--- title: "Hiring and Capacity Planning for Growing Businesses" url: https://www.everstonecpa.com/hiring-and-capacity-planning description: "Hiring and capacity planning: what a hire actually costs, when the business can carry it, and what must be true for the role to pay for itself. Ask us." type: service-or-info updated: 2026-10-08 summary: "Capacity planning costs a hire fully — wage, employer CPP and EI, workers’ compensation, vacation, equipment and the lag before the person is productive — and tests it against the forecast to show when the business can carry it and what revenue has to appear for it to pay back." faq_count: 4 publisher: EverStone CPA Inc., a Chartered Professional Accountant firm registered with CPA British Columbia and CPA Alberta service_area: British Columbia, Alberta, Ontario and Manitoba language: en-CA contact: info@everstonecpa.com · https://www.everstonecpa.com/book-online --- [Home](https://www.everstonecpa.com/) [Fractional CFO & controller](https://www.everstonecpa.com/contract-cfo) Hiring and capacity planning CFO deliverable · Decisions # Hiring and capacity planning Updated 8 October 2026 A hire is the largest recurring commitment most owner-managed businesses make, and it is usually decided on a feeling that everyone is busy. This is part of the **fractional cfo** half of a [fractional CFO or fractional controller engagement](https://www.everstonecpa.com/contract-cfo). [Get My Fixed Quote](https://www.everstonecpa.com/book-online) [See the full comparison](https://www.everstonecpa.com/contract-cfo) **Quick answer:** Capacity planning costs a hire fully — wage, employer CPP and EI, workers’ compensation, vacation, equipment and the lag before the person is productive — and tests it against the forecast to show when the business can carry it and what revenue has to appear for it to pay back. ## The full cost of a hire - **The wage**, which is the visible number and rarely the whole one. - **Employer CPP and EI**, plus the second CPP contribution on earnings in the CPP2 band. - **Workers’ compensation premiums**, set by industry classification rather than by role. - **Vacation and statutory holiday pay**, which accrue from the first day in some provinces and some industries. - **Equipment, software and space.** - **The ramp** — the weeks or months before the person is producing at the level the plan assumes. The ramp is the one businesses forget, and on a senior hire it is often the largest single component. ## Capacity planning: when the business can carry it The question is not whether the hire is affordable in a good month. It is whether it is affordable in the quietest month of the year, because payroll does not fall with revenue. That makes this a cash question before it is a profit question. Running the hire through [a rolling cash forecast](https://www.everstonecpa.com/cash-flow-management) shows the month it becomes tight, which is usually earlier than expected and always better known in advance. ## Employee or contractor The other half of a hiring decision is what kind of hire it is, and that is not a free choice. The classification turns on control, tools, the ability to subcontract and the chance of profit or loss, and getting it wrong lands on the payer rather than the worker. [Subcontractor or employee](https://www.everstonecpa.com/blog/subcontractor-vs-employee-cra) sets out the factors, and it is worth settling before the arrangement starts rather than after a season of it. ## Who this is for, and who it is not **A good fit:** a business considering its first hire, a step up in headcount, or replacing someone senior, especially where revenue is uneven across the year. **Not a fit:** a business already carrying spare capacity, where the useful question is what the current team is spending its time on rather than how to add to it. We say so on the first call rather than quoting for work you do not need. ## Common questions about hiring plans **How accurate can this be?** The cost side is close to exact, because the statutory components are formulas. The revenue side is a forecast, so it is presented as a range with the assumptions named rather than as a single number. [Ask us →](https://www.everstonecpa.com/quick-question) **Does this include the payroll setup?** No, that is a separate and much smaller job. [Payroll services](https://www.everstonecpa.com/payroll-services-canada) covers opening the account, the first remittance and the slips. **Can you model two options?** Yes, and that is usually the useful version: one senior hire against two junior ones, or a contractor for two quarters against a permanent role. **We are already stretched. Is it too late to plan?** No. The most common finding is that the hire was affordable a quarter earlier than the owner thought, and the second most common is that the constraint is not headcount at all. ### Starting fees Every fee is fixed in writing before any work begins. - **Controller or CFO support** controller from $1,650, CFO from $2,750 a month *This page* - **Monthly bookkeeping, GST/PST filing included** from $325 a month - **Payroll, remittances, T4s and ROEs** included in monthly bookkeeping - **Books, payroll and the year-end T2 together** $500–$700 a month - **Corporate year-end and T2 return** fixed fee, quoted in writing - **Personal tax return (T1)** from $125; self-employed or rental $275–$500 - **Catch-up bookkeeping** from $2,200 per year of records - **One-off advice call with a CPA** $225 plus GST [Get My Fixed Quote](https://www.everstonecpa.com/book-online?service=cfo#enquiry-form) ## Talk to a CPA about this One Chartered Professional Accountant, start to finish. Fixed fees, quoted in writing before any work begins, and no obligation from a first conversation. [Get My Fixed Quote](https://www.everstonecpa.com/book-online) [Ask a Free Question](https://www.everstonecpa.com/quick-question) Email info@everstonecpa.com ★★★★★ “…have been completing my bookkeeping, taxes and financials for the last 2 years and they have been amazing. Thank you!” R. H. · Google review --- Source: https://www.everstonecpa.com/hiring-and-capacity-planning Prices: https://www.everstonecpa.com/pricing · Contact: info@everstonecpa.com · https://www.everstonecpa.com/book-online