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Free Workforce & Headcount Planning Templates

Manage all of your labor expenses with two free workforce planning templates.

Download for Free
Complete Workforce Planning
Effectively allocate costs, forecast and report labor expenses and manage employee transfers.
Headcount Planning
Manage your entire headcount with a detailed planning model (employee type, tax rates, benefits, bonuses and more).
Get Started in Minutes
Our Excel templates are formatted with best practices and include built-in calculations. All you need to do to get started is enter your numbers.

What is Workforce Planning & Why Do You Need a Template?

Workforce planning is the strategic process used by organizations to ensure they have the right number of employees, with the right skills, at the right time to meet their business objectives. This involves assessing current workforce capabilities, forecasting future needs and implementing strategies to address any gaps between the two. For more information, check out our comprehensive guide to Workforce Planning 

Using a template helps you with this process as you can easily track workforce details, identify potential issues early and make data-driven decisions.  

 

Complete Workforce Planning Excel Template

Our Complete Workforce Planning template helps you forecast and report labor expenses, manage employee transfers, efficiently allocate costs and more. This Excel template simplifies the workforce planning process, ensuring you can make informed decisions and keep things running smoothly at your organization running. 

 

Foundational Workforce Planning Template 

Our Foundational Workforce Planning Template allows you to manage your entire headcount with a detailed planning model that includes employee type, tax rates, benefits, bonuses and more. This template provides a comprehensive view of your workforce, helping you to make informed decisions and optimize your staffing strategy. Check out the video below to learn how to use the template. 

 

How to Use the Foundational Workforce Planning Template

 

 

Here’s a step-by-step guide that outlines how to use this workforce planning template.  

 

Step One: One you open the template, start with the input page, which is the main part of the template. 

 

Enter the fiscal year and basic assumptions, which include tax rate, benefits and employee type (part-time/full-time). 

 

Step Two: Complete the Budget Planning Model. Input details for each position such as department, employee name, employment status (full-time or part-time) and start and end dates. 

 

You can also add other detailed assumptions such as benefits eligibility, bonus eligibility and bonus percentage. 

 

Step Three: Add monthly summaries and assumptions to the right of the input fields in the template and review the summaries in a 12-month schedule. Then review monthly details and your summary of FTE (full-time equivalent), headcount compensation, tax rate and benefits. 

 

Step Four: After completing the input file, move over to the template summary to see an aggregate of the entered information. 

 

View the FTE summary by department, including graphs to identify trends in hiring and departmental growth or shrinkage. 

 

Step Five: Review detailed departmental data, including month-by-month breakdowns and headcount. 

 

Evaluate the cost by department, analyze the fully burdened cost and assess the average cost per employee. 

 

Step Six: Utilize a dropdown menu to select and inspect different cost centers. You can gauge executive costs and headcount, such as CEO and COO, and their average costs. Now you can also examine sales or any other department, observing position counts, cost trends, total headcount and average compensation across the year. 

 
 
 

Frequently Asked Questions

What’s the Difference Between Headcount & Workforce Planning?

Headcount planning helps organizations track and manage their staffing levels to ensure they meet operational needs and budget constraints. Headcount planning focuses on the total number of employees within an organization at a given time. It involves counting the individuals on the payroll, regardless of their role, position, or employment type (full-time, part-time, contract). While headcount provides a snapshot of the workforce size, it does not account for the skills, roles or strategic alignment of the employees.

Workforce planning is a comprehensive, strategic process that goes beyond merely counting employees. Workforce planning ensures that the organization has the right number of employees with the right skills at the right time. It aligns the workforce with the company's strategic objectives and long-term goals.

Are these Workforce Planning Templates for Excel really 100% free?

Yes. These Workforce Planning Templates are free and yours to keep forever.

Can I use these Excel Templates in Google Sheets?

These Workforce Planning templates were specifically designed for Excel, and we do not recommend opening them in Google Sheets.

Do I need Vena to Use These Templates?  

No! All you need is a licensed copy of Microsoft Excel.

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