Larger companiesStaffing

How do I sell a larger staffing company? Staffing firms at every size

Most staffing firms this size sell to a bigger staffing firm or a private equity fund. The price rests on your EBITDA, and buyers test your gross margin by client and your payroll before they sign. Pick your size below, from $10,000,000 to $300,000,000 in sales.

Business services

15 min read

Figures: IRS tax year 2023Census 2022Market Pulse through Q2 2026Read November 12, 2026

Legend Atty · Founder, BridgeBook

Published November 12, 2026

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What profit do staffing companies keep?

The short answer: the IRS files staffing under administrative and support services. Those S corporations kept 7.6%^[1] of sales as business profit in tax year 2023, by our math on IRS figures for every size. Before interest, depreciation and amortization it was about 9.8%. That row also holds cleaning, security and landscaping companies, so read it as a rough guide.

Business profit on tax returns: 7.6%^[1]Support services S corporations, all sizes, tax year 2023
Before interest, depreciation and amortization: 9.8%^[1]Tax year 2023, our math, gains included
Returns in the row: 238,112^[1]Every size, staffing with other support services
Support and waste firms your size: 11,794^[2]Employer firms, $10,000,000 to $99,999,999 in sales, 2022

The 7.6% is what these companies told the IRS they made, before the owners paid their own income tax. It pools 238,112 returns of every size, so firms that lost money pull it down.

The 9.8% is our math: the same profit with interest, depreciation and amortization added back. That's close to EBITDA, yearly profit before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization, which is what a larger buyer prices. The IRS withholds this row's gains and losses on selling equipment, so they stay in.

The IRS doesn't split staffing out of this row for S corporations. It holds staffing firms beside janitorial, security, landscaping, call center and travel companies. Our view: a staffing firm's sales include the pay of the people it places, so its profit as a share of sales often runs under this row's.

The average return in this row took in about $1,612,567, by our math. A staffing firm with $10,000,000 in sales is more than five times that, so these averages mostly describe smaller companies.

Exhibit 1

Support services beside S corporations by size of sales, tax year 2023

Band is sales

Administrative and support services S corporations, and S corporations by size of sales, tax year 2023: business profit on tax returns and the figure before interest, depreciation and amortization.
Industry or size	Business profit on tax returns	Before interest, depreciation and amortization
Administrative and support services all sizes	7.6%	9.8%*
$10,000,000 to $50,000,000	7.3%	9.1%
$50,000,000 to $250,000,000	6.1%	8.0%
$250,000,000 or more	5.9%	8.2%
All S corporations	7.5%	9.7%

* Includes gains on selling equipment, which the IRS doesn't publish for this industry.

Sorted by business receipts, which this page calls sales. Before interest, depreciation and amortization = (business profit + interest + depreciation + amortization − net gains on selling equipment) ÷ total receipts, by our math on IRS figures.^[1]^[3]

Source: IRS Statistics of Income, Tax Year 2023^[1]; IRS Statistics of Income, Tax Year 2023, released September 2026^[3]. The support services row covers every size of company and holds staffing with other services. Size rows are all industries.

The IRS sorts the size rows by business receipts, which this page calls sales. Census counted 11,794^[2] administrative, support and waste services firms with $10,000,000 to $99,999,999 in sales in 2022. That count holds staffing too, with the same neighbors.

What does a staffing firm earn and sell for at each size?

At the support services rate of 9.8%, a made-up staffing firm earns $980,000 on $10,000,000 of sales and $29,400,000 on $300,000,000. The sold-deal data behind our calculator stops at companies that sold for $50,000,000. So from $100,000,000 up we give no figure of ours.

