Imagine trying to put together a jigsaw puzzle without having all the pieces. That’s what legal compliance feels like for many Colorado business owners, and state laws can have obscure elements that are often layered and complex.

“Most small businesses have a hard time dealing with any kind of legal complexity. Their owners aren’t typically accountants or lawyers and they think they’re keeping track of what’s going on at the statehouse,” says Rick Whipple, CPA, CEO of WhippleWood CPAs, a Littleton-based accounting and consulting firm. “But new legislation comes out all the time. It’s easy to not be informed.”

In the article, “The Compliance Puzzle: What Colorado’s Small Businesses Need to Know,” featured in the fall 2025 issue of NewsAccount, author Steve Grimes, CPA, explores the nuances of one controversial and complex law, Colorado’s Pay Transparency Law, formally known as the Transparency in Pay and Opportunities for Promotion and Advancement Act. 

Among the law’s many requirements is that businesses post all available jobs internally, even if the intention is to hire from within, and the postings must include a pay range and list of benefits. 

This requirement also applies to promotions, so before an existing employee can be promoted into a new position, the law requires that the position be advertised to all current employees with a salary range included. 

“This can create some complex discrimination issues and internal conflicts,” Whipple says. “People don’t necessarily want their coworkers knowing how much their salary is.” As well, some employees may be upset when they find out a position that’s similar to theirs has a higher pay scale.

Best Practices

Cyndi Stewart, Ph.D., owner of Transforming Elements Group, a Denver-area human resources (HR) consulting firm, recommends creating progressive job titles to help more accurately reflect pay ranges in postings and respond to employee wage fairness concerns. 

These titles’ descriptions must include clearly defined skills and qualifications for each position, providing employees with an explanation for pay ranges and clear goals to which they can aspire.

This scenario demonstrates how the pay transparency law and others like it can introduce costly, unintended consequences for businesses. Small businesses in particular often lack the resources necessary to craft new detailed organizational charts and job descriptions, whether that is time for internal HR staff to do it or the funds to pay consultants to complete the work. 

An Opportunity for CPA Firms

Amidst Colorado’s nearly 200,000 state regulations, Whipple notes that it takes time and effort for business leaders to successfully navigate this complex environment. Hiring consultants — lawyers, accountants, and outsourced HR experts — is one answer for some small businesses, and this landscape offers a clear opportunity for accounting firms. 

“Adding HR consulting to an accounting firm is a natural fit,” he says. “Especially if you have a firm that serves small- and medium-sized businesses, clients go to you for a variety of business issues — tax, legal, HR, marketing,” he says. 

While a CPA must take care not to practice in an area in which he or she is not an expert, having those experts on staff is a way for firms to better serve clients and boosts profitability.

For a deeper dive into other compliance considerations related to Colorado’s Pay Transparency Act, check out author Grimes’ full article in the fall 2025 issue of NewsAccount.  

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