Pay

[Salamon Grundy]

Hello,

What is a reasonable amount to expect from my employees? I was thinking that I should expect about 2.5 times salary in yearly production from clients.

What are some fair ways to pay people so the clients, employee, and firm are well taken care of?

[Bjorn]

Pay

For a seasonal preparer {Not a CPA or EA} I've seen $12.00 per hour plus 10% of collections. There is no health ins, but they do get 3% retirement match in a Simple IRA. What do the national chains pay employees?

[taxmandan]

Pay

Paying your employees is going to depend on where you are located and the prevailing wage market. In our area you have to have state licenses to prepare returns and to find a Tax Consultant who doesn't have their own tax office is rare so the rate is above $25/hour plus performance bonus. First year preparers can expect $8-10/hr., again the state license limits the pool of available talent, so more demand than supply raises the wage.

A fair way to pay is a base hourly wage, and a bonus structured on performance. Some offices pay for continuing education hours, or a bonus for staying until April 15th.

Don't forget that the intangibles like career enhancement, flexible work schedule, professional challenges like learning more complicated tax returns can be as important to an employee as the money.