Determining a fair salary is painless when you use management consulting salary tools. When you hire a management consultant, determining a fair salary depends on hours worked, background experience and regional salaries.

Simply follow management consulting salary guidelines offered by consultants, programs and charts to determine the salary for your management consultant. To do this in an optimal manner you might want to consider whether you are:

1. Using management consulting salary tools that suit your unique business requirements;

2. Keeping current with changes in management consulting salaries.

3. And adjusting the pay scale to meet management consultant salaries appropriate to your area.

Action Steps
The best contacts and resources to help you get it done

Find management consultant salary information online with tools and charts

Since salaries for management consultants vary by region and experience, use an online tool to determine the going rate in your area. These tools are simple to fill out and give you immediate feedback.

I recommend: CBsalary.com offers charts displaying the United States national salary average for management consultants. It also offers a salary calculator, so employers easily determine pay rates for their area. PayScale offers a chart showing the median salary for management consultants based on their years of experience. It offers charts for ranges from under a year of experience to over 20 years with choices of one to four years, five to nine years and 10 to 20 years.

Keep up with changes in the industry through management consultant salary tracking tools

When working with management consulting salary tools, use ones that receive regular updates in regards to changes in the industry and the economy. You don't want to underpay a good consultant and risk losing their expertise, nor do you want your business taken advantage of.

I recommend: Concur Technologies provides information to business owners that determines changes in pay. It holds regular webinars for employers, so they learn to optimize business money management and pay and expense rates. Koker Goodwin & Associates offers the Compease software system, which helps determine salaries for management consulting and other positions. It also provides consulting, support and webinars to keep employers current with changes in compensation management.

Find a consultant specializing in solutions for consulting salaries

A consultant with a focus on compensation most likely knows the ins and outs of management consulting salary guidelines. He or she can offer insight on solutions company-wide.

I recommend: Salary.com offers employees direction on compensation solutions for management salaries and other financial decisions. It collects data and determines rate and timeliness of managerial compensation. Corporate Compensation Partners dedicates itself for assisting employers in determining compensation for management consulting. It tutors employers in the implementation software and tools, so they work effectively and yield optimal results.

Tips & Tactics

Helpful advice for making the most of this Guide

• •  Learn to use tools for salaries in management consulting by getting one-on-one training from product suppliers. Determine what your options are for product upgrades, so you keep current in the industry.

Setting management consultant salaries requires a highly individualized approach, both for the employer and the prospective employee. Management consultants are often hired on a temporary, per-project basis — to help guide the company through a transition or resolve problems, for example. For this reason, the salaries vary widely, based on how many hours the consultant devotes to the project, or the scope of duties assigned to them.

Salaries for management consultants will depend on:

1. The average salaries in management consulting in your geographic region.
2. The candidate's education, skills and level of experience.
3. The size and budget of your company.
4. The cost of living in your state or city.
5. The level of responsibility assigned to the employee.
6. Whether you're paying management consulting salaries to permanent or temporary hires.
   

Action Steps
The best contacts and resources to help you get it done

Compare management consulting salaries by geographic region

As with any job, consulting salaries depend heavily on the cost of living in a specific city or state. Start by researching the average management consultant salary in your area, so you can meet or exceed the compensation offered by your competition. Online management consulting salary tools can compute salary based on city or state, and tell you how salaries translate from region to region based on the varying costs of living.

I recommend: Research typical consulting salaries at Vault, use the Salary Calculator at Payscale.com, or consult the Small Business section at Salary.com for custom salary reports.

Find management consultant salary information at online job boards

Online job boards, particularly those specific to the management field, may provide the most up-to-date management consultant salary information. Many job websites offer salary ranges and scales, but job postings tell you the average salary paid by companies of a certain size or in a certain location, giving you a better idea of what your company should pay.

I recommend: SimplyHired, ExecuNet and Vault all include management consulting sections.

Use salary software to determine appropriate management consulting compensation

Management consulting salary guidelines should take into consideration more than just the employee's skills or experience. Several complex, and sometimes conflicting, factors play equally important roles, and salary software can help you better consider and manage all of these aspects, such as your budget or employee performance.

I recommend: Manage your compensation and incentive programs with eCompensation from Halogen Software. SalaryExpert offers basic salary assessment software, as well as specialized versions for nonprofits and executives.

Learn how to negotiate a consulting salary that's ideal for you and your employees

Your best strategy for determining a fair management consulting salary may simply be to discuss it with the prospective employee. They'll likely have come to the interview prepared to negotiate for the compensation and benefits they want, so why not join them at the bargaining table? Then you'll know you both had input into the decision.

I recommend: Follow the salary negotiation tips at PayScale and at The New Salary Negotiation Guide from Salary.com.

