Survey Research Design, Inc'

1
Association for Accounting Marketing, Inc. 2001
Accounting Marketing / Sales Responsibility and
Compensation Survey Results
Survey Research Design, Inc. 8 Faneuil Hall
Marketplace Boston, MA 02109 [phone]
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Table of Contents

• Section Page
• Executive Summary 3
• Survey Report
• I. Background 4 - 5
• II. Firm Management 6 - 7
• III. Firm Marketing/ Sales 8 - 15
• IV. Experience and Compensation 16 - 21
• V. Satisfaction with Work 23 - 26
• Appendix A Statistical Summary

3
Executive Summary

• The majority of respondents are from Local
  (44) and Regional firms (49) with only 8 from
  National firms.
• Almost two-thirds (63) of respondents are
  Directors 14 are Managers and 17 are
  Supervisors (self-reported titles).
• Respondents who are Managers or Coordinators
  are more likely to (a) be younger (b) have
  written job descriptions and (c) get paid less
  than Directors.
• Over three-quarters (78) of survey respondents
  earned between 30,000 and 75,000 in total
  annual compensation. The likely profile of
  respondents earning over 75,000 is a male
  Director over the age of 50 working at a National
  firm, with more billable time than his lower
  earning counterparts. In addition, more of his
  annual compensation is derived from commissions
  and incentive pay.
• The majority of respondents (85) are involved
  in their firms communications, strategy
  planning and technology. In these three areas,
  respondents at Local firms over twice as likely
  to take a Sole / Lead role than their
  counterparts at National firms (Regional firm
  respondents fall in-between).
• Fewer respondents are involved in promotions
  programs (74) and only slightly more than half
  (53) are involved in their firms business
  development and sales. All respondents (100)
  from National firms are involved in business
  development efforts as opposed to approximately
  50 at Local and Regional firms.
• The majority of firms allocate 4 or less of
  gross annual revenues to the marketing budget.
• Over half (57) of respondents are involved in
  recommending what should be included in the
  marketing budget. Respondents from Local firms
  are more likely
• to be involved in the whole budget than those at
  Regional and National firms.
• Respondents are mildly satisfied with their
  firms management of their position. About half
  (50 to 56) find their firms management of
  their workload, integration within the firm,
  feedback, and role definition to be average or
  unsatisfactory. However, 73 are satisfied
  with their firms management of their work /
  home balance. (In contrast, respondents with
  higher annual compensation tend to have the
  highest level of satisfaction in all areas except
  for work / home balance.)
• The majority of respondents (79) believe that
  marketing is growing in importance at their
  firm. Yet, only about one-third (35) feel that
  people within their firm understand their job,
  and only one-third (33) feel they receive
  adequate support from their firm.
• Slightly over half (57) of respondents are
  satisfied with their jobs today 45 say their
  job satisfaction has increased over the past year
  - yet 23 state that their job satisfaction has
  decreased over the past year.

4
I. Background
a. Firm Type (q. 1) Local firms represent a
little less than half (44) of the survey sample,
followed by Regional firms which account for 49
of the survey sample and Big Five / National
firms which account for slightly less than ten
percent (8) of the survey sample. ( are in
millions)
Midsize Regional (20 to 70)
Large Regional (70 to 200)
19
National (200)
5
25
5
Small Regional (10 to 20)
Big Five
3
Local (less than 10)
44
b. Geographic Location (q. 3) Approximately
one-quarter to one-third of respondents are from
the Northeast, South and the Midwest (30, 28
and 26 respectively), while only 12 are from
the West. The remaining 4 of respondents are
from Canadian firms. The following chart shows
firm type by geographic region within the United
States.
Firm Type by Geographic Region
-Big Five/National -Regional Firms -Local
Firms
5
I. Background
c. Metropolitan Population Area (q. 4) Almost
one-half (45) of respondents are located in
metropolitan areas of one million or more
residents. 40 of firms are located in
metropolitan areas of one hundred thousand
to one million residents. The remaining 15 of
Firms are located in metropolitan areas of
fewer than one hundred thousand
residents. e. Firm Consolidation (q. 2) 5 of
respondent firms have been acquired by a
consolidator (e.g., AmEx, HRB, or CBIZ). f.
Education Level (q. 5) The majority of
respondents (80) have a BA or BS. Slightly less
than ten percent (8) have a higher degree,
while the remaining 12 have some college
education. g. Age (q. 6) Slightly over
two-thirds (68) of respondents are age 40 or
under. Almost one-quarter (24) are between
the ages of 41 and 50, and 9 are over 50 years
old.
Respondent Age Groups
h. Gender (q. 7) The majority (81) of
respondents are women. Less than one-quarter
(19) of respondents are men.
6
II. Firm Management
a. Written Job Description (q. 8 q. 9) Half
of respondents (50) have written job
descriptions. Respondents with the title of
Manager or Coordinator as opposed to
Director are more likely to have written job
descriptions (70 and 63 vs. 56) and are more
likely to be younger (see table below).

