Staffing franchise finance
Find a staffing brand
This guide covers eight brands, each from its own 2026 FDD. Open one, or pick two and compare them.
Top performers
These are the things that separate top performers in staffing
Across the staffing brands that publish both figures, the median top group of locations sells $9,779,779 a year and the median bottom group sells $1,429,522. Across these brands, a median of 31% of locations reach their own brand’s average.
Decided before you open
- Opening cost against sales.The top group sells $9,779,779 a year against a build that tops out at $363,200, so at the heavy end of the range a location sells $26.93 for every dollar it cost to open.
- Rent as a share of sales.No staffing brand in this guide discloses rent as a share of sales. The 20.5% that Spherion reports is its gross profit rate.
Live operating levers
- Three of the seven brands here bill by the hour.
Business model attribute
- Service
- Care or staff hours billed to clients
- Unit economics
- Hours billed times the hourly rate, less wages for hours worked
- Three of the seven brands here publish how a new location builds up.
Business model attribute
- Service
- The FDD’s month-by-month build-up of a new location
- Unit economics
- Months until sales cover costs
- Two of the seven brands here run a recurring plan.
Business model attribute
- Service
- Recurring plans and booked return visits
- Unit economics
- Customers on a plan times visits a month
- Three of the seven brands here get paid on a placement.
Business model attribute
- Service
- Placing a candidate in a job
- Unit economics
- Placements times the fee, less refunds inside the guarantee period
- Cost of goods by brand.Products and materials take 80.0% of sales at the middle brand, 77.5% to 82.5% across the two that disclose it. The levers on this line are buying on the brand program, holding the price list instead of discounting to close, and counting waste weekly.
- Fees as a share of sales.Fees run a median 8.1% of sales across six brands, from 7.5% to 24.0%. Where a minimum applies, lower-selling locations pay a higher effective rate. At $9,779,779 the fees cost $788,739 a year; at $1,429,522 they cost $115,291.
Context you underwrite around
- First-year build-up.Three of eight filings in this category show how a new location builds up. The others do not show it.
- Brands without sales bands.Four brands publish only an average, with no sales bands.
The model
The business model the top performers in staffing are running
What the top performers can do that others cannot
Three of the seven brands with a lever breakdown sell hours of somebody’s time.
What the customer is buying
The customer buys care or labor billed by the hour. At two of them the model is different: the customer buys a placement paid on a fee, which asks something else of the owner. A location at the middle brand sells $3,658,091 a year; the top group sells $9,779,779. The offer is the same at both ends of that range, so the difference is volume. The product is the same.
Who the customer is, and how often they come back
This is a retention business. The money is made in the second year of a customer, not the first month, so the number that decides the year is how many stay. Among the staffing brands that publish it, a median 31% of locations reach their own brand’s average. The top group sells $9,779,779 against $1,429,522 at the bottom. Trade area and site set that range before an owner takes a booking.
How the money works
Opening costs $32,600 to $363,200 across the category, and inside one brand the top of the range is typically 1.5 times the bottom. At the middle brand the cost stack runs occupancy 20.5%, cost of sales 80.0%, franchise fees 8.1% of sales. Three of these brands publish how a new location builds up, so the first year can be read out of the document instead of guessed at.
Staffing offices bill large revenue and keep a thin share of it. Gross profit runs 17.5% to 22.51% of revenue at the brands that publish it. AtWork's 7% royalty costs 40.0% * of gross profit, the same as Express charging 40% of gross profit outright.
Staffing franchises at a glance
- Averan Franchise compares eight staffing franchise brands, each from its own 2026 FDD.
- The cost to open a staffing franchise runs from $32,600 at Global Recruiters Network to $363,200 at Labor Finders.
- Spherion reports the highest average sales of these brands, at $6,947,291, and Patrice & Associates the lowest, at $17,527.
- Franchise fees take 7.5% to 24% of sales across the six brands where Averan Franchise works out the figure.
