Use case · Headcount planning
One headcount plan that finance and the business can both trust.
Cube connects headcount planning to your HRIS, ATS, and payroll actuals, so every role, start date, and fully loaded cost lands in the plan automatically.
The problem
Headcount planning breaks when the roster and the model disagree.
Headcount is typically 60 to 70 percent of operating expense. When this plan is wrong, the whole forecast is wrong.
Two rosters
The HRIS says one headcount, the model says another, and the month opens with reconciliation.
Offers nobody planned for
Reqs and offers move through the ATS while the financial plan finds out at close.
Start dates slip
A hire slips a quarter, a backfill lands early, and the plan quietly stops being true.
One formula, five workforces
Hourly crews, salaried staff, part-timers, contractors, and people on leave all cost differently, and one spreadsheet formula flattens them.
One connection
A headcount plan that keeps itself current.
The roster, open roles, and payroll actuals feed one plan, and fully loaded costs flow to opex, executive reporting, and every scenario automatically.
Cube
One headcount model for every worker type: salaried, hourly, part-time, contract, and on leave, each priced by its own rules.
When the roster and the model agree, every headcount decision starts from the same truth.
The whole workforce
Hourly, salaried, part-time, contract: one plan prices them all.
Each worker type carries its own cost logic in the model, so the plan prices the workforce you actually have.
Salaried roles
Loaded rates by level and location: salary, benefits, taxes, and overhead.
Hourly teams
Rate times scheduled hours, with overtime and shift differentials in the rules.
Part-time & seasonal
FTE fractions and seasonal ramps flow straight into monthly cost.
Contractors & agencies
Day rates and end dates, planned beside employees while staying out of payroll.
Leaves & returns
Cost pauses and restarts on the dates HR records, automatically.
Backfills & transfers
The run rate holds while the seat changes hands, and the plan shows both sides.
Live data
A hiring plan that does its own math.
Plan by role, department, and start month. Cube applies your loaded cost rules and flows the total straight to opex.
| Role | Dept | Start | Status | Loaded $K/yr | FY27 $K |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Operations Director | Operations | Sep | Offer out | 240 | 80 |
| Account Executive | Sales | Apr | Approved | 216 | 162 |
| Customer Service Rep | Customer Service | Jul | Open | 96 | 48 |
| Marketing Manager (backfill) | Marketing | Oct | Open | 168 | 42 |
| Total · four roles | 332 |
Charted
Cost ramps as start dates land.
The four planned roles, drawn as the quarterly cost they add. Move a start date and the ramp redraws.
The payoff
A headcount plan you can defend line by line.
One roster, one number
The plan starts from the synced HRIS roster, so finance and HR stop reconciling versions.
Fully loaded, automatically
Loaded cost rules apply to every role once, so nobody rebuilds tax and benefit math by hand.
Traceable to payroll
Every planned dollar traces to the roster, the req, or the payroll actual behind it.
Adoption
Runs alongside the stack you already have.
Cube connects to hundreds of source systems, with pre-built connectors for major HRIS, ATS, and ERP platforms. The full list lives on the integrations page.
Finance-led setup
Configured by your team, guided by ours.
of sources
Hundreds of source systems, with pre-built connectors for major platforms.
Rip-and-replace
The HRIS and GL stay the systems of record.
Onboarding
Hands-on setup with a named contact.
FP&Agents
Variance surfaces itself, with the roles behind it.
Cube's FP&Agents run in the background of the plan, watching the gap between what you approved and what the roster actually did.
Plan vs roster
When the live roster drifts from the plan, the variance surfaces with the exact roles behind it.
Questions answered in place
Ask what a slipped start date costs or which teams are over plan. The AI Analyst answers from the model, with the trace.
Offers in flight
Every open offer carries its fully loaded rate before acceptance, so nothing lands on payroll unplanned.
Where you work
One model, on every surface.
Cube delivers the same governed numbers wherever the work happens. Explore the full story on Where You Work.
Cube Workspace
The browser app where finance builds the model, sets permissions, and publishes.
Excel & Google Sheets
Bi-directional sync: fetch live actuals into the sheet, publish plans back.
AI assistants via MCP
Claude, ChatGPT, and Gemini answer from your governed numbers.
Slack & Teams
Ask a question in chat and get the governed figure back, with the trace.
PowerPoint & Google Slides
Decks with figures bound to Cube that refresh to the current numbers.
BI tools
Tableau, Looker, and Power BI read from the same model as the plan.
Use cases
Where the headcount plan goes to work.
Headcount planning carries most of opex; teams pair it with vendor and expense planning to govern the rest.
Annual headcount plan
Build the role-by-role plan that anchors the annual budget and rolling forecast.
In-quarter reforecast
When a start date slips or a req closes early, reforecast the quarter as the change lands.
Org scenario planning
Model a hiring pause, a new pod, or a reorg and watch opex and ending headcount move together.
Department self-serve
Give department leads their own view to plan roles within an approved budget.
Put your own org chart through it.
A short demo built around your departments, your hiring motion, and your cost structure.
Security & governance
Built for the most sensitive data you hold.
