(You may want to print this page for easy reference as you enter data.)

The data entry form defines "practices" and "positions" in a way that applies to the greatest number of Solution Provider companies.

Thank you for doing your best to map your company's organization and roles to this structure.

Step 1: Read Before You Begin

We recommend you review each of the documents linked in this section to make sure you have all the data you need to complete the survey in one session. 

Step 2: Identify your Predominant Business Model™

Solution Providers with different business models pay different wages for otherwise similar positions. In order to provide you with the highest value results, we must know the Predominant Business Model of your company.

To determine your Predominant Business Model, enter your revenue for each line of business (in whole dollars) using the description shown in each Help button ("?").

Please account for 100% of your top-line revenue.

Your Predominant Business Model will then be displayed.  For more information about Predominant Business Models and why they enable you to pick more relevant best practices and more easily compare yourself to other firms, click here (opens in new window).

Step 3: Additional Company Information

Work Location Policy - Select the workplace policy you allow company-wide in the current year. Use the pulldown to choose the policy that most closely aligns with the majority of your staff.

Ownership Type - From the pulldown list, select the ownership type that most closely aligns with your company ownership structure.

Step 4: Enter Position Information (Fields)

The data entry form groups your people by the practice or team to which they belong.  For a description of each practice and team, please see Aligning Your Practices and Teams with the Survey Format.

If you have no people who meet a specific description, leave the row blank. 

For each position in which you have employees or contractors/consultants, please enter:

Field	Definition	Example
Headcount	The number of people (employees not contractors) you have in this position. You will be asked to break them into three seniority categories: 1-3 years of experience in the position, 4-7 years of experience in the position, and 8 or more years of experience in the position.	Example: You have 4 people who are Network Infrastructure Engineers with 4-7 years of experience.  Enter"4" in the row for this position and tenure.
FTE Consultants	This is the number of outsourced professionals, contractors, and/or consultants hired on a temporary basis to provide specialized services and expertise for an organization.	Example: You have a consultant that delivers your vCISO services to your customers and this person works 40 hours per week. You would enter "1.0" in this field for the vCISO position
Digital Workers	This is the number of FTE worker equivalent completed by software-based tool(s) such as artificial intelligence and robotic processes automation. Tasks are typically repetitive and/or complex when performed by humans. The FTE count does not need to be a whole number and is calculated by quantifying the amount of work, on average, automation performs compared to human effort.	Example: You have an automation bot that processes all the user add and user delete requests that come in from your customers. These requests typically require 4 hours per day for a level 1 technician to complete. You would enter ".5" in this field for that position.
Avg. TAE	The average "TAE" or Targeted Annual Earnings of the people in this position. This is the W2 (T4 in Canada, P60 in the UK, Income Statement in Australia, and Gross Earnings in New Zealand) payroll, including bonuses and incentives but excluding benefits, taxes, training, and so on.	Example: The average payroll (W2 or T4 in Canada) of these four Network Infrastructure Engineers is $65,000. Choose $65,001 to $67,500 from the pulldown. Note: You may have no official bonus plan, but customarily do offer profit sharing, spiffs or similar additional compensation.  In this case, report the actual W2 (T4 in Canada, P60 in the UK, Income Statement in Australia, and Gross Earnings in New Zealand) including these, not just the "salary" portion.
Average Consultant Cost	The average annual costs of the contractors or consultants in this position. This is the 1099 cost in the US.	Example: The average annual cost of these four contractors who perform the Network Infrastructure Engineer role is $55,000. Choose $52,501 to $55,000 from the pulldown.
% Variable	Of their W2 (T4 in Canada, P60 in the UK, Income Statement in Australia, and Gross Earnings in New Zealand) what proportion is "at risk" or variable pay used for incentive purposes.	Example: Of the $65,000, $7,500 is "at risk", meaning, their base pay is $57,500 and their incentive or bonus pay is $7,500. $7,500/$65,000 = 11.5%. Choose the nearest percentage from the pulldown. Note: You may not pay incentives or bonuses for a given position, in which case enter 0.0% in the pulldown. Or, you may have no official bonus plan, but customarily do offer profit sharing, spiffs or similar additional compensation. In this case, report the actual W2 (T4 in Canada, P60 in the UK, Income Statement in Australia, and Gross Earnings in New Zealand) including these, not just the "salary" portion.
Hourly Billing Rate	This is the average hourly rate at which you bill the client for this skill level. This is not the rate you pay the person. For people whose time you do not bill to the client (i.e. non-technical people such as sales people, admin staff and managers) do not enter an hourly rate.	Example: For these four Network Infrastructure Engineers, you bill their time at an average of $126.00 per hour. Enter that amount.
TAE % Increase - Current	Select the average percentage of increase you applied to this position in the current year. Use the pulldown  to choose "0.1% to 3%," "3.1% to 6.0%," "More than 6.0%," or "No Increase."	Example: You increased the overall TAE by an average of 5% for all of the Network Infrastructure Engineers with 4-7 years of experience position. Choose "3.1% to 6%" from the pulldown.
TAE % Increase - Planned	Select the average percentage of increase you plan to apply to this position in the coming year. Use the pulldown  to choose "0.1% to 3%," "3.1% to 6.0%," "More than 6%," or "No Increase."	Example: You plan to increase the overall TAE by an average of 2% next year for all of the Network Infrastructure Engineers with 4-7 years of experience position. Choose "0.1% to 3.0%" from the pulldown.
FTE Churn	Include the % of employees who left your organization: Identify the total number of employees who voluntarily resigned, retired, or were terminated during the year out of the total employees at the beginning of the year. Exclude any temporary or seasonal employees from this count.	Example: One of ten (from the start of the year) of your Network Infrastructure Engineers retired this year. This would be 10% FTE Churn (1 FTE out of 10 FTE). Choose "a) 10.0% or less" from the pulldown.