These figures come from each brand's 2026 Franchise Disclosure Document, as the brand reported them, and were read by Averan Advisors.
- A 7% royalty and a 40% share of gross profit cost the same thing. AtWork’s 7% of revenue is 40.0% of its own 17.5% gross profit *. Express Employment Professionals charges the same bill by naming it as a share of gross profit.
- At three brands the franchisor employs the workers, bills the clients and funds the wages. Express keeps 40% of gross profit, PrideStaff 35% and Spherion 30%. So the owner sells and recruits while the brand has the working capital.
- An hour bills at $27.76, costs $7.61 of gross profit and returns $4.31 to the owner. 56.6% of the margin on that hour * at PrideStaff, where a 6% minimum takes over once the profit share falls under about 17%.
- The two recruiting brands charge a fifth of what the three staffing brands charge. Sanford Rose at 7.5% of cash collected and Patrice & Associates at 10% of placement fees, against 30% to 40% of gross profit, because a search desk carries no temporary workers' wages.
- The median AtWork office bills half the average one. $1,842,996 against $3,658,091 *, and 28.6% of offices reach the average, the widest gap of the five brands here that file both.
By type of business.
- Staffing offices 5 brandsAtWork Group · Express Employment Professionals · Labor Finders · PrideStaff · Spherion
- Executive search 2 brandsPatrice & Associates · Sanford Rose
Every brand in this guide
What the brand really takes
Revenue is the wrong denominator.
A staffing office passes most of what it bills straight through to the people doing the work. Gross profit is 17.5% to 22.51% of revenue at the brands publishing it. So a royalty quoted against revenue and a share quoted against gross profit are two ways of writing the same check. Put both on the gross-profit line and the category reads clearly.
| Brand | How it is charged | gross profit | Share of gross profit * | At that brand’s average |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| AtWork Group | 7% of revenue | 17.5% | 40.0% | $256,066 of $640,166 |
| Express Employment Professionals | 40% of gross profit | Left unstated | 40% | n/a |
| PrideStaff | 35% of gross profit | 22.51% | 35% | $251,783 of $719,381 |
| Spherion | 30% of gross profit | 20.5% | 30% | $427,258 of $1,424,195 |
| Patrice & Associates | 10% of placement fees | Placement work has no wages | About 10% | $4,206 of $17,527 |
| Sanford Rose Associates | 7.5% of cash collected | Search work has no wages | About 7.5% | n/a |
| Labor Finders | 3.5% of billings, own wages | Left unstated | n/a | n/a |
Rates, gross profits and average revenue are as the brand reported it by each brand; the converted share and its dollar value are marked *.
Who has the wages
Who funds the wages decides how much cash you need.
Wages go out weekly and clients settle monthly, so someone finances the gap. At three of these eight brands the franchisor does it; at two the owner does. That single choice sets the working capital in the investment table, decides who absorbs a client paying late, and accounts for most of the difference in what the brands charge.
| Brand | Employer of record | Who funds the wages | Franchise fees for it |
|---|---|---|---|
| Express Employment Professionals | The franchisor | The franchisor | 40% of gross profit |
| PrideStaff | The franchisor | The franchisor | 35% of gross profit |
| Spherion | The franchisor | The franchisor | 30% of gross profit |
| AtWork Group | The owner | The owner | 7% of revenue, worth 40.0% of gross profit * |
| Labor Finders | The owner | The owner | 3.5% of billings |
| Patrice & Associates | Placement work, which has no wages | The franchisor invoices and collects | 10% plus a 2% brand fund |
| Sanford Rose Associates | Search work, which has no wages | n/a | 7.5% of cash collected |
Every structural term is as the brand reported it by its brand; the converted share for AtWork is marked *.
AtWork has the wages and still pays the highest share of gross profit here. 40.0% * against Spherion’s 30%, where the franchisor funds the wages, so the owner taking the working-capital risk pays more for the privilege.