Exhibit 2

Seven made-up staffing firms at the IRS support services rate of 9.8%

Band is sales

Seven made-up staffing firms: sales, the IRS size row for that size, EBITDA at the support services rate, and what the sold-deal data behind our calculator puts on it
Sales	IRS size row	EBITDA at 9.8%	Our sold-deal range
$10,000,000	9.1%	$980,000	$3,049,565 to $4,832,879
$20,000,000	9.1%	$1,960,000	$7,840,000 to $11,368,000
$30,000,000	9.1%	$2,940,000	$11,760,000 to $17,052,000
$50,000,000	8.0%	$4,900,000	$19,600,000 to $28,420,000
$100,000,000	8.0%	$9,800,000	Past our data
$200,000,000	8.0%	$19,600,000	Past our data
$300,000,000	8.2%	$29,400,000	Past our data

Source: IRS Statistics of Income, Tax Year 2023^[1]; IRS Statistics of Income, Tax Year 2023, released September 2026^[3]; IBBA and M&A Source, Second quarter of 2026^[4]. Made-up examples. The rate is administrative and support services S corporations of every size, gains included. Ranges are the sold-deal data behind our calculator, all industries together, checked November 2, 2026.

If your firm runs a thinner margin than 9.8%, your EBITDA at each size is lower and our data reaches further. The tool further down takes your own margin.

How do I sell a staffing company with $10,000,000 in sales?

Often to a larger staffing firm that wants your clients and your recruiters, or to one buyer using a bank loan. A made-up example at the IRS row's rate of 9.8% earns about $980,000 a year. Our calculator puts that at $3,049,565 to $4,832,879, on a blend of owner's earnings and EBITDA.^[1]^[4]

IRS size row: $10,000,000 to $50,000,000 in sales, 9.1% before interest, depreciation and amortization, all industries^[3]. Support services, all sizes: 9.8%, gains included. Our sold-deal data: reaches this example.

Our staffing calculator asks what kind of placements drive your revenue: mostly temporary or contract placements, a balanced mix, or mostly direct-hire fees. A buyer asks the same thing first, then who holds the biggest clients.

At this profit our calculator blends owner's earnings, called SDE, with EBITDA. SDE is profit plus the owner's own pay. One SBA 7(a) loan, a bank loan the U.S. Small Business Administration backs, tops out at $5,000,000^[5]. This whole range sits under that cap.

Our view: in a firm this size the owner often still holds the top accounts. A buyer wants to meet the people who'd hold them after you leave, and to see they've signed agreements not to take clients with them.

Across every industry: what a company with $10,000,000 in sales is worth.

How do I sell a staffing company with $20,000,000 in sales?

Often to a private equity fund adding your firm to one it already owns. A made-up example at the IRS row's rate of 9.8% earns about $1,960,000 a year. Our calculator puts that at $7,840,000 to $11,368,000, priced on EBITDA.^[1]^[4]

Here our calculator already prices on EBITDA alone. That starts once owner's earnings pass $2,000,000, and EBITDA is the profit left after paying a manager to run the firm.

Private equity funds invest money raised from others, and most of what they buy is bolted onto a company they already own. That's an add-on. PitchBook counted about three of every four U.S. buyouts in the second quarter of 2026 as add-ons^[6]. Our view: for a staffing fund, an add-on often brings a new city or a new kind of placement.

This range also crosses $10,000,000^[7] of company value, where Lockton says reps and warranties insurance is often available. It's a policy that pays the buyer if a promise in the contract proves wrong, so less of your price is held back.

Across every industry: what a company with $20,000,000 in sales is worth.

How do I sell a staffing company with $30,000,000 in sales?

To bigger staffing firms and funds, often with part of the price paid later if your clients stay. A made-up example at the IRS row's rate of 9.8% earns about $2,940,000 a year. Our calculator puts that at $11,760,000 to $17,052,000, priced on EBITDA.^[1]^[4]

An earnout is part of the price paid later, if the business hits targets. SRS Acquiom counted earnouts in 35% of 2025 deals paying $25,000,000 or less at closing^[8], and this range sits under that line. In its 2024 deals, 65% of earnouts were measured on revenue^[9]. In staffing, that usually means keeping your clients billing.

Our calculator also asks how much revenue comes from your biggest customer: less than 15%, 15% to 30%, or more than 30%. One client at a third of your revenue is the first thing a buyer here prices.

Our view: buyers this size read your gross margin by client, month by month. A client whose margin has slid for a year comes up in the first meeting.

Across every industry: what a company with $30,000,000 in sales is worth.

