Chances are you’ve got a lot of questions about your own hiring process. How much does it cost to hire one new person? How many people who start an application see it through to completion? The answers don’t have to be estimations; not if you know which recruiting metrics are worth tracking.

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While you’re busy recruiting, a lot of data is piling up. Or flying on by, if you aren’t aware of it (or what you should do with it). Simply put, it contains information that can help you do an all-around better job.

Here are the metrics that you should be tracking, and why they matter:

#1: Cost Per Hire

With increased competition for talent, more companies are increasing their spend on recruitment. That’s according to a report from PR Newswire, which says there was a 7 percent increase between 2013 and 2014.

The Society for Human Resources Management says cost per hire is one of the most critical metrics that you can track. In short, cost per hire is broken down like this:

#2: External Costs + Internal Costs / Number of Hires

This metric helps recruiters understand spend and find ways to conserve, where possible, says Technology Advice. It also helps you determine how your spend compares with the industry.

#3: Employee Churn

Turnover hacks new hires off at the knees, but it happens in every business. Some new hires are meant to leave. It’s sad, but true, as a bad fit would ultimately prove detrimental to both parties. Here’s what you need to track:

• • Volume of turnover

• • Reasonings behind the turnover

• • Turnover by department

• • Timeframe of turnover

• • New hires vs turnover

Measuring these points can help you understand whether your turnover is higher than the industry, find out whether more people leave soon after being hired, whether there’s a higher volume of turnover in a single department, and a host of other insights.

This information can help not just HR, but also the rest of the company work towards better hires and better retention. You can also find out whether you’re busy because you’re growing, or if you’ve just got a high attrition rate, says Technology Advice.

#4: Job Application and Offer Ratios

How many people start a job application and follow it through? How many opt out, and when does it happen? There’s a lot to be learned about your recruiting strategy by watching the actions of applicants. According to our recent webinar, Mobile Insights and Strategy, applicants have some specific expectations.

About 27 percent of job seekers expect to see a job application through using a mobile device. That’s because the majority of job seekers use mobile all day every day, and they’re accustomed to an efficient mobile experience.

And what about the ratios of applications to offers, and offers to acceptance? “If you’re interviewing a lot but failing to extend offers,” says Technology Advice, “then it’s time to reevaluate your vetting process.

#5: Source of New Hires

Where do your job seekers and passive candidates come from? That’s something else you should know. Maybe you use one or more job boards and social media, and maybe you get some referrals too.

Tracking the path where your applicant come from can help you focus attention (and budget) in the right direction. And if you know which source brings you more successful new hires, then you’ve got another feather in your bonnet.

If you use an employee referral program, and you should, focus on tracking its success as a standalone source. You’ve got more influence over how it performs than any other source since it’s in-house. When existing employees are happy, they’ll be happier about making referrals.

This is by no means an exhaustive list of the metrics that you should track, but it makes up the meat and bones of it. If you’re not using any sort of metrics tracking, you’ll have your hands full for a while.

When you use technology for candidate sourcing and recruiting, all of this is made simpler because the data is easier to access. Instead of downloading scores of separate reports and trying to align them, you’ll find almost everything in one place. That helps you do a better job, which helps your company save resources, and the whole process becomes streamlined.