Staff Cost Mapping

This article explains how Staff variables are mapped in Model Reef.

You will learn:

• How Staff costs appear in the P&L.

• How staff related timing differences affect payables and cashflow.

• How to structure Staff categories for analysis by team, function or branch.

Staff mapping is a special case of Opex mapping with payroll-aware behaviour.

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1. Staff variables in the P&L

Staff variables are a distinct type separate from general Opex.

In the P&L:

• Staff costs are shown in their own section below Gross Profit and alongside Opex.

• Staff costs reduce EBITDA.

• Categories such as Staff - Engineering, Staff - Sales, Staff - Operations can be used to split costs by team or function.

This separation makes labour intensity and team-level investment easy to see.

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2. Staff costs in the Balance Sheet

Staff variables affect the Balance Sheet via Accounts Payable.

Rules:

• Staff costs (including salaries, pension or super and payroll tax) are accrued when employees earn them.

• If pay dates fall after accrual dates, the difference creates a short-term payable.

• Super or pension and payroll tax obligations are treated similarly.

Model Reef aggregates these into Accounts Payable, with category detail available when you drill down.

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3. Staff costs in the Cashflow Statement

In the Cashflow Statement:

• Staff costs contribute to Payments to suppliers within Operating cashflows, together with other Opex and COGS.

• The timing of cash outflows follows pay cycles and obligations as specified in variable timing settings.

• Changing staff payment lags or payroll frequency changes operating cashflow without affecting P&L accruals.

This helps you see the cash impact of headcount decisions and pay structures.

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4. Designing Staff categories

Good practice for Staff categories:

• Match your organisation structure, for example:

  • Engineering or product

  • Sales and marketing

  • Operations and support

  • Administration and leadership

• Keep category names consistent across branches and scenarios

• Use separate Staff variables for materially different roles or pay structures when needed

This enables detailed headcount and cost analysis without cluttering the model.

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5. Staff mapping and capacity modelling

Staff mapping is often combined with capacity-style modelling, for example:

• Headcount per branch, store, clinic or project.

• Capacity hours per FTE and utilisation rates.

• Revenue or project delivery constrained by Staff capacity.

In these cases, Staff mapping in the P&L is the accounting layer for the economic decisions made in the drivers and operations sections of the model.

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Related articles

• SKU Manufacturing Cost Model

• Build a Staffing Cost Model

• Current Assets

• Auto-Validation Rules