Tips & Tactics

Helpful advice for making the most of this Guide

• •  When determining management consulting compensation, don't just think about salary -- also consider what kind of benefits or incentives you want to offer. Many professionals value perks like regular raises or flex time just as much as they do salary.

Knowing management consulting salary tools basics helps an employer determine the appropriate pay scale for a given region. When a management consultant spends time analyzing and trouble-shooting business practices, there is a wide variation of pay based on locale and the experience of each particular management consultant.

Determine management consulting salaries easily and fairly by using tools and resources designed specifically for this task. In order to determine the proper pay for services rendered, it's important to learn some salary tools basics. To do this, you might want to ask some pertinent questions:

1. Do you know management consulting salary guidelines to ensure adequate compensations?

2. What are the consulting salaries in your particular area?

3. Which management consulting salary tools best suit your individualized business needs?

Action Steps
The best contacts and resources to help you get it done

Check out some charts detailing management consulting salaries from surveys and studies

Analyze management consultant salaries to determine fair prices. Every region of the country has a unique pay scale. Study the charts to ensure that you do not underpay a management consultant. This can also ensure that your consult doesn't take advantage of your business.

I recommend: Vault.com offers charts explaining management consultant salaries spanning several years. The charts factor in degrees, years of experience, projected salaries and location. Simply Hired offers charts detailing the average salaries for management consulting. Its charts reflect a summary of the job listing information the site receives.

Determine a management consultant salary based on software data

Some companies offer computer programs that update and analyze data to make sure businesses get current information on pay rate statistics.

I recommend: Salary.com offers solutions to employers with products such as its CompAnalyst Suite compensation software. The program analyzes pay competitiveness and automates the pricing in the market. Bauschke & Associates offers employers Queue, a compensation management program that allows business owners to determine compensation for employees. It offers salary tables to help employers find appropriate salaries within a region.

Utilize online calculators to determine management consulting salary rates for a given area

Some online calculators offer quick results for a particular region in regards to pay scales in the management consulting field. Plug in a position and location and find the results in your area with the click of a button.

I recommend: Mployd.com offers an online salary calculator for project management consultants. It gives a job overview and offers a fill-in box, so researchers easily determine job rates in a particular region. CBsalary.com offers an online tool for calculating salary. It not only provides national averages but also local regional results.

Tips & Tactics

Helpful advice for making the most of this Guide

• •  Garner management consultant salary information from other businesses in the industry similar to yours and use programs that keep the information on pay scales in your region current.

With management consulting salary tools, key terms can help you determine whether or not you need to use a specific tool. Key terms can cover things like the cost of living, competitive analysis and average salary. By understanding how these key terms relate to the management consulting industry, you'll be able to determine the salary you should offer entry-level employees, the rate of increase for salaries and factors such as bonus targeting.

Action Steps
The best contacts and resources to help you get it done

Cost of living

The amount of money it takes to live in a specific geographic area is the cost of living. It affects business management consultants salaries, because employees expect higher salaries in cities where it costs more to live. Knowing the cost of living in your city or geographic area can help you determine the appropriate starting salary for your consultants.

I recommend: PayScale offers a chart listing the salaries for business management consultants by geographic area. The cities with higher salaries indicate a higher cost of living.

Performance-based management consulting salary

Performance-based management consulting salary tools help you reward the employees who perform the best. Whether you want to determine how this type of system can help you or you want to examine the features of the system, a tool specializing in this factor can help.

I recommend: Salary.com provides an overview of performance-based management consulting salary systems.

Average management consultant salary

When you look for management consultant salary tools, you'll want to find one that allows you to compare your salary to the average. This can help you determine your starting salary, as well as the rate of increase for consultants who remain with your business.

I recommend: SalaryList.com provides a tool that tells the average management consultant salary. It includes locations with the averages, so you can take into account geographic region.

Business management consulting competitive analysis

A competitive analysis is a way for you to compare your salary to the ones offered by your competitors. Knowing how much your competitors pay their consultants helps you to be able to offer a competitive wage. You can also use the information to ensure that a consultant doesn't pick your competitor over a few thousand dollars' difference.

I recommend: Glassdoor.com allows you to compare your business to competitors in the field. You can get a basic competitive analysis for free or sign up with the company to get a custom report.

Bonus targets

Some business management consulting firms like to use bonuses as part of their salary. The bonus rewards top performers, and the company only pays out the bonus if employees meet bonus targets.

I recommend: Laserbeam Software.com features a program that can help business management consulting firms establish bonus targets.

Compensation firm

A compensation firm works with your business to determine an appropriate salary plan for your business management consultants. When you outsource the work to a firm, it takes over the job of compiling information from salary tools to help you best determine salary.

I recommend: Pearl Meyer and Partners provides executive level salary consulting for a wide variety of businesses, including business consulting.