A loss on the accounts is not the number that should worry you. Plenty of decent contractors have posted one after a bad job, a legacy contract or a write-down they chose to take early rather than late. The numbers that matter sit underneath it: cash at bank against monthly burn, the direction of net current assets, whether the auditors qualified anything, and how much of the order book is contracted rather than "preferred bidder".

1 vote came in before the poll closed. The room split like this: 100% would go if the scheme is live and the pipeline is secured, 0% wanted a signing bonus or a step up in title first, 0% said no, one bad set of accounts is one too many, 0% said it depends entirely on who the MD is.

Here is what I do before I put anyone forward to a business carrying a loss. Three checks, all free, all before the first interview.

1. Companies House, the last two years, not one. One loss is a story. Two losses with shrinking cash is a pattern. Look at creditors falling due within one year against current assets. If that gap has widened, ask about it in the interview and watch how quickly the answer comes.

2. Who is paying them. A loss-making contractor on Hinkley, Sizewell or a public framework has a very different risk profile to one whose turnover sits on a private developer's cash flow. The client list is the real balance sheet.

3. Why the role exists. A growth hire on a live scheme, or a replacement for someone who left in a hurry? Ask directly. If the answer takes more than a sentence, that is your answer.

On the premium. If you need a signing bonus to say yes, you have already told yourself it is a risk. Take the money if it is offered, but do not let it settle the question for you.

On the MD. I understand the instinct, and the right person at the top can carry a business through a bad year. But you are joining a balance sheet as well as a person, and MDs move. Ask who the finance director is too, and how long they have been there.

So, my answer. Go, if the scheme is live, the client pays on time, and the last two sets of accounts tell one story rather than two. Walk if nobody can tell you plainly why the seat is empty.

The replies are underneath. The poll is closed but the thread is not, so if your experience says otherwise, say so.