One point of gross profit rate is worth $48,631 at a Spherion office. On $6,947,291 of billings, moving the profit share from 20.5% to 21.5% is worth more than most brands charge in a year. That makes pricing the client the lever that matters.
Labor Finders charges 3.5% and runs the wages itself. Half its opening investment is working capital for wages paid ahead of collection, and its insurance costs more than the franchise fee. The cheap rate buys an expensive balance sheet.
Sales and the first year
Five years is the unit of time here.
Every brand filing a years open split shows the same shape. An office takes years. The gap between a young office and a mature one is larger than the gap between brands.
| Brand | Offices reporting | Average revenue | Median | Median as a share of the average * | Reaching the average |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Spherion | 57 | $6,947,291 | $4,051,231 | 58.3% | n/a |
| Express Employment Professionals | 526 | $5,342,686 | $4,043,021 | 75.7% | 32.9% |
| AtWork Group | 63 | $3,658,091 | $1,842,996 | 50.4% | 28.6% |
| PrideStaff | 53 | $3,195,828 | $2,674,511 | 83.7% | 34.0% |
| Patrice & Associates | 194 | $17,527 | n/a | n/a | 20.6% |
Offices reporting, revenue, medians and attainment are as the brand reported it; the median-share column is marked *.
An Express office over five years old takes $784,572 and one at two to five years takes $466,143. The owner’s share runs $1,199 in month one and $17,344 by month twelve. So the first year is a ramp. The working capital in the investment table has to cover it.
Every brand here puts its median office below its average, and fewer than four in ten reach it. Attainment runs 20.6% to 34.0%, the lowest group of any category in this library, so in staffing the published average describes an office that sells more than most.
A Patrice placement averages $11,680 and an executive search placement $26,467. So the top sixth of that network, at $89,744 of gross sales, is about eight placements a year. Meanwhile the second sixth at $12,239 is about one. The whole business is counted in single transactions.
Operating levers
What each brand’s top performers actually work on
These are the levers each brand's filing supports. Each brand has three to five, read from its own 2026 FDD. Filter by type of business, or open a brand for the figures underneath.
7 brands
AtWork Group
Staffing offices
- Products and materials. Products and materials take 17.5% of sales. The levers are buying terms, price discipline and waste.
- Billed hours. You pay for every hour worked and bill only the hours a client accepts. Track hours worked against hours billed, and the rate charged against the rate paid.
- Fees. Fees run about 7.7% of sales. No minimum royalty applies, so the charge rises and falls with sales.
- Cash needed in the first year. This filing shows how a new location builds up: the month sales cover costs, and how much cash you fund before then.
Express Employment Professionals
Staffing offices
- Sales depend on customers. The owner works on how many customers are won, how many are lost, and what each spends in a year.
- Memberships and rebooking. A recurring plan turns appointments into a monthly subscription and keeps the schedule fuller. Rebooking before the customer leaves keeps it full.
- Fees and the minimum. Fees run about 8.4% of sales. A minimum fee also applies, so lower-selling locations pay a higher effective rate. Work out the sales level where the percentage overtakes the minimum.
- Cash needed in the first year. This filing shows how a new location builds up: the month sales cover costs, and how much cash you fund before then.
Global Recruiters Network
Other
- Fees and the minimum. The brand’s charges are set dollar amounts, so they take a larger share of sales at lower-selling locations.
- Placements. The fee is earned when a candidate is hired and refunded if they leave inside the guarantee period.
Labor Finders
Staffing offices
- Billed hours. You pay for every hour worked and bill only the hours a client accepts. Track hours worked against hours billed, and the rate charged against the rate paid.
- Fees and the minimum. Fees run about 3.5% of sales. A minimum fee also applies, so lower-selling locations pay a higher effective rate. Work out the sales level where the percentage overtakes the minimum.
Patrice & Associates
Executive search
- Placements. The fee is earned when a candidate is hired and refunded if they leave inside the guarantee period.
