NPCE - Professional advice: what would you ask/ask for?

[Deleted]

**poof**

Man, you guys really deliver!  There are some great suggestions here.  I look forward to reading them and responding later when I can take a breath.  Right now, I'm trying to finish up work and get out of town for a long lake weekend.  Thank you to everyone who responded.  I'm deleting details because I'm nervous about having this all out there.

[minzy]

Congratulations, that’s awesome!

I’d try asking for a lot more money. (Any idea what the outgoing person is paid?) Some kind of profit sharing on top of that, or a larger percentage than what you’re currently getting, if you already have that. More days off. Better health insurance options. Paid professional development days or volunteer days for staff? Ability to bring pets in? A car charging station for the workplace. I’m throwing everything at the wall here, lol.

[wanderingback]

Congrats on the promotion.

I think that's hard to answer without more specifics such as what you do, how much you make and how much the CEO makes.
Obviously you don't have to give details.
But I think the job matters because certain things are realistic in some fields while others aren't.
I know people on here have mentioned things like car service, daily lunch, etc those kind of things...that stuff doesn't happen in my field.
Do you need training? Money or time off for training? More flexibility with working from home? New work from home set up? A dedicated assistant? A new laptop? Better health insurance? More PTO? House cleaner?
Really the list could be endless so might be helpful if you provide more info if you want more concrete advice.

[fryjack2]

I would ask for whatever it takes to allow you to be effective in the new role.

A new computer? An assistant? A class?

I would also map out where you want to be professionally in a year, 5 years, and long term and figure out what you need to get there.

Share your goals and how you hope to achieve them with the board.

If you have an idea of what compensation your new position typically earns, I would up your ask by it by 25%-30% of that number.

Negotiate to a number higher than average

Need to leave every Wednesday at 3pm off for some personal thing? Have it written into your contract.

[Deleted]

**poof*

[FrankieM20]

Congratulations!! That change sounds really exciting. There are a lot of good suggestions already and I strongly encourage you to ask for way more then you think you deserve. The worst they can say is no.

I will say that running an office and having direct reports will be a big change. In my experience I have seen supervisors swamped with management tasks and the day to day of running an office that they very rarely get to practice what their actual job is. It’s more like that work is squeezed in between all the management and personnel duties. It might also be hard to get away to telework when you need to be in the office to deal with issues.

Maybe think about having your next level direct report supervise all the other employees so you have the time to do more strategic work.

I also love the idea of advocating for more for your employees now too. That would be a lot to me if I were them.

Good luck and congrats again!!!

[NewOrleans]

Congrats! I’m garbage at this but I like to think of it in terms of how your *responsibility* changes and base what you ask for on that.
Do you have a Masters degree? Even if so, can you get tuition coverage/reimbursement.

[krystee]

50th percentile for accounting director salaries in the US is $158,724, according to Salary.com. Average VP salary is $224K. Would the company’s budget support a salary in that range?

[cosmowife]

Mar 26, 2021 14:54:58 GMT -5 krystee said:

50th percentile for accounting director salaries in the US is $158,724, according to Salary.com. Average VP salary is $224K. Would the company’s budget support a salary in that range?

Wow this seems super high to me. Maybe you’d see this working in an actual accounting firm? But OP, no harm in going for it!

[tealblue]

I would ask for at least double your current salary, honestly. And bonus of 20-25%. Not sure if your company gives a bonus based on anything currently?

Plus, come to them with a plan on how you want the org structured. 2 senior accountants and an admin or do you need more support staff?

I would also go with the “Controller and VP of Accounting” as a title.

[laterz]

Do you have full hiring/firing authority?
What kind of training or continuing education would you or your staff need? Reimbursement for any professional certifications or memberships?
Do they have a job description for you?

Are you expected to grow the business (ie, sales or bring in new customers)?
How big of a budget will you be managing? (don't need to share here, but i'd definitely want to understand that to aid in my salary ask).

I'd ask for at least another week of PTO, if not 2. (At this point in my career, I wouldn't take another job that didn't at least match my current vacation/sick time (4w/2w)

[acr]

As someone who has sat on my family business board of directors...I'd want to know things like:

- What's performance management for you like?
- What happens if your recommendation for what is best for the business is in conflict with the family/board's interests? <-- I say this one b/c my family has made decisions that were not in the best interest of the company despite other recommendations

[idahome]

Have you thought about CFO as your title. In my experience what you’re describing would be a good title. Maybe not initially, but in the next few years, for sure. If that is what you want to when toward I would say: promotion to Controller now with an immediate plan for CFO.

Other things:
- you’ll be providing more details/reporting directly to the board. This means you won’t have time for day-to-day office management tasks. I’d want to hire a controller to replace you once you’re named CFO.

-ask for new technology now: laptop, dual set up so you CAN work effectively both in the office and from home.

-cell phone stipend

-profit share or dedicated bonus based on performance

-Max life insurance policy with full premium paid for by the employer (look at LTD and STD as well, if not already provided)

-I would ask for guaranteed flexibility to continue working from home even if they have people returning to the office (like a 2/3 split)

Re: additional PTO - are you really going to be able to take more than 5 weeks off? I wouldn’t ask for guaranteed time off but instead move to unlimited time off. Your auditors will prefer this because then you won’t have to carry time on your books year-over-year.

[Deleted]

FrankieM20 great suggestions, thank you! That is my biggest concern about this role.

[Deleted]

Mar 26, 2021 15:27:19 GMT -5 cosmowife said:

Mar 26, 2021 14:54:58 GMT -5 krystee said:

50th percentile for accounting director salaries in the US is $158,724, according to Salary.com. Average VP salary is $224K. Would the company’s budget support a salary in that range?

Wow this seems super high to me. Maybe you’d see this working in an actual accounting firm? But OP, no harm in going for it!

Yeah, i dont see that happening. That is insane money for where i am! They have always been fair and generous with me, but i would be shocked if i got more than double my current pay.

[Deleted]

idahome great points about the PTO. DH and i were talking at dinner and decided that remote work is more important than much more PTO. The nature of my job is such that it's very difficult to actually be off for a full week, so being able to use more PTO is unlikely. However, being able to work from the road would make a big difference in how much i could travel.

[okla]

My first thought was a CFO title and at minimum double your current salary. MINIMUM.