Fountain Source tracks applicants and spend across multiple openings and sourcing channels. Because candidates can transition between openings before being hired, Source uses attribution logic to calculate true costs and provide accurate reporting.
This article explains how Source calculates metrics, what sourcing openings and hiring openings mean, and how to interpret aggregate data.
Key Metrics in Source
Source displays several key performance metrics throughout the platform:
Cost Metrics
CPA (Cost Per Applicant)
CPA (Cost Per Applicant)
Total spend divided by total number of applicants. This shows how much you're paying on average to acquire each applicant, regardless of whether they get hired.
Formula: CPA = Total Spend ÷ Total Applicants
CPH (Cost Per Hire)
CPH (Cost Per Hire)
Total spend divided by total number of hires. This shows how much you're paying on average to successfully hire a worker.
Formula: CPH = Total Spend ÷ Total Hires
Budget Spend
Budget Spend
The total amount of money spent on sourcing campaigns for an opening within the current hiring goal period.
Volume Metrics
Applicants
Applicants
The total number of candidates who have applied to an opening, regardless of whether they came from paid campaigns, organic traffic, or other sources.
Hires
Hires
The total number of candidates who have been hired for an opening, reaching the final "Hired" or "Approved" stage in your workflow.
Conversion Rate
Conversion Rate
The percentage of applicants who advance to the next stage. Source calculates multiple conversion rates:
Apply → Screen
Screen → Interview
Interview → Offer
Offer → Hire
Overall: Apply → Hire
Time Metrics
Avg Time to Hire
Avg Time to Hire
The average number of days between when a candidate applies and when they are hired. This helps you understand how long your hiring process takes.
Duration
Duration
For hiring goals, this shows days elapsed versus total days (e.g., "31 / 39 days"). This helps you assess whether you're on pace to meet your goal within the time window.
Understand Sourcing Openings
When you view an opening's details in Source, you may see a section called Sourcing Openings. These are other openings that have contributed applicants to the current opening you're viewing.
About Sourcing Openings
In high-volume hiring, candidates often apply to one role but get transitioned (or "routed") to a different role that's a better fit. When this happens, Source needs to track where the candidate originally came from to calculate accurate costs.
Example scenario:
You post a "Cook" opening and spend $293 on sourcing campaigns
Three candidates apply to the Cook opening through Indeed
During screening, you realize these candidates are better suited for "Dishwasher"
You transition all three candidates to the Dishwasher opening
Two of the three candidates are hired for Dishwasher
In this scenario ^:
"Cook" is a sourcing opening for "Dishwasher" because it acquired the candidates
The $293 spent on Cook campaigns should be attributed to Dishwasher hires for accurate CPH calculation
Without this attribution, Dishwasher would show $0 spend and an incorrect CPH
Learn about automating cross-Opening routing in the following articles:
Where to see Sourcing Openings
On an opening's Opening details page (Channels tab), look for the Sourcing Openings section.
Why are Sourcing Openings important?
Sourcing openings help you understand:
True cost of hire – If applicants came from another opening's paid campaigns, those costs should be included in CPH
Effective CPA – How much you're actually paying per applicant when accounting for all sources
Sourcing efficiency – Which openings generate applicants that convert well even when transitioned elsewhere
Understand Hiring Openings
Just as sourcing openings show where applicants came from, hiring openings show where applicants went to be hired.
Example scenario:
You post a "Server" opening and spend $1,100 on sourcing campaigns
Five candidates apply to the Server opening
During interviews, you realize two candidates are better suited for "Bartender"
You transition those two candidates to the Bartender opening
Both candidates are hired for Bartender
In this scenario ^:
"Bartender" is a hiring opening for "Server" because it hired candidates who originally applied to Server
The $1,100 spent on Server campaigns contributed to Bartender hires
Server's metrics should reflect that its sourcing efforts resulted in hires, even though they weren't hired as servers
Hiring openings are less commonly displayed in the interface, but the concept is important for understanding aggregate data.
