SG&A Benchmarking SG&A Benchmarking
Example How it works Pricing Get a quote →

See how your corporate headcount compares to peers.

Benchmark any company vs. the named peers you actually care about, down to the function and sub-function level. Built outside-in, reconciled to your data, within days. Starting at less than $10,000 USD.

9 functions, 40+ sub-functions
days, not months
no survey required
Start your benchmark
Which company do you want to benchmark?
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We size every company from public data and suggest peers on the next step. No login required.
Rather talk it through first? Book a 15-minute call →
The problem

Benchmarking is out-dated, expensive, and a black box.

Outdated
Not real-time
Based on surveys and interviews from years ago. The world is changing too fast to keep up.
Expensive
$250K+ per study
A consulting engagement with a SOW and a kickoff deck, not something you run on a hunch.
Self-reported
Shallow and opt-in
A top-line percentage from a cohort that agreed to be measured. Never your real competitor.
A black box
No audit trail
You never see the companies or names behind the numbers. Opacity is presented as confidentiality.
The old way
$250K+
Months of work. Cohort must opt in.
This benchmark
Days, priced per company
Outside-in, any company, and fully auditable. Every figure traces to a named, public role.
Pricing

Estimate your benchmark.

Priced per company plus a per-FTE component, with two optional add-ons. Adjust the inputs to see a live estimate.

Total employees at a typical company in the cohort. Pricing scales with size.
Optional add-ons+
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Estimated quote
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Start a benchmark →
Indicative estimate. We confirm final scope and price by email and a short call before any work begins.
Who it's for

Built for everyone who has to put a number on someone else's org.

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Worked example
modeled from public data

Where each company sits in Foodservice Distribution.

Five named peers in Food Distribution business benchmarked outside-in. The story and positions change depending on the denominator you use. Judgement matters.

Also available Additional benchmarking findings, on request
Split by country
United States 46% EMEA 25% APAC 17% LATAM 12%
Current employee tenure
<2y
2–5y
5–10y
10y+
Count by level
SVP
VP
Director
Manager
IC
Illustrative. These cuts are available as add-on findings for any company in your cohort.
How it works

Five steps from public footprints to a defensible number.

Every estimate is reconstructed, cross-verified, and grossed up, then benchmarked against the cohort you choose.

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How we build one number, Finance
proof of method
Every figure is built the same way: start from what social profiles show, recover what they miss, and only then commit to a modeled number.
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modeled from public data About 86% of the estimate is classified directly from social profiles (1,157 of 1,344), then grossed up 1.16x for the roles social profiles do not show.
Optional add-on Tie-out to your data: we optionally reconcile the benchmark against your own numbers to raise confidence in the result.
How it compares

How our offer compares to the alternatives

We do one thing: an outside-in SG&A benchmark, priced per company. Here is how it sits against the other ways teams answer this question. These are alternative approaches, not options to choose here.

Our offer
The outside-in SG&A benchmark
Any company, no opt-in. Nine SG&A functions, cross-verified from public data, with a read-out led by a former McKinsey partner.
Starting at
< $10,000 USD
for a 4-company cohort, delivered in days
Get a quote →
The alternatives, by cost
DIY data tools
License fees + your hours
relative cost
›Raw social-profile + verified-email pulls
›Unclassified, headcount only
Benchmark subscription
$30K+ / year
relative cost
›Weeks, only if you are in the dataset
›Process and cost pools, member-submitted
Consultant study
$250K+ per study
relative cost
›Months of fieldwork
›Cohort must opt in, self-reported
Named alternatives are illustrative of each category, not direct quotes.
What you receive

A living benchmark you can analyze and defend, line by line.

A private, interactive benchmarking microsite for your cohort, not a static spreadsheet. Drill into any function to see exactly how every number was built.

✓
Drillable peer comparison across your cohort
✓
Every company benchmarked side by side, function by function
✓
Trust scores and a full source mix on every figure
✓
Complete methodology, plus a live read-out call
✓
A downloadable workbook as a companion export
See the taxonomy: what's in each bucket ›
sysco.sgabenchmarking.com
Sysco · G&A FTE by function · tap to expand
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Sub-functions · illustrative
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Every figure ships with its source mix and a trust score
Social profiles Verified emails Web-verified
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modeled from public data · FY2025
Kyle Hawke
Kyle Hawke
Former Partner, McKinsey & Company
Corporate Business Functions practice
Talk to Kyle ›
Who delivers it

The benchmark comes with the judgment to use it.

Every engagement is run and read out personally by a former McKinsey partner. You get the number, and the insight that goes with it, from someone who has sat on the other side of the boardroom.

