Writing a split-fee agreement that actually holds up
The specific terms every split agreement needs to survive a disagreement — not just a handshake.
Most split-fee disputes don't happen because someone acted in bad faith — they happen because the original agreement was vague. "We'll split it 50/50" sounds clear until a deal actually closes and the two parties disagree about what "it" was: the gross fee, the fee after platform costs, or the fee after a guarantee reserve is withheld.
A split agreement that holds up specifies, at minimum: the gross fee basis (a percentage of compensation, or a flat amount), the exact split percentages for every participant expressed in basis points rather than rounded language, who is responsible for candidate ownership and submission timing, how any guarantee period and reserve withholding works, and what happens if the placement doesn't survive the guarantee.
It should also specify timing: when is the fee invoiced, when is it collected, and when — relative to invoice, collection, or guarantee expiration — does each participant actually get paid. Ambiguity here is one of the most common sources of friction between job-side and candidate-side recruiters.
On Recruiters.co, split agreements are versioned and require every participant's signature before a candidate can be submitted against them, which removes the single biggest source of after-the-fact disagreement: parties not actually agreeing on the same terms in the first place.
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