Headcount Planning is a module inside Financial planning (the workspace formerly called Financial Workspace) that lets HR, Finance and managers plan their future workforce together in one place. Instead of managing hiring plans in disconnected spreadsheets, you create a planning period, collect headcount requests from department leads, review and approve them, and end up with a single approved hiring plan, with live cost forecasts and a direct link into Recruitment.
This article explains what Headcount Planning is, who uses it, and where to find it.
Headcount Planning is currently web only.
Overview
Headcount Planning is a module within Financial Planning that helps you plan your future workforce in one place. Instead of managing hiring plans across spreadsheets, you can create a planning period, collect headcount requests, review and approve them, and track the resulting hiring plan with live cost forecasts and a connection to Recruitment.
Once positions have been approved, the Org chart view gives you a visual representation of your plan. You can see planned positions in the context of their future reporting lines, alongside current employees, making it easier to understand which positions are filled, which are still open, and how teams will grow.
Who is it for
Three roles interact with a planning period:
- Owner (HR, Finance, or C-level). Creates and manages the period, sets the request window, and reviews and approves requests. The person who creates a period is automatically its Owner.
- Headcount Planner (typically a VP or department head). Submits headcount requests for their team during the request window.
- Collaborator (Editor or Viewer). Has limited access scoped only to the employees they already manage. Editors can edit headcount for their direct reports; Viewers can see it but not change it.
When it's useful
- You plan hiring for a season, quarter or year and need HR, Finance and managers aligned on the same numbers.
- You want to see the forecasted cost of a plan before approving it, not after hiring.
- You need to reconcile who was actually hired against what was planned.
- You hire in cycles or peaks (hospitality, retail, production) and re-plan regularly.
Where to find Headcount planning
To access it:
- In the sidebar, go to Financial planning
- Access the Headcount Planning tab
If no periods exist yet, you'll see a zero state inviting you to create your first one with a New plan button.
How to use
Create and manage a planning period
- In your sidebar, go to Financial Planning
- Access the Headcount Planning tab
- Create a new planning period or open an existing one
- The Owner assigns Headcount Planners and defines the request window
- During the request window, Headcount Planners submit requests for new hires, backfills, and terminations
- Once the request window closes, the Owner reviews the submitted requests
- The Owner approves or rejects the requests
- Approved positions become part of the hiring plan and can be tracked through the hiring process
View your plan as an org chart
The Employee sheet in a Headcount plan includes an Org chart view.
- Open a Headcount plan
- Go to the Employee sheet
- Open the settings panel
- Switch between Table and Org chart
- Use the org chart to see current employees and planned positions within their reporting structure
- Select a position or employee to open its read-only side panel and view additional information
The Org chart view is read-only. To make changes to your plan, switch back to the Table view.
How the Org chart works
The Org chart displays planned positions as nodes under the manager they are expected to report to. Current employees are shown alongside these planned positions, allowing you to see the relationship between your current and forecasted organisation.
Planned positions are displayed using different colours:
- Blue: New hire
- Orange: Backfill
Each planned position shows:
- Position identifier
- Target role
- Workplace
- Hiring status
Hiring status is displayed as:
- Hiring not started
- Hiring in progress
- Hired
When a position is filled, the node is updated to show the new hire's photo and name with a Hired badge.
View position and employee details
Click any node in the org chart to open a read-only side panel.
For planned positions, you can see:
- Recruiter
- Hiring manager
- Line manager
- Linked Job Opening
- Position details
- A Go to hiring plan link
For employees, you can see their work information and use Go to profile to open their employee profile.
Permissions and visibility
The information displayed in the Org chart depends on your permissions:
- Planners can see the part of the organisation they have access to
- Owners can see the full organisation chart
- Annual salary is hidden for users who do not have permission to view salary information
Period statuses
- Scheduled — the period exists but the request window hasn't started.
- Requests open — the request window is currently open.
- Under review — the request window has closed and the Owner needs to review.
- Ongoing — the planned period is currently ongoing, no actions possible.
- Closed — a past or discarded period; no actions possible.