How do I sell a staffing company with $50,000,000 in sales?

By running a sale for buyers whose outside accountants test your profit and your payroll before anyone signs. A made-up example at the IRS row's rate of 9.8% earns about $4,900,000 a year. Our calculator puts that at $19,600,000 to $28,420,000.^[1]^[4]

IRS size row: $50,000,000 to $250,000,000 in sales, 8.0% before interest, depreciation and amortization, all industries^[3]. Support services, all sizes: 9.8%, gains included. Our sold-deal data: reaches this example.

At exactly $50,000,000, the IRS counts you in its next band, $50,000,000 to $250,000,000, at 8.0% before interest, depreciation and amortization. The support services rate of 9.8% sits above it.

Expect a quality of earnings report, an outside accountant's test of whether your profit holds up. PKF O'Connor Davies writes that these have long been standard at company values of $10,000,000 to $1,000,000,000^[10]. In a staffing firm, expect it to match your payroll records to your invoices, week by week.

At this size the price also moves with your working capital. The box below explains how.

What the peg means

Working capital is the money tied up in running the business day to day. It's what customers owe you, plus inventory, minus the bills you owe. You and the buyer agree on a normal amount of it that the business hands over at closing. That agreed amount is called the peg, or the target. If the business has less than the target on closing day, the price goes down by the gap. If it has more, the price goes up by the difference.

A made-up example

What customers owe you: $3,000,000
Plus inventory: $2,500,000
Minus the bills you owe: $1,800,000
Working capital on closing day: $3,700,000
The target (the peg): $4,000,000
Short of the target: $300,000
Price in the letter: $40,000,000
Price at closing: $39,700,000

Had it come in $300,000 over the target, the price would have been $40,300,000. Some deals set a small band around the target where the price doesn't move.

In a staffing firm, working capital is large. You pay your placed workers every week, and in our view many clients take a month or two to pay you. So what clients owe you is most of it, and there's no inventory.

The target is usually an average of your last 3 to 12 months^[11], Lincoln International says. If a big client paid late in some of those months, what you were owed ran high then, and so does the target. Ask which months go in. The working capital peg, step by step.

Across every industry: what a company with $50,000,000 in sales is worth.

How do I sell a staffing company with $100,000,000 in sales?

To a fund buying its first staffing firm, or to a large staffing company, often with part of the price kept as shares. A made-up example at the IRS row's rate of 9.8% earns about $9,800,000 a year. That's past the sold-deal data behind our calculator, so we don't put a figure on it.^[1]

Past our sold-deal data. The group behind our calculator stops at companies that sold for $50,000,000, so we don't put a figure on this one. Other publishers' figures are beside it.

Our data reaches $8,620,690 of EBITDA. On $100,000,000 of sales that's a margin of about 8.6%. A staffing firm running under that margin would still be inside our data, so try your own in the tool below.

Exhibit 3

Other publishers' figures for company values of $50,000,000 and up

Band is company value

Other publishers' figures, not ours

Other publishers' figures by size: GF Data and TagniFi.
Company value	Multiple of EBITDA	Statistic	Buyers	Period	Publisher
$50,000,000 to $100,000,000Near yours	8.7x	Average	Private equity, platform buyouts	Through the third quarter of 2025	GF Data^[12]
$100,000,000 to $250,000,000	10.0x	Average	Private equity, platform buyouts	Through the third quarter of 2025	GF Data^[12]
$100,000,000 to $500,000,000	9.8x against 7.0x under $100,000,000	Average	Private equity, platform buyouts	Through the third quarter of 2025	GF Data^[12]
$50,000,000 to $200,000,000Near yours	9.0x	Median	All buyers	Twelve months to March 31, 2026	TagniFi^[13]
$200,000,000 to $500,000,000	11.4x	Median	All buyers	Twelve months to March 31, 2026	TagniFi^[13]

These figures come from outside reports, not from BridgeBook's own data: each one counts different deals in its own way, so read them as a guide to the market, not as a price for your company.

Source: GF Data, Through the third quarter of 2025^[12]; TagniFi, Twelve months to March 31, 2026^[13].

