In December 2018, we wrote an article entitled “Say Yay or Nay to Your CPA”. We asked the question, “Does your CPA firm offer you a single point of contact that stays in touch to understand your current volume, business structure, and goals for this year and future?”

In order to attract and keep top talent in today’s market it is important to know the following:

1. When can you hire the next person?
2. What compensation package can you offer them (Base, bonus, benefits, etc.)?
3. What will be the frequency and timing for salary increases?
4. How will you determine those increases?
5. How does hiring the right person get measured to ensure the person is not a financial burden?

Often, we work with companies whose owner is working full-time in a specific role within the company, such as the main estimator, project managing directly, or handling business development. For the company to grow, this individual must move from working inthe business to having more time to workonthe business.   Quite often they are not ready to do so, either because they like what they are doing, or because they are afraid to make the wrong hire, or because they don’t think anyone can do it as well as they can.

Irrespective of which emotions are surrounding the decision, eliminating risk in hiring someone with good timing and a strong financial state is a big help.

What can your CPA do to help with this?

1. Create historical data of past years, showing revenue allocation.
2. Model comparisons with other general contractors under the same monetization model (open book cost plus, GMP, Competitive Bid, Design Bid Build etc.).
3. Demonstrate expenditures that it may be possible to eliminate in order to create budgets for hiring, etc.
4. Provide data to help you to answer the five aforementioned questions.
5. Most importantly: Determine your bottom-line number, which helps to grow your business.

Two blogs articles ago, we noted that 50% of businesses fail within five years of starting, and 76.7% within 10 years.

You may be a company big enough to employ a CPA as the head of your financial department.  If so, they can do this same type of modeling and reporting a minimum of once a year.  Reviewing quarterly is recommended, however, especially if you take on substantially more work in a shorter time frame.

As employment consultants, we can tell you what the going salary range is, and we can also tell you what others are offering for benefits, and specifically, top people are looking for the following:

1. Competitive wages
2. Financial growth with performance
3. Structure and Consistency from their employer
4. Stability
5. Challenge

Nothing limits us or the employer more than when they don’t have the answers to questions A through E, referenced above, or if they are provided unrealistic answers to those questions.

Employers; know the answers.  Employees ask the questions to get those answers.  The way in which you answer can be the difference between a growing, sustainable company and risky business.

If you would like a referral to help you with answering these questions, give us a call.

To the Most Marketable You, Business or Individual,

Suzanne Breistol