• Title by Age
• Age Group Director Manager Coordinator
• 25 to 30 19 48 70
• 31 to 40 48 22 22
• 41 to 50 25 26 7
• 50 8 4 0
• b. Reporting (q. 11)
• Almost two-thirds (64) of respondents report to
  either the Firm or Office Managing Partner. Just
  under one-quarter (23) report to Partners in
  Charge of Marketing and 3 report to the Firm
  Administrator. The remaining 01 report to either
  the Firm Administrator, another type of Partner,
  President/CEO or have a dual reporting
  structure.
• The majority of Local and Regional firm
  respondents report to the Firm Managing Partner
  (70 and 50), whereas the majority of National
  firm respondents are split between reporting to
  the Firm and Office Managing Partner (33 and
  42).

c. Feedback (q. 12)

• Slightly less than half (46) of respondents
  state that they receive formal feedback while a
  little over one-third (36) say they receive
  informal feedback. The remaining
• 18 receive no feedback.
• Respondents with annual compensation of less
  than 30K receive the least feedback (38
  say they receive no feedback).

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II. Firm Management
d. Firm Management of Your Position (q.
10) Respondents are most satisfied with their
Work / Home Balance followed by Workload Firm
Integration Feedback and Role Definition. The
percentage of Dissatisfied or Very
Dissatisfied respondents (not represented in
the chart below) is as followsWork/Home Balance
10 Workload 13 Firm Integration 20
Feedback 22 and Role Definition 27.
Job Satisfaction
Average Satisfied
Very Satisfied
Work/Home Balance Workload Firm
Integration Feedback Role Definition

• Almost two-thirds (63) of respondents are
  either satisfied or very satisfied with work/home
  balance. Stated another way, only 27 find
  their firms management of work/home balance
  average (17) or worse unsatisfactory (10).
  In contrast, for every other category, 50 to
  56 of respondents find firm management of their
  position average or unsatisfactory.
• Directors and those with higher annual
  compensation tend have the highest levels of
• satisfaction in all areas except for in
  work/home balance.

8
III. Firm Marketing / Sales
a. Number of Offices Responsible for (q.
13) Over half (52) of respondents are
responsible for more than one office. The
average number of offices an individual is
responsible for is lower at Local firms (33 more
than one office), higher in Regional firms
(63), and highest at the National firms (70).
Office Responsibility
Responsible for 5 to 10 offices
Responsible for 2 to 4 offices
13
4
34
Responsible for over 10 offices
48
Responsible for one office

• Those who manage over 10 offices are Directors
  and tend to be more highly paid.

• b. Marketing / Sales Committee (q. 15)
• 34 of respondents report having a marketing /
  sales committee at their firm.
• On average, these committees are composed of
  seven members with four
• of these members being partners.
• On average, 63 of respondents report being on
  the marketing / sales committee. Firm size does
  not tend to impact committee membership.
  Directors are somewhat more likely to be on
  their firms committee than Managers and
  Coordinators (74 vs. 65 and 63).

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III. Firm Marketing / Sales

• c. Written Marketing / Sales Plan (q. 16)
• Just over half of respondent firms have a
  written marketing / sales plan (56)
• and a written marketing / sales budget (63).
  These are most common in the Midwest
• and South. Local firms are least likely to have
  written marketing plans or budgets.

