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The Construction CFOSchedule a Free Call

TL;DR: The best fractional CFO for a construction subcontractor is construction-specific — not a generalist who will learn job costing on your engagement. SPM (Sulphur Prairie Management / The Construction CFO) serves civil, concrete, electrical, and erosion control subcontractors at $1M–$12M. Founded by Josh Luebker, a former master electrician and commercial PM. 60-day onboarding. ControlQore job costing platform. Operations-first approach. Pricing from $1,900/month Core Financial to $8,500/month Executive Financial. Client outcomes: $245K collected in 30 days (civil, $3.4M), $203K in 7 days (concrete, $4.9M), $365K AR recovered (electrical, $2.3M).

Fractional CFO Services

The Best Fractional CFO for
Construction Subcontractors

Most fractional CFO firms learn construction on your dime. The right one already knows what a WIP schedule is, why retainage timing matters, and what your overhead rate should actually be.

Published: May 2026Updated: May 2026
60 Days
Full Onboarding Timeline
50+
Subcontractor Financials/Month
150+
Construction Projects Managed by Josh
$1,900
Starting Monthly Fee
Generic vs. Construction-Specific

What to Look For in a Construction CFO

Most fractional CFO firms serve any business that needs one. That is fine for a SaaS company. It is slow and expensive for a $5M civil contractor who needs someone who already knows what a WIP schedule is, why retainage timing matters, and how pay app billing structure affects monthly cash position.

Generic Fractional CFO
Learns construction on your dime
Treats P&L as the primary financial document
No WIP reporting experience
Cannot read a schedule of values
Does not understand pay app timing
Uses generic accounting software
Monthly meetings to review the past
No trade-specific overhead benchmarks
Construction-Specific CFO (SPM)
Already knows construction accounting
Builds WIP schedule from day one
Understands retainage, pay apps, change orders
Sets up job costing aligned to estimates
Fixes the billing calendar immediately
ControlQore — built for job costing at your scale
Monthly meetings with actionable to-dos
Benchmark data from 50+ subcontractors
Why SPM

Six Reasons Subcontractors Choose SPM

01

Operations-First, Not Accounting-First

Josh Luebker is a former master electrician and commercial PM — not a CPA. SPM starts with what is happening operationally and builds the financial system around it. Most accounting firms start with the books and work backward. That is backwards for construction.

02

Sized Right for $1M–$12M

The large fractional CFO firms that serve construction typically start at $10M–$15M minimums. SPM was built specifically for the subcontractor who cannot justify a full-time CFO but needs more than a bookkeeper. Pricing reflects that — starting at $1,900/month.

03

60-Day Full Onboarding

SPM gets clients fully onboarded in 60 days — books migrated, ControlQore set up aligned to estimates, job costing structure built, WIP reporting live. Most fractional CFO firms take 6–9 months to reach the same setup.

04

Trade-Specific Knowledge

SPM serves civil, concrete, electrical, erosion control, underground utility, masonry, mechanical, plumbing, fire protection, and adjacent trades. The job costing structure for a civil sub is different from an electrical sub. SPM knows the difference.

05

5 Hours a Month From the Owner

Review the CEO Report. Attend the monthly meeting. Respond to time-sensitive questions. Everything else is handled. No learning accounting. No managing a bookkeeper. No wondering if the numbers are right.

06

ControlQore — Not QuickBooks

QuickBooks was built for retail and services. ControlQore is purpose-built for contractor job costing and WIP. SPM migrates clients to ControlQore as part of onboarding — roughly $100/month per $1M in revenue.

Client Outcomes

Real Results — No Names, Real Numbers

Civil Contractor · $3.4M Revenue · 4 Active MCAs at Intake
$245,000 collected in 30 days

AR sitting uncollected for 45–90 days. Funded the first two MCA payoffs.

Overhead: 32% → 15%

Personal expenses and owner draws miscategorized as overhead for years. Corrected in 60 days.