Each publisher's row nearest $9,800,000 of EBITDA is marked. Those rows describe other companies' deals, so we don't turn them into a price for yours.

A fund buying its first staffing firm, called its platform, usually wants you invested beside it. Rollover equity is the part of the price you keep as shares in the new company. GF Data counted it in 63.6%^[14] of 2024 private equity deals of $10,000,000 to $500,000,000. How rollover equity works.

Across every industry: what a company with $100,000,000 in sales is worth.

How do I sell a staffing company with $200,000,000 in sales?

In rounds, with large staffing groups and funds bidding, and time between signing and closing for client consents. A made-up example at the IRS row's rate of 9.8% earns about $19,600,000 a year. That's past our data, so only other publishers' figures show here.^[1]

Exhibit 4 keeps only the rows nearest $19,600,000 of EBITDA. Read them as what other companies' deals did.

Exhibit 4

Other publishers' figures near $19,600,000 of EBITDA

Band is company value

Other publishers' figures, not ours

Other publishers' figures by size: GF Data and TagniFi.
Company value	Multiple of EBITDA	Statistic	Buyers	Period	Publisher
$100,000,000 to $250,000,000Near yours	10.0x	Average	Private equity, platform buyouts	Through the third quarter of 2025	GF Data^[12]
$50,000,000 to $200,000,000Near yours	9.0x	Median	All buyers	Twelve months to March 31, 2026	TagniFi^[13]
$200,000,000 to $500,000,000Near yours	11.4x	Median	All buyers	Twelve months to March 31, 2026	TagniFi^[13]

These figures come from outside reports, not from BridgeBook's own data: each one counts different deals in its own way, so read them as a guide to the market, not as a price for your company.

Source: GF Data, Through the third quarter of 2025^[12]; TagniFi, Twelve months to March 31, 2026^[13].

Our view: client contracts at this size are often master service agreements, the standing terms a client signs once. Some need the client's consent to a new owner. Ask your lawyer to list them before the letter of intent, the buyer's signed offer that comes before its full checks.

Money is also held back after closing to pay any claims. That's an escrow. Without reps and warranties insurance, SRS Acquiom's median escrow for claims was 10.0%^[9] of deal value. With it, it was 0.35%. In staffing, a buyer's claims list often starts with payroll taxes and workers' compensation.

Across every industry: what a company with $200,000,000 in sales is worth.

How do I sell a staffing company with $300,000,000 in sales?

To large staffing groups and big funds, in a sale run in rounds with a short list of bidders. A made-up example at the IRS row's rate of 9.8% earns about $29,400,000 a year. That's in the IRS top size band and past our data.^[1]

IRS size row: $250,000,000 or more in sales, 8.2% before interest, depreciation and amortization, all industries^[3]. Support services, all sizes: 9.8%, gains included. Our sold-deal data: stops short of it.

The IRS's top band is $250,000,000 or more in sales, exactly $250,000,000 included. Those S corporations kept 8.2% before interest, depreciation and amortization, and the average one took in $715,078,611. So the band's average company is more than twice your size.

Exhibit 5

Other publishers' figures near $29,400,000 of EBITDA

Band is company value

Other publishers' figures, not ours

Other publishers' figures by size: GF Data and TagniFi.
Company value	Multiple of EBITDA	Statistic	Buyers	Period	Publisher
$100,000,000 to $250,000,000Near yours	10.0x	Average	Private equity, platform buyouts	Through the third quarter of 2025	GF Data^[12]
$200,000,000 to $500,000,000Near yours	11.4x	Median	All buyers	Twelve months to March 31, 2026	TagniFi^[13]

These figures come from outside reports, not from BridgeBook's own data: each one counts different deals in its own way, so read them as a guide to the market, not as a price for your company.

Source: GF Data, Through the third quarter of 2025^[12]; TagniFi, Twelve months to March 31, 2026^[13].

In the biggest deals, funds ask owners to keep a bigger stake. In ACG's report of GF Data's figures, average rollover in deals of $250,000,000 to $500,000,000 of company value went from 10.6% in 2021 to 24.0%^[15] in 2025. That's what the companies sold for, not their sales.

