Most fee disputes in recruitment do not start at the invoice. They start weeks earlier, when a recruiter sends a promising profile to a new contact before anyone has agreed how the work will be paid for. The client interviews, hires and then questions the fee, the guarantee period or whether the candidate was really introduced by you. Often the terms were discussed on the phone, or a document was emailed, but nothing on the client record shows what was agreed and when. This article explains why every client in your Applicant Tracking System needs agreed terms of business before the first candidate submission, what to record and how to make the check part of the normal flow instead of an afterthought.
The details differ per segment. Recruitment agencies agree how and when a placement fee is due and what happens if a candidate leaves early. Staffing desks need a signed framework agreement before the first shift, including the conditions for taking a temporary worker on permanently. Secondment teams agree the assignment terms per professional, separate from the general framework. In executive search a retained engagement has its own letter, with stages and exclusivity. In-house recruitment teams face the same question the other way round: which external agencies have agreed terms with you, so an unsolicited profile does not turn into an unexpected invoice.
What goes wrong without agreed terms on record
- A recruiter submits a candidate to a new contact, assuming a colleague already agreed terms with that company
- Terms were agreed with one department or branch, but the submission goes to another one that never signed
- The signed version sits in someone’s mailbox, so nobody can find it when the client questions the fee
- The client hires the candidate months later, directly or through another party, and there is no record of when the introduction took place
- Old terms are still used for a client who agreed new ones last year, or the other way round
What to record on the client record
- Status of the terms — not sent, sent, agreed or expired, as a fixed field rather than a note
- Which version and which document — the signed file attached to the client, not a link to an email
- Who agreed and for which entity — the contact person and the legal entity or branch the terms apply to
- Dates — when the terms were agreed, from when they apply and when they need to be reviewed
- The agreements that matter in practice — the type of fee arrangement, the guarantee or replacement period, how long an introduction remains valid and any exclusivity, recorded in your own words without copying the whole contract
Commercial details such as rates and margins stay with restricted access. Recruiters need to see that terms are in place and what the guarantee period is; they do not all need to see the fee arrangement.
Make it an entry criterion for the submission stage
The check works best when it is not a matter of memory. Add it to the written entry criteria for the submission stage: a candidate only moves to “presented to client” when the client record shows terms with the status agreed, valid for the entity receiving the profile. If the terms are missing, the Applicant Tracking System shows that before the profile goes out, and the recruiter or the owner of the vacancy arranges them first. The same applies when taking a new vacancy brief from a client you have not worked with before: sending the terms is part of the intake, not something for after the first interview.
Record every introduction with a date
Agreed terms only help if you can show what you introduced and when. Each submission is recorded on both the candidate and the client, with the date, the vacancy and the recruiter who sent it, together with the candidate’s consent for that submission. When a client later hires someone you presented, the record shows the introduction date and the terms that applied at that moment. That is a factual timeline, not an argument about who remembers what. Keeping candidate and client records beside the pipeline in one system is what makes this possible.
Staffing and secondment: framework and assignment
In staffing and secondment, there are usually two layers: a framework agreement with the client and the terms per assignment. Record both. The framework sits on the client record; the assignment terms, including the end date of the assignment, sit with the assignment itself. A professional should not start on site before both are in place, just as a placement needs a confirmed start date before the vacancy closes.
Keep the terms current
Terms age. Contacts change jobs, companies merge and your own standard terms are updated. Give every agreement a review date and let the Applicant Tracking System list clients whose terms are expiring or were agreed on an older version. A short yearly check with active clients prevents the situation where a fee is invoiced on terms nobody at the client recognises any more.
Measure it with your own data
Use real counts from your own records: how many submissions went to clients without agreed terms, how many clients have terms that are past their review date and how often a fee was disputed or reduced, with the recorded reason. Report the number of records behind each figure and use the same filters every time. Do not rely on general figures you cannot verify; the pattern in your own client base is what tells you where to act.
Where artificial intelligence may help — and where it must not
Artificial intelligence may point out that a submission is being prepared for a client without agreed terms, or that a signed document mentions a guarantee period that differs from the field on the client record, so a person can check it. It may draft a short summary of an uploaded agreement, which someone reads and corrects. It stays a helper. Artificial intelligence does not replace recruiters, does not interpret contracts on your behalf and does not negotiate terms with clients. Those conversations are held by people; the Applicant Tracking System makes sure the outcome is recorded where everyone can find it.
A practical start
- Add a status field for terms of business to every client record, with the signed document attached
- Record which entity or branch the terms apply to
- Make agreed terms an entry criterion for the submission stage
- Record every submission with date, vacancy and recruiter on both the candidate and the client
- Review once a quarter which active clients have missing or outdated terms
Agree first, then present
Agreed terms on the client record are a small step that prevents the most uncomfortable conversations in recruitment: about fees, about who introduced whom and about what happens when a placement does not work out. Explore the product or book a demo — we show how client records, stage criteria and submissions work together in BoldATS for your segment.