Category: Uncategorized

Last week, SingleSprout kicked off a new webinar series with The Rise Journey focused on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) in the Recruitment Process. 

During this panel, our speakers took a deep dive into the foundational principles of DEI, emphasizing the importance of acknowledging and embracing differences, creating an equitable and fair hiring process, and promoting a culture of inclusivity throughout the company. Other topics that came up included,  how to attract a diverse pool of candidates, with the panelists discussing the importance of not falling into the trap of tokenism in the recruitment process.  Rather, companies should focus on true representation.

Overall, the Zoom event provided valuable insights and practical tips for companies to improve their DEI strategies in the recruitment process. By implementing these strategies, companies can create a more diverse, equitable, and inclusive workplace.

Don’t have a DEI Recruitment Strategy? Remember, DEI is a continuous journey, not a one-time initiative. Hire someone who knows more and can help in a Full Time, Part Time, fractional, project-based, etc. Additionally, hiring a DEI project manager or ERG manager can be a huge support to keep track of momentum on initiatives.

To learn more you can re-watch the webinar here, or check out the DEI in the Recruitment Checklist created by The Rise Journey

Did you know that more than 80% of technology companies are either completely unaware they are eligible for government-sponsored tax credits or don’t have an easy way to get them? As many startups are thinking about ways to be efficient with spending, we want to do our part as well. 

We asked our friends at TaxTaker, to share about the Research & Development Tax Credit – which can save a company thousands of dollars (sometimes even hundreds of thousands) every year. 

The R&D tax credit allows technology companies and startups to reduce federal and state tax liabilities and earn back up to 10% on what they are spending on product development. Four types of expenses can be included in the credit calculation for your qualified projects: 

1. W2 Wages
2. US-based contractor expenses
3. Cloud expenses
4. Supplies

So how do you take advantage of this? Well, TaxTaker told us that employee wages for direct R&D activity can be included in the credit (as well as supervision or direct support of such activity). So thinking about bringing on a new frontend developer? With R&D tax credits, it is possible to recover 10% of their wage every year. 

TaxTaker also informed us the most common employee titles that qualify for the R&D tax in technology companies include:

• Product engineers
• Software and database architects
• Computer and data scientists
• Quality assurance testers

The long and short of it, tech startups have the potential to earn back up to 10% of what they spend developing products and technologies each year.

This is a heavily wage-driven credit, so the greater your salaries, the greater your relative credit adds up!  What’s more, starting in 2023, you can also use the R&D Tax Credit to offset all employer-related payroll taxes (FICA+ Medicare, 7.65%-double check this).  Further, as part of the Inflation Reduction Act, the upper bound for startups increased to $500,000, so regardless of profitability, your startup can reap the benefits nearly immediately.

If you want to learn more about R&D tax credits please talk to your accountant (we are not tax experts) or reach out to our friends at TaxTaker.

We have seen a significant chatter around layoffs over the last couple of months, but we think is only fair to talk about companies that have been hiring. We saw an average of 1.3 hires made per business day in Q2 through SingleSprout, and we wanted to share our latest compensation report.

Please check it out here.