Firms with Written Marketing / Sales Plans
Budgets
Legend Blue bars represent Marketing Plan and
White bars represent Marketing Budget

• d. The Budget (q. 16a, 16b 16c)
• The majority of firms allocate 4 or less of the
  firms gross annual revenues to the
• marketing budget.
• of Gross to Budget Local Regional National
• less than 2.0 46 34 44
• 2.1 to 4.0 40 46 22
• 4.1 to 6.0 3 3 11
• 6.1 or more 3 0 0
• Dont Know 8 18 22
• Slightly less than half (44) state that
  marketing / sales salaries are included in the
• written marketing / sales budget (National 47
  Regional firms 56 Local firms 35).
• Over half (57) of respondents state they are
  involved in recommending what
• should be included in the total budget. Almost
  one-third (31) state they are involved in
• recommending what should be in part of the
  budget. The remaining 13 state
• that they are not involved in the budget.
  Respondents from Local firms are most likely

10
III. Firm Marketing / Sales
e. Marketing Sales Functions (q. 17a) The
majority of respondents are involved in
communications, strategy planning,
and technology. Fewer are involved in promotions
/ programs, and only slightly over half are
involved in business development / sales.
Sole or Shared Involvement in Sales / Marketing
Activities
Communications Strategy Planning Technology P
romotions / Programs Business Development / Sales

• Note that the level of involvement in marketing
  / sales activities does not vary
• significantly by annual compensation or title.

Communications
-Sole / Lead -Shared Involvement -No
Involvement -Not Done at Firm

• Almost all firms engage in communications
  activities and the majority of respondents are
  involved (although 16 of respondents from
  National are not involved in these activities).
• Respondents at Local firms are more apt to be
  the Sole / Lead in these activities (62 vs. 26
  for Nationals and 42 for Regionals)

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III. Firm Marketing / Sales
Strategy and Planning
-Sole / Lead -Shared Involvement -No
Involvement -Not Done at Firm

• Almost all firms engage in strategy planning
  activities and the majority
• of respondents are involved.
• Respondents from National firms are almost
  twice as likely to be the Sole / Lead
• in this area those from Local firms and
  one-third more likely than respondents from
• Regional firms.

Technology
-Sole / Lead -Shared Involvement -No
Involvement -Not Done at Firm

• Respondents at Regional and Local firms are
  more likely to be the Sole / Lead when it
• comes to technology.

12
III. Firm Marketing / Sales
Promotions / Programs
-Sole / Lead -Shared Involvement -No
Involvement -Not Done at Firm

• About one-quarter of Respondents say they are
  not involved in promotional
• activities or that it is not done at their firm.
• For the three-quarters who are involved, there
  is not a major variation by firm type.

Business Development / Sales
-Sole / Lead -Shared Involvement -No
Involvement -Not Done at Firm

• Few respondents are the Sole / Lead with respect
  to Business Development activities.
• All(100) of Respondents from National firms
  say their firms engage in these activities
• in contrast, 21 of Local Respondents and
  16 of Regional respondents say this is
• not an activity their firm engages in.

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III. Firm Marketing / Sales

• g. Supervisory Role (q. 18)
• Slightly over one-quarter of respondents report
  supervising at least one person (27
• supervise at least one sales/marketing
  professional. 29 supervise at least one
• administrative personnel).
• On average, those who report a supervisory role,
  supervise 4 sales/marketing
• professionals and 1.5 administrative
  personnel.

h. Self-Reported Titles (q. 19) Almost
two-thirds (63) of respondents report themselves
as being Directors 14 report themselves as
Managers and 17 as Supervisors. The remaining
7 report as Partners, Office Administrators,
etc.
Correlation Between Titles and Compensation
Title lt30K 30K-45K 45K-75K 75-110K 110K
Director 38 52 63 89 75 Manager 13 11 20
6 0 Coordinator 50 36 9 0
0 Partner 0 0 0 0 25 Other 0
0 8 6 0

• No Manager makes over 110K No Coordinator
  makes over 74K. Only Directors make
• over 110K. In general, Directors tend to be
  higher paid, yet there are Directors who make
• less than 30K.
• Almost half the Managers (48) are under 30
  years of age. The preponderance of
• Coordinators (70) are under 30 years of
  age, while only 19 of Directors are under
• 30 years of age.

