---
title: Compare current vs. previous pay with Historic Backfill
slug: compare-current-vs-previous-pay-with-historic-backfill
createdAt: 2026-08-06T11:56:22.976Z
---

When you backfill a role, ChartHop remembers who last held it. The **Historic Backfill** field on a job points at that previous person, so you can pull them and their pay in that role into a report or formula alongside whoever holds the role today.

This is useful for:

- **Pay-equity review**: see how a new hire's pay compares to the person they replaced.
- **Budget tracking and forecasting**: quantify the pay delta each time a role turns over.

## Historic Backfill vs. Backfill For

ChartHop has two related fields. They are not the same:

- **Backfill For**: shows, during the hiring workflow, who a currently open or departing job is a backfill for. Use this when you are managing the backfill itself.
- **Historic Backfill**: a reporting field that resolves the previous holder's details **as of their last day in the role**. Use this when you want to compare pay or other in-role attributes. This is the field you reference in formulas (`historicBackfill.baseComp`).

## Using it in a report

Add both of these as columns on a job or headcount report to see the comparison side by side:

| Column                      | Shows                                                          |
| --------------------------- | -------------------------------------------------------------- |
| `baseComp`                  | The current holder's base pay.                                 |
| `historicBackfill.baseComp` | The previous holder's base pay on their last day in this role. |

The difference between the two is your backfill pay delta.

## The pay fields you can compare

Everything you navigate off `historicBackfill` resolves as of the previous holder's last day in the role. The compensation fields include:

- `historicBackfill.baseComp` — base pay
- `historicBackfill.variableTarget` — variable/bonus/commission target
- `historicBackfill.totalComp` — total compensation
- `historicBackfill.cashCompLocal` — cash comp in local currency
- `historicBackfill.annualBaseMoney` — annualized base

:::hint{type="info"}
Non-pay details you navigate off `historicBackfill` — such as **title**, **department**, **band**, and **manager** — also reflect what was true while that person held the role, not their current values. For example, if the previous holder was later promoted or changed departments, these show the in-role values.
:::

## Who can see it

**Historic Backfill** is a high-sensitivity field. Pay you pull through it follows the same compensation permissions and sensitive-view rules as any other comp data in ChartHop. Viewers without pay access see it scrubbed or hidden, exactly as they would elsewhere. It does not expose anything a viewer could not already see.

## Current limitation

Historic Backfill resolves the previous holder's in-role pay as long as their record is **retained** in ChartHop (they departed but were not deleted). If the previous person was fully removed from your org, their in-role pay will not resolve. Support for fully-removed people is a possible future enhancement.

:::hint{type="info"}
**See also:** [Backfilled By](https://docs.charthop.com/backfilled-by) looks forward from the person who left, rather than backward from the current job. The expression `backfilledBy.base - base` gives you the same pay comparison from the other direction. See [Report on who backfilled departed employees](https://docs.charthop.com/report-on-who-backfilled-departed-employees).
:::

:::hint{type="info"}
[Modules:](https://www.charthop.com/pricing/) **HRIS | Headcount Planning**

[Roles](https://docs.charthop.com/user-roles-and-permissions): Owner | Org editor | Recruiting editor
:::