A live read-out call
How to interpret the gap, how to present it to your board or deal team, and what to do about it.
Beyond the benchmark
Hands-on help to act on what it surfaces, from target-setting to operating-model and cost work.
Questions & answers

FAQs

What exactly do I get, and how fast?+
A private, interactive benchmarking microsite for your cohort, a downloadable workbook, and a live read-out call led by a former McKinsey partner. Most cohorts deliver within days.
How accurate is an outside-in estimate?+
We rebuild each function from named, public roles, cross-verify against verified emails, and gross up for the people social profiles do not show. Every figure carries a trust score and a confidence band. Typically about 86% of the estimate is classified directly from public roles, then grossed up around 1.16x for what social profiles miss. The result is a directional headcount you can act on and defend, not a precise internal census. When you need precision, we tie out to your own numbers as an add-on.
Is it legal and privacy-compliant?+
We use only public professional data: social-profile footprints, verified-email records, and SEC filings. No private records, no sensitive personal data, nothing scraped from behind a login. The deliverable is aggregate, function-level headcount, not a contact list or a file on any individual.
How is this different from a consultant or a subscription?+
A consulting study runs $250K and takes months. A benchmark subscription only covers companies already in its dataset. We deliver in days, priced per company, and we can benchmark any organization, including competitors who never agreed to participate. And we resolve to the function and sub-function level, not one top-line percentage.
What does it cost, and what if a run fails?+
Pricing scales with the number of companies and their size, quoted up front before any work begins. Most cohorts land in the low five figures. If a run fails to deliver a usable benchmark, there is no charge.
How do we pay, and do you need a PO?+
You can put the project on a corporate card or P-Card, so there is no purchase order to raise and no supplier onboarding to clear. If you would rather pay on invoice, we can do that too.
Do you sign an NDA?+
Yes. We are happy to sign your company's standard NDA before we begin.
Heading into budget season, will this defend a headcount ask, or a cut, to my board?+
Yes. You get an outside-in, function-level comparison against peers you choose, with a trust score on every figure, so you walk into the budget conversation with evidence instead of a gut feel.
Our SG&A ratio looks high versus peers. Is that structural or one function?+
That is exactly what the function-level view answers. We show whether the gap sits in one or two functions or across the board, and how it looks per dollar of gross margin, not just revenue.
Can you benchmark just my function, down to the sub-function level?+
Yes. We can scope a single function and break it into its sub-functions across the cohort, so you see where your team sits role by role, not just in total.
Can you show span of control and management layers, not just headcount?+
Where public data supports it, we show seniority mix and approximate layers alongside headcount, so you can compare structure as well as size.
Can you turn a target and its comps around inside a diligence window?+
Yes. A standard cohort delivers in days, which fits inside most diligence timelines, with the read-out call included.
Can you quantify SG&A right-sizing or synergy for the deal model?+
Yes. We size the target and its comps on the same basis, so you can model right-sizing and overlap function by function rather than off a single top-line percentage.
Can you benchmark a private target that is not in any subscription dataset?+
Yes. We build from public footprints, so a target that is private or absent from subscription datasets is still fully in scope.
Can I benchmark a competitor that never agreed to participate?+
Yes. We reconstruct the benchmark entirely from public data, so a competitor never has to opt in, or even know.
How granular is the read. Can I see which function a rival runs leaner?+
Down to the sub-function. You can see whether a rival runs leaner in Finance, IT, or Commercial, and by how much.
How current is the data, and can you re-run it as their org changes?+
Each run is a point-in-time read of public data, dated so you know its vintage. We can re-run it on a schedule to track how an org shifts over time.
Can I white-label this inside my own client engagement?+
Yes. Deliverables are licensed for your internal and client work, and we can produce them to slot into your own engagement.
Can you build one consistent taxonomy across an entire sector?+
Yes. The same nine-function taxonomy applies consistently across every company in a sector, so a whole peer set is comparable on one basis.
Can I use these as cost-structure comps in a CIM or fairness opinion?+
Yes. The function-level cost structure is built to serve as defensible comps in a CIM, management presentation, or fairness analysis.
Will the numbers hold up to the other side’s scrutiny?+
Every figure traces to named public roles and ships with a source mix and trust score, so it stands up when the other side pushes back.
Get started

See where you really stand, in days.

Name the companies you want to benchmark. We size them from public data, suggest peers, and come back with a fixed quote and a short scoping call before any work begins.

Start a benchmark →
Estimate the cost first › Book a call ›
No login. No charge if a run fails to deliver.
SG&A Benchmarking SG&A Benchmarking
Outside-in SG&A benchmarking from public data. Function-level headcount comparisons in days, not months.
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All figures modeled from public data; directional outside-in estimates, not audited. No charge if a run fails to deliver.