Aggregate Data
Aggregate data combines metrics from multiple related openings to show the total impact of your sourcing efforts across a hiring workflow.
Many organizations use a single workflow for multiple related positions. For example:
"Cook," "Dishwasher," and "Server" might all use the same "Restaurant FOH/BOH" workflow
"Warehouse Associate" and "Warehouse Supervisor" might use the same "Warehouse" workflow
When openings share a workflow, candidates often transition between them. Aggregate data accounts for this by showing combined performance.
Aggregate data toggles
Source provides a toggle that allows you to switch between viewing metrics for a specific opening versus combined metrics across related openings. This toggle appears in two locations with different labels:
On the opening details page:
Toggle label: "Include aggregate hires"
Located near the hiring goal progress bar
On the main dashboard:
Toggle label: "Show aggregate data"
Located in the upper right area above the opening list
Both toggles control the same functionality but are labeled differently based on context.
Toggle OFF (default on opening details page):
Shows metrics for only this specific opening
Hires count = number of people hired directly into this opening (matching Fountain Hire's headcount)
Spend = only the budget spent on campaigns directly for this opening
Toggle ON (or checked):
Shows metrics across all related openings in the workflow
Hires count = all hires in any opening in this workflow that were sourced through this opening or related openings
Spend = combined spend across all related openings
If you're comparing Source data to Fountain Hire headcount, turn aggregate data OFF. Fountain Hire tracks headcount per opening, while aggregate data tracks across multiple openings.
Why Hire Numbers May Differ Between Source and Hire
You may notice that the number of hires shown in Source doesn't always match the number of hires shown in Fountain Hire. This is because Source and Hire count hires differently.
Source counts (with aggregate data ON):
Counts all hires that resulted from sourcing efforts, regardless of which opening they were ultimately hired into.
Example: If you spent money sourcing for "Cook" and three of those applicants were hired as "Dishwasher," Source counts those as 3 hires for the Cook opening (because the Cook campaigns generated those hires).
Fountain Hire counts:
Counts only the headcount currently in each specific opening.
Example: If three candidates applied to "Cook" but were hired as "Dishwasher," Fountain Hire shows 3 hires in Dishwasher and 0 hires in Cook (because headcount follows where people were hired).
Match Source to Fountain Hire
To make Source match Fountain Hire:
Go to an Opening's Opening details page
Uncheck the "Include aggregate hires" checkbox toggle
The hire count will now show only candidates hired directly into this specific opening, matching Fountain Hire's headcount view
Attribution Logic: How Source Assigns Costs
Source uses deterministic attribution to track which sourcing campaigns led to which hires. This ensures that every dollar spent can be traced to specific outcomes.
Attribution rules:
Last-click attribution
If a candidate comes through multiple sources (e.g., clicks an Indeed ad, then later clicks a Joveo ad before applying), Source credits the last source the candidate clicked.Cross-opening attribution
If a candidate applies to Opening A, gets transitioned to Opening B, and is ultimately hired in Opening C, Source attributes:The spend to Opening A (where money was spent to acquire the candidate)
The hire to Opening A (even though the candidate was hired elsewhere)
This ensures that Opening A's CPH reflects the true cost and outcome of its sourcing investment.
Aggregate attribution
When "Show aggregate data" is ON, Source sums all spend and hires across related openings in the workflow, providing a complete view of sourcing ROI.
Understand Blue Bubble Indicators
You may see blue bubbles in the Hires and Budget Spend columns on your dashboard. These bubbles indicate aggregated data, meaning the number shown is a combined total from multiple openings linked within the same hiring workflow.
Hover over a blue bubble to see a breakdown of exactly how many hires or how much spend came from each specific opening. For more information about aggregate data, see the article Understanding Source Metrics and Attribution.