A fund that buys you plans its own sale. PitchBook says funds held a company a median 6.4 years^[6] before selling it in 2025. That clock matters if you keep shares. Here's who buys a company your size.

Across every industry: what a company with $300,000,000 in sales is worth.

What do buyers check first in a staffing company?

Gross margin, your clients and your payroll risk. This is what buyers ask for, in the order they usually ask.

Gross margin by client and by kind of placement, for the last two or three years.
Revenue by client, with each contract's term and notice period.
Your workers' compensation claims and your state unemployment tax rates.
How your workers are paid: on your payroll, or as contractors, and the files behind each.
Who holds each client relationship, and what your recruiters and account managers have signed.

Our view: buyers also ask how you're paid for the people you place. Bill rates set by contract hold up better than rates reset each order.

What moves the price of a staffing company?

Profit first, then how steady it is. Gross margin is what you bill less what your placed workers cost, with their payroll taxes and insurance.

A made-up example: a firm bills $30,000,000 in a year. Its placed workers cost it $22,500,000 with taxes and insurance. Its gross margin is $7,500,000, or 25.0% of sales. Your office, recruiters and owner's pay all come out of that.

Our calculator asks two questions after your sales and profit: the kind of placements that drive your revenue, and how much comes from your biggest customer. Our view: specialty placements, such as nurses, engineers or IT staff, tend to carry a wider margin than general labor.

What would your own numbers show?

Put in your sales and your own margin. The tool starts at the IRS support services rate and shows where the sold-deal data behind our calculator stops.

Your numbers

Yearly sales

Or type your sales

Industry: Staffing and facility services

Profit margin before interest, depreciation and amortization

IRS, staffing and facility services S corporations of every size, tax year 2023, our math. Change it to yours. Includes gains on selling equipment, which the IRS doesn't publish for this industry.

A made-up example at the IRS rate

$2,940,000

A made-up example: 9.8% of $30,000,000 in yearly sales. EBITDA is yearly profit before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization.

Our sold-deal data puts that EBITDA at

$11,760,000 to $17,052,000

Typical $14,406,000, priced on EBITDA.

IBBA and M&A Source Market Pulse, closed deals of $5,000,000 to $50,000,000. Typical is the middle of its recent readings. Our figures checked November 2, 2026.

Other publishers' figures, not ours

Other publishers' figures by size: GF Data and TagniFi.
Company value	Multiple of EBITDA	Publisher
$10,000,000 to $25,000,000Near yours	5.9x	GF Data, average, through the third quarter of 2025
$25,000,000 to $50,000,000	6.6x	GF Data, average, through the third quarter of 2025
$50,000,000 to $100,000,000	8.7x	GF Data, average, through the third quarter of 2025
$100,000,000 to $250,000,000	10.0x	GF Data, average, through the third quarter of 2025
$1,000,000 to $10,000,000	5.5x	TagniFi, median, twelve months to March 31, 2026
$10,000,000 to $50,000,000Near yours	7.3x	TagniFi, median, twelve months to March 31, 2026
$50,000,000 to $200,000,000	9.0x	TagniFi, median, twelve months to March 31, 2026
$200,000,000 to $500,000,000	11.4x	TagniFi, median, twelve months to March 31, 2026

These figures come from outside reports, not from BridgeBook's own data: each one counts different deals in its own way, so read them as a guide to the market, not as a price for your company.

Why the two differ

At this profit you can book a call with a dedicated advisor.

Get my free valuation Talk to a dedicated advisor

The valuation asks your sales and profit again, then your name, email and cell phone, and shows a range.

What we'd look at first

On a first call, a dedicated advisor goes through your numbers with you. In a staffing firm, four things come first.

Sales and gross margin by client, by month, for the last two years.
Your ten biggest clients, and the contract each one signed.
Your workers' compensation history and your payroll tax filings.
Who holds each big client the week after you leave.

After that, your advisor shows you where the sold-deal data puts your profit, or tells you plainly that your size is past it. The number is often lower than an owner hopes. In staffing, a buyer's accountants push hardest on gross margin by client.

