education and tech stipends? why not?
by jody grunden
in addition to the more traditional benefits, we also offer a few creative perks that i think our employees really appreciate, including an education stipend and a technology stipend.
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education stipend
we believe that continuing education keeps our team members sharp and ahead of the game. one of our core values is “curiosity” because we want our employees to always be thinking about how we can improve our services, become more efficient and do things better. we want people to think outside the box because we’re not a typical accounting firm, nor do we ever want to be one.
we encourage everyone to get “out of the office” from time to time to attend workshops and conferences that will help them learn and network. these types of outings, even if they are done virtually, also give people a break from the day-to-day meetings and tasks that can sometimes bog them down.
because we value growth and learning, and we want to make it easy for our team members to take advantage of valuable educational opportunities throughout the year, we give each employee an education stipend of $125 per month. these funds are added monthly to a pex card, which is a corporate prepaid debit card. employees manage their own pex card and can decide for themselves how they want to use those funds toward continuing education – i.e., books, online courses, conferences, etc.
here’s what a few summit cpa employees had to say about their education stipend:
- “i am taking a college credit accounting course so that i can be eligible to sit for the cpa, and i’m using my edu stipend for it!” – alyssa colf, accountant
- “i recently used it to purchase courses on an online learning platform for exchange online and active directory.” – deb shimel, it manager
- “i used my education stipend to attend a local marketing conference. it was great to be able to select the conference i wanted to attend and then to go and learn from experts in the field!” – kelly schuknecht, marketing manager
- “i have used my stipend for unlimited cpe online (both on-demand and webinars are available).” – patrick smith, onboarding consultant
- “the whole audit team attended the aicpa conference on employee benefit plan auditing in new orleans the first week in may.” – kim moore, director of audit
tech stipend
in addition to the education stipend, we give each employee a tech stipend of $200 per month, also in the form of a pex card. the tech stipend enables employees to purchase whatever they need for their home office – computer, headset, ergonomic chair, ink cartridges, etc.
just like with the education stipend, employees can decide for themselves how they want to use these funds. they manage their own budget, submit their receipts for accounting purposes and can log into their pex card account at any time to see the balance in their account. the tech stipend enables our employees to keep up with the latest and greatest in technology to support them in the work they’re doing.
some of the ways our staff use their technology stipends include:
- computers and accessories
- cell phone (device and/or service bill)
- software and/or apps
- internet service
- printer, paper, ink, etc.
we’ve found these creative solutions to be great for our team. they are a valuable resource for employees and provide them with autonomy – they don’t have to ask for the things they need in order to do their jobs; they can make their own decisions about what’s right for them. offering these benefits in the form of a pex card also reduces the amount of administrative work that is needed to manage it all.
in addition to these stipends, we have a few other special perks or ways of showing team members our appreciation:
- gifts: when you work remotely, receiving a gift in the mail can really brighten your day. we send gifts to all of our employees on their birthdays and work anniversaries. we also send out gifts for holidays.
- recognition: we have a special channel in slack where any one of us can give public kudos to other team members. here’s an example of one that was recently shared:
we always try to remember that people feel appreciated by different things. whether it be money, gifts, kind words or titles, small things can have a huge impact on employee satisfaction and help make our company a great place to work.