Vesting period

The vesting (or guarantee) period is the time window between placement and definitive consolidation of the fee. Market standard is 90 days, but it can extend to 180 days for executive roles or shrink to 30 days for junior positions.

During vesting, events such as voluntary resignation, dismissal for cause or failed probation trigger clawback. Usually external events like restructuring or position elimination do not trigger clawback, but this must be specified in the contract. The PSA-ATS must automatically compute remaining vesting and flag finance when the fee becomes definitively earned.

Revenue recognition and the guarantee period pull in opposite directions, and finance teams handle it in two defensible ways: recognise the fee at placement and carry a provision for expected clawbacks, or defer recognition until the period closes. Whichever is chosen, applying it consistently matters more than the choice itself, because switching between the two makes year-on-year comparison meaningless.

The window also shapes behaviour on both sides in ways worth anticipating. A long guarantee makes an agency more selective and slower, which is usually what a client wants for a senior role; a short one makes it faster and more willing to present borderline profiles. Matching the length to the seniority of the search aligns the incentive with what the client actually needs.