Compensation data deserves stricter controls than the rest of the model, and the full posture is documented on our security page.
Role-based permissions
Department leaders see their own org and never a peer's compensation.
Read-only connections
Connections read from source systems by default, and publishing back is permissioned.
Audit trail on every change
Every edit to a role, a date, or a cost assumption is logged with who and when.
Encryption & retention
Encrypted in transit and at rest, with region and retention controls you set.
Trace to the transaction
Every payroll number opens.
Every finance leader knows the meeting where the roster and the model disagree and nobody can say why. In Cube, you open the number.
| Apr 01 | Aetna | medical premiums | NetSuite | $301K |
| Apr 15 | Fidelity | 401(k) match | ADP | $118K |
| Apr 01 | Guardian | dental & vision | NetSuite | $42K |
| + 3 more transactions · $25K | ||||
Fundamentals
What is headcount planning?
Headcount planning
Headcount planning is the process of deciding who to hire, when they start, where they sit in the organization, and what they fully cost, connected directly to the financial plan. A complete headcount plan covers new roles, backfills, transfers, and exits, and translates each one into fully loaded cost by month, department, and entity.
In Cube, that plan lives in one governed model that reads the roster from your HRIS, the offers in flight from your ATS, and payroll actuals from the GL, so finance and the business plan from the same numbers.
What feeds the plan
What the plan feeds
Six failure modes
Why is headcount planning difficult?
Two sources of truth
HR trusts the HRIS, finance trusts the model, and the two drift every payroll cycle. Cube syncs the roster in, so the plan opens on the same people HR sees.
Fully loaded cost complexity
Taxes, benefits, bonus, and merit vary by role and geography, and hand math misses. Cube applies your loaded cost rules to every role automatically.
Start-date slippage
One slipped month changes the quarter, and spreadsheets rarely reprice it. Cube recalculates the moment a date moves.
Backfills vs net new
When replacement and growth hiring blur, the run rate lies. Cube tags every req so each kind is planned and reported separately.
Approval loops
Finance, HR, and department leads each hold a version, and the final one is a matter of opinion. Cube keeps one permissioned plan with an audit trail.
Reforecast latency
By the time the model catches up, the quarter has moved on. Cube reads the roster and payroll continuously, so a reforecast starts current.
A headcount plan maintained by hand is out of date the day it is approved.
Step by step
How does headcount planning work?
Five steps, whichever tool you use: set the budget, build the plan role by role, apply fully loaded costs, approve it, and keep it current.
| Step | Spreadsheet process | In Cube |
|---|---|---|
| Set the budget | ✕Targets set in a deck, disconnected from the model | ✓Budgets live in the model as guardrails per department |
| Build role by role | ✕Reqs collected over email and pasted into tabs | ✓Roles planned with start dates against the synced roster |
| Cost fully loaded | ✕Tax and benefit math rebuilt by hand for each role | ✓Loaded cost rules applied automatically to every role |
| Approve & publish | ✕Versions multiply and the final one is a guess | ✓One governed plan with permissions and an audit trail |
| Reforecast | ✕The model catches up long after the roster moved | ✓Roster and payroll sync continuously, so reforecasts start current |
Approaches
The three types of headcount planning.
Top-down targets
Leadership sets a cost or headcount target by department; fast for annual planning, blind to individual roles. In Cube, that target becomes the guardrail departments plan within.
Bottom-up, role by role
Every req is planned with a start date, level, and loaded cost; precise, and heavy to maintain by hand. Cube keeps it live against the roster.
Driver-based ratios
Hiring follows drivers like reps per manager or support heads per customer, tying the org to the revenue plan. Cube runs these as driver-based plans in the same model.
Field guide
Headcount planning best practices.
Vendor-neutral habits that hold up in any tool.
Plan from one roster
Sync the HRIS before planning starts, so every version of the plan opens on the same people.
Cost roles fully loaded
Base salary understates a hire by 25 to 40 percent once taxes, benefits, and bonus land.
Reprice start dates monthly
A one-month slip on a $200K role moves about $17K, and a plan that ignores timing drifts fast.
Separate backfills from net new
Replacement hiring keeps the run rate and growth hiring raises it, so tag every req as one or the other.
Reforecast in-quarter
Fold roster changes into the plan as they happen, and let payroll timing flow through to your cash flow forecast.
Buying guide
What to look for in headcount planning software.
Whether you evaluate Cube or anything else, insist on these six.
Source connections
Native connections to your HRIS, ATS, and general ledger, so plan and actuals share one origin.
Role-level planning
Roles with start dates, departments, and entities, and never a lump-sum headcount line.
Loaded cost logic
Configurable rules for taxes, benefits, bonus, and merit that apply to every role automatically.
Compensation-grade permissions
Row-level and field-level control, so self-serve planning never exposes salaries.
Scenarios on one model
Pause, plan, and accelerate cases that recalculate from the same driver set.
Trace to the source
Every planned and actual dollar opens to the transaction behind it.
One headcount plan, ready to defend.
Book a demo and watch your roster, your open roles, and your payroll actuals land in one governed model.
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