WHY FRAMING CONTRACTORS RUN OUT OF CASH.
Framing contractors run out of cash because thin margins meet labor-driven production. The bid assumes a square-feet or linear-feet framed per day rate, and a slow floor erases the fee. Studs and sheathing are bought ahead while the GC pays Net 30 to 45, and field layout changes get framed without change orders. The work is profitable while the cash is gone.
Framing is labor on a stopwatch with a slim margin, so the production rate is the whole business. The bid is built on square or linear feet framed per crew per day, and falling behind that rate, from a short crew, a stacked schedule, or a tough layout, comes straight out of a thin fee. Studs, track, and sheathing are bought ahead of installation while the GC pays Net 30 to 45, so you finance the material. And revised layouts and added walls get framed in the field every week without a change order behind them. The income statement never shows the slippage or the give-away work. CFOS tracks the production and captures the changes.
WHY FRAMING WORK EATS CASH.
Framing is a labor-dominant trade with a thin margin and a fast schedule, and that combination is exactly where the cash goes. Production is everything: the bid is built on a square-feet or linear-feet framed per day rate, and because the fee is slim, a modest drop in that rate does real damage to the job.
The other two leaks are material timing and uncaptured changes. Studs, track, and sheathing are bought ahead of the work while the GC pays Net 30 to 45, so you finance the buyout. And framing is where design revisions land first: walls move, layouts change, scope gets added in the field, and crews build it without a change order. So a framing sub stays busy, frames a lot of wall, and still runs tight, because production slippage and give-away changes never appear on the income statement until the job closes.
THE MECHANISMS NO ONE PRICES IN.
A slow floor at a thin margin erases the fee.
Bids assume a square or linear feet framed per day rate. A short crew, a stacked schedule, or a complex layout drops that rate, and at framing margins the overrun comes out of the fee. The income statement only shows it after closeout, so the slow rate rides into the next bid.
You finance studs the GC pays for in 45 days.
Studs, track, and sheathing are purchased ahead of installation on supplier terms while the GC pays Net 30 to 45 on the monthly pay app. On a large framing package that buyout is financed out of your cash or line of credit, and it never appears as a job cost on the income statement.
You build the revisions and give them away.
Framing is where design changes land first. Walls move, layouts get revised, scope is added in the field, and crews frame it without a change order. That uncaptured work is real labor and material you performed and never billed, and it disappears into the blended job number.
THE WRONG DIAGNOSIS COSTS YOU YEARS.
Wrong answer 1: labor costs too much. Labor is the trade, the problem is you cannot see which crews and which work actually hit the production rate, so you cannot manage it.
Wrong answer 2: framing is just thin. It is thin, which is the reason to track production daily and capture every change, not the reason to accept the loss.
Wrong answer 3: the GC keeps changing the drawings. They will, which is exactly why a change-order routine matters. The drawings changing is not the problem, framing it for free is.
The real answer: there is no production tracking against the bid and no change-order discipline. A thin-margin trade that gives away changes runs out of cash no matter how busy it is. CFOS fixes both.
SAME BUSINESS. BETTER SYSTEM.
CFOS is the Construction Financial Operating System. For framing contractors it installs as a set of specific deliverables, not advice:
FLAT MONTHLY FEE. NO SURPRISES.
Two tiers based on trailing 12-month revenue. No hourly billing. No payroll. No add-ons. Everything included in the flat monthly fee.
| Revenue | Core Financial | Executive Financial |
|---|---|---|
| Under $1M | $1,900/mo | $2,900/mo |
| $1M–$3M | $2,600/mo | $3,600/mo |
| $4M–$6M | $3,800/mo | $5,500/mo |
| $7M–$9M | $5,100/mo | $6,900/mo |
| $10M–$12M | $6,100/mo | $8,500/mo |
| $13M+ | Quoted | Quoted |
FREQUENTLY ASKED.
