Your payroll runs weekly. The district’s board meets monthly. That mismatch is why profitable education staffing firms stall in September and why the fix is timing, not terms.
Too many staffing firms build commission plans their salespeople can’t calculate and accounting can’t explain. Here’s how to structure one that pays on gross profit instead of revenue, holds up when a client doesn’t pay, and gives the salesperson a reason to stay close to the account after the sale.
Starting a staffing agency takes more than sales and recruiting. This staffing agency startup checklist covers the funding, payroll, insurance, compliance, systems, and back-office essentials you need before your first payroll.
The August 2026 Jobs Report for Staffing delivered some encouraging signs for an industry that has faced a challenging labor
Using withheld payroll tax to cover a cash gap is the one financial mistake that follows the owner personally, survives the company, and generally survives bankruptcy too. What counts as a trust fund tax, who can be held liable, and why the fix is the cash gap rather than willpower.
Most collections advice starts at the invoice. By then, much of the outcome is already decided. This covers the whole cycle: how to vet a client’s credit before you take the order, what 20 days of DSO actually costs you, and what to do about a slow payer you want to keep.
Payrolls went backward in July, and the two months before that were revised down by a combined 103,000. Temporary help employment rose for the seventh consecutive month. Those two facts sitting next to each other matter more than the headline, and they change the conversation you are having with clients.
Most startup cost lists total up an LLC, a website, and an ATS and land around $15,000. They’re not wrong about the line items, just the shape of the problem. What it really takes to start a staffing agency, including the eight to ten payrolls you fund before your first client pays.
The FTC’s nationwide non-compete ban never took effect and was formally removed in February 2026. That isn’t a win for staffing firms. Within a week of dropping the rule, the FTC sent warning letters to staffing companies. What staffing non-compete agreements can actually do now, and what to review.
You don’t choose the VMS software your client runs, but you do choose which programs to join and how well you operate inside them. Here’s how to evaluate VMS software for staffing firms as a supplier: what to check before you sign, how the scorecard decides your req flow, and what participation really costs.