percentages per shift on the role detail rate card
Custom mode unlocks the per-shift margin override column. Leave a cell blank to fall back to the global margin; type a value to override.
Switching to Custom mode mid-quote keeps any margin overrides you typed. Switching out of Custom back to Percent or Fixed ignores them — the global margin wins.

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Last updated: 2026-06-29. Did this not answer your question? Click the chat bubble bottom-right or email hello@ratecalc.io.

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