The Headcount Calculator helps you answer the question every CX leader eventually faces: when do I need to hire, and how do I justify it? You adjust six input sliders, Forepost models your capacity over the next 28 weeks, and you get a clear breach date, a hire-by date, and the cost of adding one agent. You can then generate a three-paragraph AI business case — grounded in your actual numbers — that is ready to share with your finance team or leadership.Documentation Index
Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.forepost.ai/llms.txt
Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.
The six input sliders
Forepost pre-fills the sliders from your workspace data where possible. You can adjust any value before running the model.| Input | Range | What it affects |
|---|---|---|
| Weekly ticket volume | 100 – 3,000 (step: 10) | Your current baseline demand on the team |
| Weekly growth rate | 0 – 30% (step: 0.5%) | How fast volume is growing — drives when capacity runs out |
| AI deflection rate | 0 – 90% (step: 1%) | Percentage of tickets handled without an agent — reduces effective demand |
| Current agents | 1 – 20 (step: 1) | Your existing team size — sets your current capacity ceiling |
| Target utilisation ceiling | 65 – 90% (step: 1%) | The maximum utilisation you’re comfortable with before quality suffers |
| Annual salary for new hire | £20,000 – £100,000 (step: £1,000) | Used to calculate the cost outputs and the business case |
The output cards
The calculator produces four output values based on your slider inputs:| Output | What it tells you |
|---|---|
| Breach date | The week when your current team will exceed the target utilisation ceiling |
| Hire-by date | The date you need to have a new agent in place, working back from the breach |
| Monthly cost | The monthly salary cost of one additional agent |
| Annual cost | Annual salary × 1.25, accounting for employer on-costs |
The 28-week capacity chart
Below the output cards, a chart projects your support capacity over the next 28 weeks. It plots three lines:| Line | What it represents |
|---|---|
| Human volume | The tickets your team will need to handle (total volume minus AI deflection), growing at the rate you set |
| Current capacity | Your team’s maximum comfortable throughput at the target utilisation ceiling, with your current agent count |
| +1 hire capacity | How your capacity changes if you add one agent at the hire-by date |
- Hire by — the week you need to make the hire to avoid a breach
- Breach — the week when demand exceeds current capacity if no hire is made
Urgency badge
An urgency badge appears above the chart based on the breach timeline:- Red — “Breach in N weeks — urgent”: your breach date is 10 weeks or fewer away. You need to act on hiring now.
- Amber: breach is more than 10 weeks away — the situation is manageable but worth monitoring.
AI Business Case
Once you’re satisfied with your slider inputs, click AI Business Case to generate a three-paragraph, board-ready argument for hiring one agent. The business case is grounded in the exact numbers on your sliders — breach date, cost, deflection rate, utilisation — so it reads as a specific, credible proposal rather than a generic template. A Copy button lets you paste the business case directly into an email, a slide deck, or a document.Set your sliders
Adjust the inputs to reflect your current situation. Use your actual weekly volume, growth rate, and deflection rate for the most accurate output.
Review the outputs and chart
Check the breach date, hire-by date, and the capacity chart. If the urgency badge is red, note how many weeks you have before the breach.
Generate the AI Business Case
Click AI Business Case. Forepost generates a three-paragraph case for adding one agent, using your slider values as evidence.
Tips for accurate modelling
Tips for accurate modelling
Use your most recent 4-week average for weekly ticket volume rather than a single week’s data — this smooths out anomalies. For the growth rate, look at your volume trend over the past 8–12 weeks and use a conservative estimate: it’s better to hire slightly early than to breach and scramble.
Modelling the impact of AI deflection improvements
Modelling the impact of AI deflection improvements
If you’re planning to roll out a new bot or expand your knowledge base, model two scenarios: one with your current deflection rate and one with your expected improved rate. The difference in breach dates makes a clear case for the deflection investment — or shows you that headcount is still necessary regardless.
Using the business case in a board pack
Using the business case in a board pack
The AI Business Case is written to complement a Board Pack. Generate both in the same session, using the same underlying data, and combine them: include the business case text in the Recommendations section of your board pack for a fully substantiated hiring proposal.