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III. Firm Marketing / Sales
i. Use of Nonbillable Time (q. 20) Respondents
see their major role as marketing. They cite that
nonbillable time in the area of administration
should, in effect, be decreased by half to 12
of their overall time, and sales should be
doubled to 12 of their time.
Actual versus Desired Use of Time
-Selling -Marketing -Administration

• Respondents who are over 50 years of age and
  those who make over 110,000 in
• annual compensation a year spend the most time
  selling (22 and 23 respectively)
• Note the responses to this question should be
  viewed with caution as only 35 responses
• out of the total 218 respondents who answered
  the questionnaire were captured for the Is Now
  category and 99 for the Should Be category.

• j. Billable time (q. 21)
• For the 24 of respondents who report having
  billable time, on average 12 of their
• time is billable.
• Billable hours decrease with firm size with
  Local firms, Regional firms and Nationals
• averaging 18, 6 and 5 respectively.
• Men record double the billable hours of women
  (20 vs. 10 respectively).
• Overall, billable hours are highest for those
  making over 110K a year (38).

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III. Firm Marketing / Sales
k. Expenditure Authorization (q. 22) Half of
respondents (50) can authorize less than 500 -
this includes 18 who can not authorize any
spending. At the other end of the spectrum,
almost one-fifth (17) can authorize
expenditures in excess of 5,000.
Responsibility levels (e.g., Manager,
Coordinator, Director) correlate somewhat
with authorization (Coordinators are the least
likely to have any spending authority).
Compensation also has some correlation as 88
of those earning over 110,000 could authorize
expenditures in excess of 5,000 and 75 of those
earning less than 30K could authorize 500 or
less.
Levels of Authorized Expenditure
l. Decision-Maker Role (q. 23) Almost half
(45) of respondents have a joint decision-making
role within their firm, 40 view their role as
the primary decision-maker while the remaining
15 perceive their role as a support role for
marketing decisions. This varies by Title (see
chart below).
Decision-Maker Role by Title
-Primary -Joint -Support Role
Firm type does not significantly impact this
area. However, as we have seen in prior charts,
titles tend to correlate with annual compensation
and age. Therefore the correlation between
titles and decision-maker role holds true for
both age and compensation.
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IV. Experience and Compensation

• a. Work Experience (q. 26)
• One-third of respondents have less than two
  years of work experience 38 have 2 to 5
• years 20 have 5 to 10 years and 10 have over
  10 years experience.
• As one might expect, years of work experience
  correlates with age, titles and annual
• compensation.

b. Involvement at Current Firm (q. 28) Almost
two-thirds (64) of respondents have been
involved in sales or marketing at their firm
for less than 3 years, followed by almost
one-third (29) who have been involved from 3
to 8 years. Only 7 have been involved for over 8
years.
Years at Current Firm
c. Longevity of your Position (q. 29) Almost
one-half (45) are the first professional to hold
their position within their firm. Approximately
one-quarter are both the second person to hold
their position and the third or fourth. Only 9
are the fifth, sixth, etc. to hold their position.
Number of Professionals Holding Position
Previously
Two to three - 23
One - 23
Four 9
None - 45
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IV. Experience and Compensation
e. 2001 Total Annual Compensation (q. 30) Over
three-quarters (78) of respondents earned
between 30,000 and 75,000 in total annual
compensation during 2001.
Overall 2001 Annual Compensation

• Of respondents earning more than 75,000
• Almost one-third of respondents who work in the
  Midwest (30) earn more than 75,000
• while 14 of those who work in the
  South13 of those in the Northeast and 0 of
  those
• who work in the West earn more than 75,000.
• Over half of respondents (53) who work at
  National / Big 5 firms earn more than 75,000,
• while only 16 and 12 of respondents at Local
  and Regional firms respectively earn more
• than 75,000.

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IV. Experience and Compensation
On average, Directors earn more than other
respondents. Almost one quarter (23) earn over
75,000 compared to 4 for Managers and 0 for
Coordinators. In addition less than one-third
(27) earn under 45,000 compared to almost
three-quarters (74) of Coordinators.
Title versus Average Compensation
-Over 75,000 -45,000 to 75,000 -Under
45,000
In general, average compensation increases with
firm size. Respondents working at National firms
are much more likely to make over 75,000 than
those working at Local or Regional firms. Those
working at Regional firms are more likely to make
over 45,000 than those working at Local firms.
Compensation by Firm Type
-Over 75,000 -45,000 to 75,000 -Under
45,000
19
IV. Experience and Compensation
The Midwest has the highest percentage of
respondents earning over 75,000.
Compensation by Geographic Region
-Over 75,000 -45,000 to 75,000 -Under
45,000
20
IV. Experience and Compensation

