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TL;DR: SPM provides fractional CFO services for framing contractors doing $1M-$12M in commercial new construction. Job costing by square feet or board feet by floor in ControlQore, overhead rate including all real costs, WIP reporting monthly, and AR collection system that clears the backlog in 30 days. Most framing clients find their first month's AR collection exceeds the annual SPM fee.
Framing
The CFO for
Framing Contractors.
You bid by the square. Your margin lives or dies in the field every week. If you find out a job is losing money at closeout it is too late. We make it visible in week two.
Published: May 2026 · Updated: May 2026
The Problem
What Kills Framing Margins
Most framing do not know a job is losing money until it is done. The estimate looked right. The crew was working. But the actual cost per square feet or board feet by floor was running over estimate for three weeks and nobody knew it until closeout.
01
No Floor-by-Floor Job Costing
You bid a 4-story wood frame at $8.42/SF of floor area for labor. You have no visibility into whether floors 1 and 2 came in at estimate while floors 3 and 4 are running 18% over. At closeout you know the job lost money. You do not know where or why.
02
Lumber Price Variance Absorbed Without Documentation
Lumber prices moved 12% between bid date and material purchase on a 6-month project. That variance is a $34,000 cost increase not in the original estimate. Most framing contractors absorb it silently. Some contracts have material escalation provisions that allow recovery - but only if documented and submitted.
03
SOV Underbills First-Floor Structural Work
The first floor of a wood frame building is the most labor-intensive - foundation sill plates, first-floor deck, first-floor wall framing with more openings and interruptions per SF than upper floors. A back-loaded SOV collects 22% of contract value on work that represents 35% of labor cost.
Prevailing wage note: Framing contractors doing DOT and municipal work have additional fringe benefit requirements of $12-$20/hour above base wages. SPM calculates separate overhead rates for prevailing wage and private work. Prevailing wage CFO services →
FAQ
Frequently Asked Questions
What does a CFO for framing contractors do?
A fractional CFO for framing contractors builds the job costing structure aligned to the estimate - cost codes by square feet or board feet by floor - so actual cost per unit is visible weekly against estimated cost per unit. They manage WIP reporting, overhead rate calculation, billing calendar, and monthly cash flow. The result: you know which jobs are winning and which are losing before you cannot do anything about it. All SPM clients run on ControlQore - purpose-built for construction job costing at $1M-$12M.
What overhead rate should framing contractors use?
Framing Contractors at $1M-$3M typically run 11-14% overhead. The most common errors are missing owner compensation at market rate and not including equipment depreciation or vehicle fleet in the SG&A calculation. Each of those understates the real overhead rate and underprices every bid.
What are the most common cash flow problems for framing contractors?
Three consistent problems: schedule of values that underbills early phases which are the most cash-intensive work, overhead rate below actual because ownership costs are not fully included, and AR sitting uncollected at 45+ days with no follow-up system. Most framing contractors have all three simultaneously. SPM fixes all three in the first 60 days.
What gross margin should framing contractors target?
Framing Contractors at $1M-$12M in commercial new construction typically target 18-23% gross margin. Margin below the lower end of that range usually indicates a markup problem, an overhead rate understatement, or job costing that is not capturing all direct costs accurately.
Do you handle payroll?
No. SPM does not handle payroll. We have vetted partners including prevailing wage and Davis-Bacon integrations that connect directly with ControlQore at additional cost.
How long does onboarding take?
60 days. We migrate your books to the start of your last taxable year, build your ControlQore job costing structure, and get you fully operational in two months.
What software do you use?
All SPM clients run on ControlQore - purpose-built for construction job costing and WIP reporting at $1M-$12M. More capable than QuickBooks for job costing, more affordable than Sage. We set it up and manage it.
Do I need clean books to start?
No. Most clients come with messy books and no job costing. That is exactly what onboarding is for.
