The True Cost of Manual Resume Formatting
Most staffing agency owners know formatting takes time. Few have calculated the actual dollar cost. When you run the numbers, the result is often startling — manual resume formatting is one of the largest hidden costs in a staffing agency's operations.
The Formula
The cost calculation is straightforward: (Recruiter hourly rate) × (Minutes per resume ÷ 60) × (Resumes per month) = Monthly formatting cost. The inputs vary by agency, but the ranges are well-documented.
$35-55
Recruiter loaded hourly cost
Source: SIA data
45 min
Average formatting time
Source: iReformat data
$25-75
Cost per formatted resume
Source: Calculated
ROI by Agency Size
Here's what the ROI looks like across different agency sizes, assuming average recruiter costs and 45 minutes per resume:
ROI Calculator by Agency Size
| Agency Size | Resumes/Month | Monthly Manual Cost | Monthly Tool Cost | Monthly Savings | Annual ROI |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Solo Recruiter | 30 | $1,125 | ~$50 | $1,075 | ~$12,900/yr |
| Small (5 recruiters) | 100 | $3,750 | ~$150 | $3,600 | ~$43,200/yr |
| Mid-size (15 recruiters) | 300 | $11,250 | ~$300 | $10,950 | ~$131,400/yr |
| Large (30+ recruiters) | 750 | $28,125 | ~$500 | $27,625 | ~$331,500/yr |
Estimates based on $45/hr recruiter cost, 45 min/resume manual time
Note: These calculations only include direct labor savings. They don't account for the opportunity cost — the placements your recruiters could make with those recovered hours.
The Opportunity Cost Factor
Direct labor savings tell only half the story. The real value is in what your recruiters do with their recovered time. If a recruiter makes one additional placement per month because they're not formatting resumes, the revenue impact dwarfs the formatting cost savings.
Consider: the average staffing placement generates $5,000-$20,000 in gross profit depending on the role and industry. If automated formatting frees up enough time for just one extra placement per recruiter per quarter, the annual revenue impact for a 10-person team is $200,000-$800,000.
Real Agency Results
These ROI projections are backed by real results from iReformat customers:
- Walker HealthForce: Cut formatting from 45 min to 5 min per resume. Team of 15 recruiters recovered 100+ hours per month.
- TechGuard Security: Reduced to 1-3 minutes per resume. Redirected saved time to expanding their candidate pipeline by 40%.
- Find Great People: Went from 20 min to 30 seconds per resume. The fastest ROI in our customer base — paid for itself in the first week.
Making the Business Case
If you need to justify the investment to agency leadership, here's the framework: calculate your current monthly formatting volume, multiply by your average recruiter cost per formatted resume, and compare to the tool cost. For most agencies, the math is overwhelming — the tool pays for itself 10-40 times over.