What a software company in Michoacán corrected before anyone asked it to

A software company in Michoacán, with a team of 29 collaborators, corrected a situation that had worked for years and had been a liability from the start; over time, a visible one as well. It ended up with a team that earns more and a lower talent cost. The order of those two results is not accidental.

Why a reasonable formula stopped being one

The company had relieved the pressure on its talent cost the way many tech companies in Mexico do: part of it was covered through services contracted from third parties. At the time it was a reasonable decision: it relieved real pressure. But it was a problem from day one; for years, nobody simply had a reason to revisit it.

While the formula itself was already a problem, the real problem was its trail. Behind those services there was little to show: no specific contracts, no deliverables, none of the documentation the rules now treat as part of a finished service. And today the authority cross-references information automatically — tax receipts, IMSS records, declared income — without asking for anything. An operation like that is visible without an audit, and a review can reach back five fiscal years.

If your company relieved its cost pressure in a similar way, this will sound familiar: every month under that formula wasn’t a month of savings. It was one more month of contingent liability.

What Umbral corrected

Umbral took it upon itself to correct the situation where it originates: talent management. It started with a diagnostic of the operation and continued with what proper talent management involves: real services, clear contracts, verifiable deliverables and the documentation the rules call for. Within a few weeks the company was operating with real services and their documentation in order.

For the team, no extra paperwork. Their questions were answered in a live session before launch, and day-to-day operations have run without friction since.

Proper talent management: real services, clear contracts and documentation in order. That was the correction; everything else was a consequence.

What changed for the company and for its team

Risk first. The liability that could keep growing every month stopped growing from day one. What accumulated before doesn’t vanish by decree, but today’s operation leaves a different trail: that of a company that contracts real services and documents them. Risk mitigated, at the root.

Then cost. The company’s talent cost came down significantly. It wasn’t the reason for the correction; it was its consequence.

And the team: higher net income from the first month. Nobody had to choose between looking after their people and putting their operation in order.

What your company can do today

Check which contract backs each service you contract, which deliverables you can show, and which documentation you would have at hand if the authority asked tomorrow. If the answer takes a while, you already know what the authority would see.

That formula relieved real pressure at the time, and it was still a problem. What has changed are the risks — that’s why Umbral exists.

The question isn’t whether the current formula carries risk. The question is how much longer it makes sense to keep it.

Frequently asked questions