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Patricia,
I would love to say there was some magic number or formula you can use however I can say this, plan the duties based on a 40 hour work week. Yes it may take longer but when you really look at the job descriptions and the way you section up each of the duties don't depend on "it getting done with a little extra time". I see so many departments behind and lagging or struggling with this. Josh is right in that we are OH however without quality data coming out of the department sound financial decisions cannot be made. A little extra spent to do the job right means better data, means better timely decisions which means a stronger company from a financial stance.
Now as far as the number of people look at these three things; 1.) The complexity and frequency of your payroll and HR needs is probably a beast in itself, view this as a department. 2.) How do you get to that $140m,,,,one contract, ten, thousands? AR is worthless paper if no one follows up and watches cost and collects the dollars. Could one write off that went unbilled or uncollected have paid for a person. 3.) How fast does the industry change and how quickly do your managers need the data to keep up with the changes?
In short do some analysis and good luck.

Hi Pat,
Dan Conway here. It's been a while and I hope your are doing well. I don't think there is one standard answer but I did have an exchange recently with a CFO who did something pretty unique that I think might steer you in the right direction. He trended head count by department and then overlayed that with key financial metrics quarter by quarter and YOY. He also overlayed this with various continuous improvement and technology initiatives. This puts him in a position to detect where he may have a problem that could be solved with some initiative (for example G&A headcount and expense rising equally or at a greater rate then revenue). It also gives him the ability to better justify and measure the cost of an initiative.
Best,
Dan Conway
Viewpoint

That is really dependent on many factors that are unique to each company. However, owners and upper mgmt. always see accounting as an unnecessary item in this industry, as they are just OH costs. So it is always a fight to have enough people. good luck