- Memberships and rebooking. A recurring plan turns appointments into a monthly subscription and keeps the schedule fuller. Rebooking before the customer leaves keeps it full.
- Service and retail mix. Retail sales and the share of customers on higher service tiers raise revenue per hour without adding hours or rooms.
- Fees. Fees run about 24.0% of sales. No minimum royalty applies, so the charge rises and falls with sales.
PrideStaff
Staffing offices
- Products and materials. Products and materials take 22.5% of sales. The levers are buying terms, price discipline and waste.
- Billed hours. You pay for every hour worked and bill only the hours a client accepts. Track hours worked against hours billed, and the rate charged against the rate paid.
- Fees and the minimum. Fees run about 7.8% of sales. A minimum fee also applies, so lower-selling locations pay a higher effective rate. Work out the sales level where the percentage overtakes the minimum.
Spherion
Staffing offices
- Occupancy cost. Rent and building costs take 20.5% of sales. Sales per square foot and the hours the space is earning are the only two ways to move it, since the rent itself is fixed at signing.
- Placements. The fee is earned when a candidate is hired and refunded if they leave inside the guarantee period.
- Fees. Fees run about 8.3% of sales. No minimum royalty applies, so the charge rises and falls with sales.
- Cash needed in the first year. This filing shows how a new location builds up: the month sales cover costs, and how much cash you fund before then.
All 8 brands
All 8 brands, side by side
| Brand | What it does | Offices at year end | Average revenue | Franchise fees | Cost to open |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Spherion | General staffing office | 180 | $6,947,291 | 30% of gross profit | $132,980–$301,040 |
| Express Employment Professionals | Temporary staffing and direct hire | 758 | $5,342,686 | 40% of gross profit | $151,000–$287,700 |
| AtWork Group | Storefront staffing office | 83 | $3,658,091 | 7% of revenue | $165,000–$250,000 |
| PrideStaff | Office, industrial and accounting staffing | 65 | $3,195,828 | 35% of gross profit | $171,950–$244,600 |
| Patrice & Associates | Home-based management recruiting | 194 | $17,527 | 10% plus a 2% brand fund | $105,100–$121,050 |
| Sanford Rose Associates | Executive search | 103 | n/a | 7.5% of cash collected | $103,900–$131,600 |
| Labor Finders | Industrial temporary staffing | 80 | n/a | 3.5% of billings | $159,535–$363,200 |
| Global Recruiters Network | Executive search and permanent placement | 159 | n/a | 10% to 4% of net receipts plus $3,000 a month | $32,600–$44,700 |
Every figure in this table is as the brand reported it by its brand.
Sanford Rose went from 41 franchised offices to 103 during 2025, on 65 openings, 2 terminations and 1 other closure. The fastest expansion in this library, on an $88,000 fee, a territory of about 126 acres and a royalty that follows cash collected.
Opening costs run from $32,600 to $363,200 across all eight staffing brands. A building to fit out is absent, so the money goes to the fee, insurance and working capital. The brands that fund wages for you are at the cheap end of it.
Questions we get asked
Questions owners ask.
Why do the royalties look so different?
The royalties look different because half of them are charged on a different base. Express, PrideStaff and Spherion take 40%, 35% and 30% of gross profit, while AtWork takes 7% and Labor Finders 3.5% of revenue. Since gross profit runs 17.5% to 22.51% of revenue, AtWork’s 7% works out at 40.0% of gross profit *, the same as the highest gross-margin share in the category. Convert every quote to a share of gross profit before comparing.
Who funds the wages?
At Express, PrideStaff and Spherion the franchisor employs the workers, invoices the clients and funds the wages, then remits the owner a share of gross profit. At AtWork and Labor Finders the owner has it. That is why half of Labor Finders’ opening investment is working capital for wages paid ahead of collection. That single difference decides how much cash the business needs and who absorbs a client paying late.
What should I measure every month?