Compare Source Spend to Job Board Spend
You may notice that the spend shown in Source doesn't always match the spend shown on the job board platform (Indeed, Joveo, etc.). This is expected and happens because Source and job boards calculate spend over different time periods.
Source Spend:
Shows spend only within the current hiring goal period (start date to end date).
Example: If your hiring goal runs January 1-31 but your Indeed campaign started December 15, Source shows only spend from January 1 forward.
Job board Spend:
Shows lifetime spend since the campaign was created.
Example: If your Indeed campaign started December 15, Indeed shows total spend from December 15 to present.
Why Source does this:
By scoping spend to the hiring goal period, Source provides accurate Cost Per Hire for that specific goal. Including spend from before the goal started would inflate CPH and make it harder to assess current performance.
If you need to see lifetime spend, log into the job board platform directly.
Understand "Other" as a Source
In Source, you may see a category called "Other" when viewing applicant sources. This represents applicants whose source could not be identified or tracked.
Why applicants appear in "Other":
Direct traffic to your career page – Candidates who navigate directly to your career site without clicking an ad or tracked link
Offline sourcing – Referrals, walk-ins, or recruitment events where no UTM tracking exists
Broken or missing UTM parameters – Links shared on social media, email, or other platforms without proper tracking tags
Niche job boards not integrated with Source – Smaller job boards that don't send tracking data to Fountain
How to reduce "Other" volume:
Use UTM-tagged links – When sharing job links on social media, email campaigns, or partner sites, generate UTM tracking links so Source can identify the source
Request channel integration – If you're using a specific job board frequently and want it tracked separately, contact your Fountain representative to see if integration is possible
Tag referrals properly – Make sure your referral program uses tracking parameters so those applicants don't fall into "Other"
Even if applicants are in "Other," they still contribute to your hire count and conversion rates—they're just not tied to specific paid campaigns for cost analysis.
Effective Cost Metrics
When viewing cost metrics in Source, it's important to understand that costs may include spend from sourcing openings, not just the opening you're viewing.
Effective CPA = Total spend (including sourcing openings) ÷ Total applicants (including applicants from sourcing openings)
Effective CPH = Total spend (including sourcing openings) ÷ Total hires (including hires from other openings)
This gives you a true picture of acquisition costs when candidates flow between openings.
Example:
You're viewing the Dishwasher opening:
Direct spend on Dishwasher campaigns: $0
Spend from Cook campaigns that contributed applicants: $293
Spend from Server campaigns that contributed applicants: $400
Total effective spend: $693
If Dishwasher has 15 applicants (10 from Cook, 5 from Server) and 3 hires:
Effective CPA: $693 ÷ 15 = $46.20
Effective CPH: $693 ÷ 3 = $231
This is far more accurate than showing $0 CPA and $0 CPH for Dishwasher.
Data Syncing Frequency
Source syncs data from job boards and Fountain Hire at different frequencies depending on the integration type.
Integrated channels (Joveo, Indeed, Talroo, ZipRecruiter, Boost):
Spend data: Syncs multiple times per day
Applicant data: Syncs in real-time from Fountain Hire
Non-integrated channels:
Spend data: Updated less frequently or estimated based on campaign settings
Applicant data: Syncs in real-time from Fountain Hire (based on UTM tracking)
How to check data freshness:
Look for the timestamp displayed next to the Spend header on campaign cards. This shows when spend data was last updated from the job board.
Tips for Accurate Reporting
To get the most accurate data from Source:
Set up UTM tracking for all campaigns – Use the posting flow in Source or ensure external campaigns have proper UTM parameters
Map your funnel correctly – Accurate funnel mapping ensures conversion rates and automation work properly
Understand when to use aggregate data – Use aggregate ON for ROI analysis across workflows; use aggregate OFF to match Fountain Hire headcount
Review sourcing openings regularly – Check which openings are contributing applicants to understand true acquisition costs
Account for attribution lag – When candidates transition between openings, it may take a sync cycle for costs to be properly attributed