• f. Base Salary vs. Commissions vs. Incentive Pay
  (q. 31)
• The average base salary accounts for 97 of
  respondents total compensation.
• For the 19 of respondents who say incentive pay
  is a component of their total compensation, it
  accounts for 11 of their total compensation. For
  the 4 of respondents who say commissions is a
  component of their total compensation, it
  accounts for 11 of their total compensation.
• Respondents who make over 75,000 receive a
  greater amount of their total
• compensation through incentive pay and
  commissions
• - On average, those making 75K to 110K
  receive 12 in incentive pay, and
• 13 commissions.
• - On average, those making over 110K receive
  12 in incentive pay, and
• 33 in commissions.

g. Percentage Raise (q. 33) Approximately
one-third (30) received a raise of 8 or greater
in 1998, while 40 received a raise of 4 to 7.
Only 12 received no raise.
Percent Raise Increase
6 - 10 raise 9
1 - 5 raise 30
11 raise 9
0 raise 52

• Higher percentage raises were given to the
  following subgroups
• National firms
• 75,000 in total annual compensation
• Respondents with post-graduate degrees

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IV. Experience and Compensation
h. Bonus as a Percent of Salary (q. 32) A
little less than half (48) of respondents
received a bonus in 2000.
Bonus as Percent of Salary
11 bonus 9
6-10 9
1-5 30
0 bonus 52

• The general profile of respondents receiving
  the largest bonus as a percent of salary (11)
  is a Director, older working at a National firm
  with a post graduate degree and
  total compensation over 75,000.

Bonus Criteria
For National firms, bonus criteria is almost
exclusively determined with established
performance objectives (89). For Local and
Regional firms, bonus criteria is more likely to
be subjective.
Bonus Criteria
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V. Satisfaction with Your Work
a. In Your Firm (q. 34) Overall, respondents
believe marketing is growing in importance (79
agree). On the whole, they believe their skills
/ contributions are recognized (75 agree) and
that their professional development is
encouraged (64 agree). However, when it comes
to peoples understanding of their job, they are
less sanguine (35 agree).
Status of Marketing/Sales Work Within Firms
Neutral Agree
Strongly Agree
Marketing is growing in importance My
skills/contributions are recognized My
professional development is encouraged P
eople understand what my job is
Note The percentage who disagree with the above
statements (not represented in the chart above)
is as follows 5 8 10 and 28 respectively.
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V. Satisfaction with Your Work
b. Firm Contribution (q. 35) The majority (61)
state that their contribution is hard to
measure, but feel that their contribution is
evident.
Firm Contribution
Noticeable bottom line impact on firm
success Hard to measure, but
feel contributions are evident Some of my
work has made a difference Not much has
been accomplished
Those who believe they make the most
noticeable difference are those with
higher compensation (63 for those making over
110K 45 for those making 75K - 110K).
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V. Satisfaction with Your Work
c. Role, Proactive vs. Reactive (q. 36) The
majority of respondents perceive their role to be
proactive (56). About one-third (31) perceive
their role as neither proactive or reactive, and
only 13 view their role as reactive.
Proactiveness of Role within Firm
Reactive Proactive

• Respondents from the Northeast say they are the
  most proactive (64), followed closely by those
  in the South and Midwest (62 each), while those
  in the West say they are the least proactive
  (33).
• Proactivity does not vary noticeably by firm
  type.
• The profile of the more proactive respondent is
  an older individual with a higher level of
  education, and income.

25
V. Satisfaction with Your Work
d. Satisfaction With Your Firm (q.
37) Respondents are most satisfied with the
colleagues they work with (65), and least
satisfied with support (only 33 satisfied).
Work Satisfaction
Neutral Satisfied Very
Satisfied

26
V. Satisfaction with Your Work
e. Overall Job Satisfaction (q. 38) Over half
of respondents are either satisfied or very
satisfied with their jobs today (57). A little
less than half believe their jobs have improved
significantly compared to one year ago (45).
Current Job Satisfaction
Not At All Satisfied (1) ------------------------
Very Satisfied (5)
Change in Job Satisfaction Over Past Year
Declined Significantly (1) ---------- Improved
Significantly (5)