Headcount counts people. Full time equivalent counts capacity. Reporting one when you meant the other is common and it changes every ratio built on top of it. Every number on this page is calculated in your browser and never leaves your device.
The distance between headcount and FTE moves quarter by quarter as your part time and contract mix shifts, and it is worth recording every time. The HRAnalyst™ Workbook is a printable tracker for every calculator on this site, with the formula, the recommended cadence and space for four quarters. Join the list and we will send it, along with new calculators and workforce analytics as they publish.
Formula used
Full Time FTE = Full Time Count × 1
Part Time FTE = (Part Time Count × Part Time Average Hours) ÷ Standard Week
Contract FTE = (Contract Count × Contract Average Hours) ÷ Standard Week
Total FTE = Full Time FTE + Part Time FTE + Contract FTE
Headcount To FTE Gap = Total Headcount - Total FTE
Total headcount is the three counts added together, with every person counted once. The standard week is whatever your organization defines as full time, and changing it changes every FTE figure on the page. A group whose average weekly hours exceed the standard week will convert to more than one FTE per person, which is correct arithmetic for the hours you entered.
The Affordable Care Act uses its own full time definition of thirty hours a week for determining applicable large employer status, and that calculation has rules this page does not implement. This calculator converts headcount to FTE for workforce planning. It is not an ACA determination, and you should confirm that separately.
Every ratio you build on headcount changes when you switch to FTE. Revenue per employee, HR to employee ratio and span of control all move, sometimes materially, if a large part of your workforce is part time. Pick one basis, say which you used, and stay consistent.
Two metrics on the same page, built on two different denominators, will not reconcile and nobody in the room will be able to say why. Label the basis next to every workforce figure you publish.
Plenty of organizations run thirty five or thirty seven and a half. Using forty when your own definition is lower quietly shrinks every part time and contract conversion on the page. Enter the week your organization actually uses.
If contractors add capacity on one side of a ratio they have to add cost on the other. Counting the capacity and dropping the spend makes cost per FTE look lower than it is. Decide once whether contractors are in or out, and apply that decision to both sides.
The calculators and content on HRAnalyst are provided for informational purposes only and do not constitute legal, tax, or accounting advice. Compensation and compliance obligations vary by jurisdiction. Consult qualified counsel before acting on any result.
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