Questions about selling a staffing company

How do I sell a staffing company with $10,000,000 in sales?

How do I sell a staffing company with $20,000,000 in sales?

How do I sell a staffing company with $30,000,000 in sales?

How do I sell a staffing company with $50,000,000 in sales?

How do I sell a staffing company with $100,000,000 in sales?

How do I sell a staffing company with $200,000,000 in sales?

How do I sell a staffing company with $300,000,000 in sales?

What profit margin do staffing companies make?

The IRS doesn't publish staffing alone for S corporations. It files staffing under administrative and support services, with cleaning, security and landscaping companies. That row reported 7.6% as business profit in tax year 2023 and about 9.8% before interest, depreciation and amortization, by our math. Our view: staffing firms often run under that row, because their sales include the pay of the people they place.

Do contract placements or direct-hire fees sell for more?

Our calculator asks which drives your revenue: mostly temporary or contract placements, a balanced mix, or mostly direct-hire fees. Our view: contract placements bill every week, so buyers can count on next year's revenue more easily than on one-time fees.

More for larger owners: what a company sells for, by revenue, selling a larger facility services company and from sale price to cash at closing.

Where these numbers come from

The sold-deal data behind our calculator: IBBA and M&A Source Market Pulse, closed deals. Our figures checked November 2, 2026.

IRS Statistics of Income, Corporation Income Tax Returns Complete Report (Publication 16), Table 6.1, Form 1120-S by major industry. Tax Year 2023. Read November 12, 2026.
U.S. Census Bureau, Statistics of U.S. Businesses 2022, by enterprise receipts size. 2022, released April 10, 2025. Read November 12, 2026.
IRS Statistics of Income, Corporation Income Tax Returns Complete Report (Publication 16), Table 3.2, Form 1120-S by size of business receipts. Tax Year 2023, released September 2026. Read November 12, 2026.
IBBA and M&A Source, Market Pulse Q2 2026 Highlights. Second quarter of 2026. Read November 12, 2026.
U.S. Small Business Administration, 7(a) loans. Opened November 12, 2026. Read November 12, 2026.
PitchBook, Q2 2026 US PE Breakdown. Second quarter of 2026. Read November 12, 2026.
Lockton, Transaction Liability Market Update 2025, The Americas. 2025. Read November 12, 2026.
SRS Acquiom, 2026 M&A Deal Terms Special Report: Lower Middle-Market Deals. Deals closed through 2025. Read November 12, 2026.
SRS Acquiom, 2025 M&A Deal Terms Study. Deals closed 2019 to 2024. Read November 12, 2026.
PKF O'Connor Davies, Quality of Earnings Goes Mainstream. September 15, 2026. Read November 12, 2026.
Lincoln International, Bridging the Gap Between Target and Closing Net Working Capital in M&A Deals. Modified May 12, 2026. Read November 12, 2026.
GF Data, The Size Premium Returns to 2.8x: How Employee Ownership Helps Smaller Platforms Compete. Through the third quarter of 2025. Read November 12, 2026.
TagniFi, PowerComps Middle Market Update for the first quarter of 2026: Quality Over Quantity. Twelve months to March 31, 2026. Read November 12, 2026.
GF Data (ACG), GF Data Highlights Fourth Quarter, 2024. Full year 2024. Read November 12, 2026.
ACG Insights (GF Data analyst), Rollover Equity Rises as Credit Conditions Reshape the Middle Market. Through the third quarter of 2025. Read November 12, 2026.

Percentages are BridgeBook's arithmetic on the IRS dollar figures.

Outside figures are other publishers', named and dated, and they don't feed our calculator. How we use outside figures

Keep reading

Tools and data

One important decision. Two good places to start.

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The valuation starts on Staffing / Recruiting. After a few short questions, your placements among them, it asks your name, email and cell phone, then shows a range rather than one number.

Your exit credit comes off our success fee at closing and grows with your yearly sales: $5,000 under $5,000,000 in sales ($2,500 for your valuation report, plus $2,500 for your advisor call or for starting your listing), up to $50,000 at $100,000,000 or more.

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