The Benefits of Greater Gainesville’s Best Places to Work
By Ryan Walsh
This article is the April installment of a monthly column that explores what it means to be one of The Best Places to Work.
Compensation is so much more than just a paycheck.
In today’s competitive job market, companies looking to stand out to potential employees can usually do so by offering strong benefits packages. Typical perks like health, dental and vision insurance plans are common, along with federal holidays and some paid time off.
Larger companies often have the means to offer these comprehensive plans, attracting workers over their competition. However, these larger companies may not be able to tailor benefits to individuals or make changes in response to feedback. They lack the flexibility and agility on which smaller companies can capitalize. Benefits like floating holidays, paternity leave and pet insurance are a few of what modern, growing companies offer their employees.
At CPAmerica, President and CEO Grace Horvath has managed to find the best of both worlds.
“Compared to some of Gainesville’s largest employers, we realized we needed to create a package that has a lot of value to it,” Horvath said. “We have very quality healthcare plans that provide everyone with many options, and [CPAmerica] is able to take care of much of that cost.”
Horvath has been with CPAmerica for 12 years, working her way up from a director level to the CEO position. As a company of only 17 employees, CPAmerica is a close-knit work environment. Her experience working for other businesses helped shape her outlook on benefits, teaching her which perks employees cared for and which were less important.
“We tried to find other ways [to be competitive] when thinking about the modern workplace,” Horvath said.
This led to benefits like cell phone and home Wi-Fi reimbursements for her employees. As a hybrid workplace, Horvath felt that it was fair to offer these perks while employees did their work from home.
In addition to workplace flexibility, Horvath wants her employees to enjoy adequate quality-time away from work.
“We have a very generous time off policy,” Horvath said. “We want to make sure our people are rested and can prioritize family and other things that are important to them.”
Part of the modern workplace that Horvath describes features a focus on community and giving back. Along with work-from-home days and paid time off, CPAmerica offers a quarterly paid volunteer half-day for use at the nonprofit, charity or cause of the employee’s choice.
“Whether that’s at their kids’ school or with a local organization that they support, we do want to make sure our employees have time to be part of the community and contribute in any way that’s important to them,” Horvath said.
Being designated one of GG’s Best Places to Work comes, in large part, from a high level of employee satisfaction. During the recent tumult of the Great Resignation, CPAmerica underwent a rigorous and extensive exercise to evaluate itself. This included a survey on what their staff wanted from their benefits and a research mission to learn what similar companies were doing for their employees.
“We were able to create a very transparent environment where communication was very open,” Horvath said.
Being a Best Place to Work is an honor for Horvath and CPAmerica. Horvath credits her employees.
“My team of people is incredible,” she said.
At CPAmerica, great people are just another benefit to the job.
