Apex Staffing
From spreadsheets to a single source of truth for placements and compliance
Apex Staffing is a mid-size recruitment agency with 40 recruiters placing 200+ candidates per month. They were running placements, timesheets, and client orders across spreadsheets and email. We built them a custom operations platform so everything lives in one place.
Project Overview
The Challenge
Spreadsheets and email couldn't scale
Apex had outgrown their ad-hoc setup. Here's what was holding them back.
Placement Data Everywhere
Candidate placements lived in spreadsheets, email threads, and sticky notes. No single view of who was placed where, when they started, or when contracts ended.
Timesheet Chaos
Temp workers submitted timesheets by email or paper. Approvals got lost. Payroll had to reconcile manually every week, leading to delays and errors.
Compliance Risk
No audit trail for placements or hours. Client contracts and rate cards were in shared drives. Compliance audits were stressful and time-consuming.
Manual Reporting
Leadership wanted fill rates, revenue by client, and recruiter performance. Building reports meant copying data between sheets for hours each week.
Candidate Pipeline Scattered
ATS didn't talk to placement tracking. Recruiters duplicated data and lost context when moving candidates from pipeline to placement.
No Way to Validate Fit
Recruiters guessed whether a candidate was the right match. LinkedIn profiles lived in another tab; comparing resume to job requirements was manual. No validation before submitting to clients.
Client & Job Order Mess
Job orders lived in email. Rate cards and contract terms were hard to find. Matching candidates to open roles required constant back-and-forth.
Manual Job Posting
Recruiters created job orders in one place then copied them into LinkedIn and other boards by hand. Duplicate entry, inconsistent wording, and no single place to track where each job was posted.
The Solution
One platform for placements, timesheets, and hiring
We built a custom internal operations platform tailored to how staffing agencies actually work—including LinkedIn automation, in-app job posting, and AI-powered candidate match validation.
Placement & Assignment Tracking
Single dashboard for every placement and assignment.
- Placement register – Candidate, client, role, start/end date, rate
- Job orders – Open roles by client with requirements and rate cards
- Candidate pipeline – From application to placement in one view
- LinkedIn profile in-app – Pull candidate LinkedIn profile into the platform so recruiters see it in context
- AI right-match validation – Validate with AI that the candidate is the right fit for the job before submitting to client
- AI candidate suggestions – When you post a job, the app suggests candidates based on job description + LinkedIn profile match (AI). Recruiters outreach directly without research.
- Contract & document links – Everything attached to the placement
LinkedIn & Job Posting Automation
Post jobs to LinkedIn and in-app hiring from one place. No more copying job descriptions across platforms.
- Post to LinkedIn – Create a job order in-app and publish to LinkedIn with one click
- In-app hiring – Post jobs to your platform's hiring page so candidates apply in one place
- Single source of truth – One job order, multiple channels; track where each role is live
- Consistent messaging – Same title, description, and requirements everywhere
Timesheet & Compliance
Structured timesheet submission and approval with a clear audit trail.
- Timesheet entry – Workers submit by week; tied to placement
- Approval workflow – Recruiter and client approval before payroll
- Audit trail – Who approved what, when; exportable for audits
- Reporting – Fill rates, revenue by client, hours by placement
Platform Screenshots
Technical Implementation
Frontend
Next.js, React, Tailwind CSS
Backend
Node.js, MongoDB
Hosting
Vercel, Cloudflare
Timeline
5 weeks
The Process
5 weeks from spreadsheets to one platform
Here's how we delivered the operations platform and LinkedIn automation in just over a month.
Discovery
Days 1–3Mapped placements, timesheets, job orders, and pain points. Identified manual job posting and candidate validation as key bottlenecks.
- Process & spreadsheet audit
- Recruiter interviews
- LinkedIn & ATS requirements
- Compliance & reporting needs
Design & Prototype
Week 1Designed dashboard, placement register, job orders, and candidate pipeline flows. Validated with the team before build.
- Dashboard & placement wireframes
- Job posting & LinkedIn flows
- Timesheet approval workflow
- Role-based views
Build
Week 2–4Built core platform in sprints with weekly demos. LinkedIn integration, candidate pipeline, AI match validation, and timesheet workflow.
- Placements, job orders, candidates
- LinkedIn & in-app job posting
- AI candidate match & suggestions
- Timesheet & reporting
Launch & Train
Week 5Migrated data, trained recruiters and ops, and went live. Post-launch support so the team could adopt without disruption.
- Data migration
- Recruiter & ops training
- Documentation
- Go-live support
The Results
Impact on operations
What changed in the first few months after launch.
Recruiters and ops stopped chasing spreadsheets and email. Placement and timesheet data in one place.
Timesheet and placement errors dropped. Payroll runs on time; fewer client disputes.
From kickoff to go-live in 5 weeks. Phased rollout so the team could adopt without disruption.
Placements, timesheets, job orders, and reports all in one platform. No more version chaos.
Before vs After
Before
- Placements in spreadsheets and email
- Timesheets by email or paper, manual reconciliation
- No single view of pipeline or placements
- Job posting: copy-paste to LinkedIn and boards by hand
- No way to validate candidate–job fit; LinkedIn in another tab
- Compliance audits stressful and manual
- Hours spent on reporting every week
After
- One operations platform for placements and timesheets
- Structured approval workflow; payroll on time
- Dashboard for pipeline, placements, and job orders
- LinkedIn automation: post jobs to LinkedIn and in-app hiring from one place
- Candidate LinkedIn profile in-app + AI validation for right match
- AI suggests candidates for each posted job—recruiters outreach without research
- Full audit trail; exportable for compliance
- Reports on demand, no copy-paste
See It In Action
Watch the platform demo
See how the operations dashboard, LinkedIn job posting, and AI candidate match work in practice.
Ready to replace your spreadsheets?
If you run a recruitment or staffing agency and you're tired of spreadsheets and scattered tools, let's talk. We can build a custom operations platform that fits how you work.