The first is gross profit rate, in basis points. At a Spherion office one point of it is worth $48,631 a year, which exceeds what most brands in other categories charge in total. Then hours billed, because volume is the second lever, and days sales outstanding, because a staffing business funds wages weekly and collects monthly.
How long until an office matures?
Years. An Express owner takes $1,199 in month one, $17,344 by month twelve and $25,646 by month twenty-four. An office over five years old takes $784,572 against $466,143 at two to five years. Attainment across this category runs 20.6% to 34.0%, so plan the working capital against the build-up.
Who does bookkeeping for a staffing franchise?
Averan does. We work with owners in this category on gross profit rate read weekly, hours billed against hours paid, the brand’s share reconciled to the remittance statement, and the cash forecast behind wages funded ahead of collection. Get in touch.
Run your own numbers.
The Franchise Numbers Check runs the same checks on your own numbers. It scores where you stand and compares you with Item 19 of your brand’s FDD. It works out what one location earns and spends, and builds a 13-week cash forecast. Checks whether you are ready to open another one. It is free and it runs in your browser.
Launch the diagnostic →What is your gross profit rate this week?
We review your unit economics and cash forecast and build your reporting around gross profit rate read in basis points, hours billed against hours paid. A cash forecast that has wages funded ahead of collection.
Talk to AveranStaffing cost lines as a share of sales
Four of the eight staffing brands in Averan Franchise disclose what their locations spend on wages, rent and space, or cost of goods. Each figure is a share of the average location's sales, from the brand's 2026 FDD. Rent and space covers rent and the other costs of the premises.
| Brand | Wages | Rent and space | Cost of goods |
|---|---|---|---|
| AtWork Group | Not disclosed | Not disclosed | 82.5% |
| Patrice & Associates | Not disclosed | Not disclosed | 0.0% |
| PrideStaff | Not disclosed | Not disclosed | 77.5% |
| Spherion | Not disclosed | 20.5% | Not disclosed |
How fast new staffing locations build sales
The pages for five of the eight staffing brands in Averan Franchise show how a new location's sales build after opening, by month or by years open, in dollars from each brand's FDD. The months before sales cover costs are the ones to plan cash for, and the minimum fee calculator shows what the fees cost during them.
Common questions
How much does a staffing franchise cost to open?
Among the eight staffing brands in Averan Franchise that publish it, the cost to open runs from $32,600 at Global Recruiters Network to $363,200 at Labor Finders, according to their 2026 FDDs.
Which staffing franchise costs the least to open?
Global Recruiters Network has the lowest starting cost of the staffing brands in Averan Franchise, at $32,600 to $44,700.
Which staffing franchise has the highest average sales?
Spherion reports the highest average sales of the staffing brands in Averan Franchise, at $6,947,291 in its 2026 FDD.
What do staffing franchise fees cost as a share of sales?
Across the six staffing brands where Averan Franchise works out the figure, franchise fees take 7.5% to 24% of sales.
Questions owners ask next
The figures above raise these, and each one is answered on its own page.
- At what level of sales does a minimum fee stop costing me more than the percentage?It works out the sales level where a minimum fee stops applying.
- How much cash do I fund before a new location covers its own costs?It builds a 13-week forecast for the months before break-even.
- My payroll percentage keeps climbing. Is that a payroll problem?It shows how to tell whether payroll is rising or revenue is falling.
- What should I be looking at every week?It lists the handful of numbers that move before the P&L does.
- Do I need a bookkeeper, a controller, or a CFO?It explains what each role owns and when the next hire pays for itself.
Where these figures come from.
Every figure here comes from each named brand’s own 2026 FDD and is unaudited by us, we are unaffiliated with every brand named, each brand reports a different population on different definitions so read every column as a sort order, calculations of our own are marked with an asterisk where they appear, the figures describe past performance at other businesses and are not a projection of yours. This page is an educational summary. It is not an offer to sell a franchise, and it is not financial, legal or tax advice. Every brand name is a trademark of its owner. How Averan reads a Franchise Disclosure Document.