A quick Google search will reveal to you that there are well over 100 different types of recruiting software available to the Staffing Industry. No surprises there. People are to Staffing Companies, what lemons are to a lemonade stand; unless of course the lemonade is made from concentrate, but that’s a completely different story.

Though, there is one thing that is more important to any business than people or lemons. Money! Not just having it, but tracking it. Making sure that you know where your money goes, where it comes from, where it can be best used and of course, knowing how much your company keeps. So, where is all of the Software for Staffing Companies that allows them to track their money?

Have developers and programmers in the staffing industry put too much emphasis on recruitment software and less development on back-end functionality for average business owners?

Is QuickBooks or Excel the only small business tool that average staffing companies use to analogize their current key performance metrics (KPI) and track profitability within their organization?

This brings to light that there is no simple accounting software developed directly for staffing companies, because the needs of the staffing industry are more human resource centric and not product or service orientated and the lack of need for project management or inventory control exists.

Staffing companies are unique animals in that Human Resources is their main and only offering. Currently, there aren’t any special accounting reporting standards. Staffing companies are used to developing separate modules to accomplish reports that should be standard in their industry. What if it didn’t have to be that way?

Here are a few questions we need to be asking ourselves:

Are we creating a new QuickBooks file every time we add a business unit or branch?

1. Are we tired of managing our business units or branches as different classes?
2. Are we conducting revenue and cost tracking with programs outside of QuickBooks, such as Excel?
3. Are we having difficulty running margin and profitability reports by client, division, branch, recruiter or sales person?
4. Are we using different software solutions for timesheets, expenses, payroll, and billing?
5. Are we tracking multiple commission plans, calculations and payouts?

With all the development of software for staffing companies, one would think it’s time to develop something that analyzes the bottom line; A software that is made with human resource tracking and billing, with automation and the ability to customize reporting functions specifically for average staffing companies.

For all of my fellow industry staffing professionals, I am asking for your feedback on my thoughts and what solutions if any are out there; One that is affordable and customizable, but simplistic in usage and eliminates the usage of multiple products.

Call me unrealistic, but is a perfect solution really too much to ask for?