The hire clears revenue coverage, utilization, and runway floors.
Workflow for hiring decisions
Approve hires only when runway and revenue coverage hold.
Clear Margins turns a hiring request into a decision proposal with fixed cost, revenue coverage, utilization, cash runway, stakeholder approval, and post-hire review rules.
Revenue coverageRunway floorReview trigger
Decision first
The workflow answers whether the team can add fixed cost without weakening cash safety.
Hiring decisions are emotional and operational. The workflow gives the advisor a clear way to explain whether the role is affordable, what revenue must close first, and when to revisit the decision.
The hire can proceed after a signed retainer, start-date delay, or role scope cap.
The role pulls runway below the approved floor or lacks enough demand coverage.
Salary, loaded cost, utilization, close probability, or revenue timing is uncertain.
Operating loop
From client ask to monitored decision record.
The workflow keeps assumptions, cases, approval status, guardrails, and monitoring tied to one version instead of scattering them across spreadsheets, notes, and slide decks.
- 01Capture the role economics
Record salary, taxes, tools, ramp time, utilization target, and expected revenue coverage.
- 02Model runway impact
Compare cash runway before and after the hire under base and stress cases.
- 03Check demand coverage
Tie the hire to signed revenue, pipeline probability, client load, or delivery capacity.
- 04Set approval conditions
Define the signed-revenue gate, start-date trigger, and review window.
- 05Monitor post-hire
Track revenue coverage and runway after the hire becomes an active baseline.
Scenario cases
Best, base, and worst cases stay attached to the recommendation.
Clients can approve a decision faster when the upside, operating case, and failure case are visible in the same report.
Best caseRevenue covers role
Signed demand absorbs the cost and service quality improves.
Base caseApprove after close
The team waits for revenue coverage before committing payroll.
Worst caseRunway compression
Pipeline slips and the new fixed cost shortens the cash window.
Policy checks
The report explains the math before asking for approval.
Loaded monthly costSalary, payroll taxes, tools, benefits, management load, and contractor equivalents.Coverage ratioSigned or high-confidence revenue divided by the monthly role cost.Runway after hireCash balance divided by burn after the role is added.Review triggerDate or metric that forces the team to recheck coverage after launch.
Client portal
The stakeholder sees a clear recommendation, not a finance cockpit.
The client-facing view focuses on the decision, assumptions, impact, advisor note, guardrails, and approval actions. The advisor keeps the deeper modeling context inside the workspace.
Runway Before Hiring WorkflowClient action needed
- Role being evaluated
- Monthly cost and coverage needed
- Runway before and after hire
- Best, base, worst cases
- Advisor note
- Approval condition
- Post-hire review guardrail
- Approval status
ApproveRequest changesReject
Use case boundary
Use this before the spreadsheet becomes the meeting.
Use this before committing fixed cost. It does not replace HR, compensation benchmarking, tax, or employment law review.
FAQ
Questions advisors ask before using this workflow.
What should be checked before hiring?
Check loaded cost, signed or likely revenue coverage, runway after the hire, utilization, ramp time, and the fallback plan if demand slips.
Is this only for agencies?
No. It also works for fractional CFO clients, ecommerce operators, service businesses, and startups that need a plain-English hiring approval memo.
Can a client approve a hiring recommendation?
Yes. Agency reports can be shared for approval, rejection, or requested changes before the hire becomes an active decision record.
See the deliverable