THE FINANCIAL IMPACT OF YOUR NEXT HIRE.
A new hire costs 30% to 50% more than the wage once payroll taxes, workers comp, and benefits are added, and the cash goes out weekly before the revenue they generate comes in. Before hiring, know the fully burdened cost and the break-even revenue that hire has to cover, or the addition drains cash without anybody being able to say why.
The wage on the offer letter is the smallest of the three numbers that decide whether a hire works. The second is what the role costs all in, including the truck, the tools, and the software nobody counted. The third is how much revenue the hire has to produce or enable before the business breaks even on the decision, and that one depends on your gross margin rather than on the salary. Calculate all three before the offer goes out, because a hire that's affordable across a year can still be unaffordable this quarter.
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WHAT IT MEANS.
The fully burdened cost of an employee is the wage plus payroll taxes, workers comp, and benefits, which together add 30% to 50% on top of the base.
The timing is the part that catches people. A $25 an hour employee costs $33 to $37 an hour burdened, and a $60,000 salary is closer to $80,000 to $90,000 all in. That burdened wage goes out weekly starting day one, while the revenue the hire helps produce trails your billing and collection cycle by 45 to 90 days. For the first one to three months a hire is pure cash out, which is how a profitable business goes cash-negative on a decision that was correct.
WHAT TO WORK OUT BEFORE THE OFFER.
Fully burdened cost, what the role costs per year
Add the wage, payroll taxes, workers comp, and benefits, then add any role-specific overhead such as a truck, tools, and software. That total, and not the wage, is the annual commitment you're taking on. Underestimating it's the most common hiring mistake there is, because the wage is the number everybody negotiates and the burden is the number nobody adds up.
Break-even revenue, what the hire has to bring in
Divide the fully burdened cost by your gross margin to find the revenue the hire has to generate or enable just to pay for itself. At a 25% gross margin, an $80,000 burdened hire needs to drive $320,000 of revenue to cover itself. Knowing that number tells you whether the work to support it exists, which is a different question from whether you can afford the salary.
Cash runway, whether you can fund the first 90 days
Map the burdened cost against your cash position for the first 90 days, when the hire is cost-only. If a 13-week forecast shows the addition pushing the bank toward a tight week, time the hire to a stronger cash period or line up the work first. The hire may be affordable annually and still unaffordable this quarter, and those are two separate decisions.
WHAT IT LOOKS LIKE IN DOLLARS.
Payroll taxes, workers comp, and benefits add 30% to 50% on top of the base wage. A $25 an hour employee costs $33 to $37 an hour burdened. A $60,000 salary is closer to $80,000 to $90,000 all in. Bid a crew at the wage rate and you're short by a third before anybody turns a wheel.
The burdened wage goes out weekly from day one while the revenue the hire produces trails your billing and collection cycle by 45 to 90 days. For the first one to three months, a hire is pure cash out. That mismatch is why hiring the right person at the wrong week can push a profitable business cash-negative.
An $80,000 burdened hire at a 25% gross margin has to drive about $320,000 of revenue to cover itself. That's the number to check the backlog against before the offer goes out. If the work doesn't exist yet, the hire is a bet on winning it rather than a response to having won it.
FLAT MONTHLY FEE. NO SURPRISES.
Three tiers, priced by your trailing twelve month revenue. Which one you're in depends on how much of the work you want off your desk. No hourly billing. No payroll. The one-time onboarding fee is right here in the table.
Built for subs doing $1M to $12M. Above $12.5M we quote.
| Last 12 months revenue | Core | Strategic | Platinum | One-time onboarding |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Under $1M | $1,900 | $3,100 | $3,300 | $2,500 |
| $1M to $3.5M | $2,600 | $4,100 | $5,300 | $4,500 |
| $3.5M to $6.5M | $3,800 | $5,900 | $8,300 | $6,000 |
| $6.5M to $9.5M | $5,100 | $7,600 | $11,800 | $7,500 |
| $9.5M to $12.5M | $6,100 | $8,900 | $14,900 | $9,000 |
| Above $12.5M | Quoted | Quoted | Quoted | Quoted |
The onboarding fee covers migrating your books back to the start of your last taxable year and getting you fully operational in 60 days. It's billed once, with your first invoice. It's the same for all three tiers, and it moves with your revenue band. Your first month is prorated, and your monthly engagement starts on the first of the first full month.
Just want the setup? Onboarding only is the same onboarding work with no monthly service after it, one time, at the onboarding fee plus $2,000. Start a monthly engagement later and $2,000 counts toward it. It starts at $4,500, and the price for every band is on the pricing page.
The three tier columns are the whole price. Which one fits depends on how much of the work you want off your desk. No payroll. No hidden line items. The onboarding fee is right here in the table.
- Online software only: QuickBooks, Sage, Viewpoint and similar. No VPN or hosted desktop.
- Not in any tier: payroll, pay applications, collections on receivables.
- Pricing valid through 2027.
CFO work. Your own bookkeeper keeps doing the books.
You stop guessing.
You get the CFO work. Job costing built against the way you estimate, a 13 week cash forecast, monthly WIP, and a meeting every month that ends in decisions and never in a report.
Your bookkeeper still does the books.
Core, plus bookkeeping and bank reconciliations, plus job costing and WIP software set up and managed for you. Use your own online accounting software or we supply it, one price.
Every job shows its margin while it is still open.
Everything in Core, plus the bookkeeping and bank reconciliations done for you, and the job costing and WIP software set up, loaded with your cost codes, and managed every month. Use your own online software, or move to ours and we cover it.
A bookkeeper we choose does the books and reconciliations. No payroll.
Strategic, plus a controller who handles payables and receivables the way an in-house controller would. You approve every payment.
You approve, and the money side gets handled.
Everything in Strategic, plus a controller we choose who handles your bills and receivables for you the way an in-house controller would. They call vendors, pay the bills and keep the accounting current. We plan the cash flow first, and you approve every payment because it is your money.
A controller we choose does the payables and receivables. No payroll, no pay applications, no collections.
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