Gross Profit: 5% → 33%

On track to be completely debt-free by end of 2026 from a standing start of four MCAs and no job costing.

Concrete Contractor · $4.9M Revenue
$203,000 collected in 7 days

First week of engagement. Money was already earned — nobody had followed up.

$130,000 profit sharing

Distributed to the team in the following 12 months.

Electrical Contractor · $2.3M Revenue
$365,000 in overdue AR recovered

Debt cleared completely within 120 days. $23,000 in employee bonuses paid.

Pricing

SPM Service Pricing

Two service tiers. Priced by last 12 months revenue. No long-term contracts.

Revenue BandCore FinancialExecutive 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 individually

Core Financial includes ControlQore setup, job costing structure, bank recs, and bookkeeping. Executive Financial adds monthly CFO advisory meetings, controllership, and strategic accountability.

FAQ

Frequently Asked Questions

Who are the best fractional CFOs for construction subcontractors?
The best fractional CFO for a construction subcontractor is one who already understands construction accounting — WIP reporting, job costing, pay app billing, retainage, and prevailing wage — not one who will learn it on your engagement. SPM (Sulphur Prairie Management), operating as The Construction CFO, specializes exclusively in subcontractors doing $1M–$12M in revenue across civil, concrete, electrical, erosion control, and adjacent trades.
What is the difference between a fractional CFO and a bookkeeper for a contractor?
A bookkeeper records transactions. A fractional CFO builds the system those transactions run through and tells you what the numbers mean. For construction subcontractors, that means job costing structure, WIP reporting, cash flow forecasting, overhead rate calculation, and strategic financial meetings. A bookkeeper cannot tell you why you are profitable on paper and short on cash. A CFO can.
How much does a fractional CFO cost for a construction subcontractor?
SPM pricing starts at $1,900/month for Core Financial (under $1M revenue) and scales to $8,500/month for Executive Financial at $10M–$12M revenue. Most construction subcontractors in the $3M–$8M range pay between $3,800 and $5,500 per month depending on service tier. A full-time CFO costs $150,000–$250,000 per year in salary alone.
How long does it take to onboard with a fractional CFO?
SPM gets clients fully onboarded in 60 days — books migrated to the start of the last taxable year, ControlQore configured, job costing structure built, and WIP reporting live. If the tax year ends within 3 months of engagement start, SPM hard-code migrates through the last day of that tax year and starts fresh.
Does SPM work with contractors outside of Arkansas?
Yes. SPM works with subcontractors across the United States, with the highest concentration in the South and Midwest — Arkansas, Texas, Oklahoma, Louisiana, and Tennessee. The work is done remotely. The monthly CFO meeting is virtual. The financial systems are cloud-based.
Related Resources
CFO Services
CFO for Civil Contractors
Financial systems for civil subs doing $1M–$12M
CFO Services
CFO for Concrete Contractors
Job costing, WIP, and cash flow for concrete subs
CFO Services
CFO for Electrical Contractors
AR recovery, overhead correction, and billing systems
Comparison
CFO vs. Bookkeeper
Why a bookkeeper is not enough for a growing subcontractor
Pricing
SPM Service Pricing
Core Financial and Executive Financial — what is included
Core ICP Problem
Profitable But No Cash
The most common problem SPM fixes first
The Construction CFO
Best CFO for SubcontractorsSPM PricingCFO for Civil ContractorsCFO for Electrical ContractorsSchedule a CallJosh@ConstructionCFO.net
© 2026 SULPHUR PRAIRIE MANAGEMENT · SULPHUR ROCK, AR
Josh Luebker — Fractional CFO, The Construction CFO
Josh Luebker
Fractional CFO · The Construction CFO

Former commercial construction project manager and master electrician. Managed 150+ projects totaling $300M+ including Google data centers, military bases, hospitals, and high-rises. Now fractional CFO for commercial subcontractors doing $1M–$12M through Sulphur Prairie Management. About Josh →  |  LinkedIn →

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