FRACTIONAL CFO FOR DEMOLITION CONTRACTORS.
We manage the finance side for demolition subcontractors doing $1M to $12M. You get job costing aligned to the way you estimate, a 13 week cash flow forecast, monthly WIP, and a CFO in the room every month. Pricing starts at $1,900 per month.
In demolition a third of the cost goes out on a truck, so we start at the scale house. Tipping and hauling are 20 to 30 percent of project cost. The national average gate rate went up about 10 percent in a year, to roughly $62 a ton. A bid built on last year's rate gives away the increase on every load. We track per-ton actuals against the bid rate every week. We put the pre-demolition survey on the schedule of values as a billed line, and we keep a scrap ledger on every job with grades, weights and settlement paper. Then we build in the 5 to 15 percent contingency the trade's own professionals price. A PCB ballast found partway through the job becomes a change order, and there's no argument.
SPM is a construction CFO for demolition subcontractors from $1M to $12M in revenue. See how a fractional CFO for construction works month to month.
THE THREE THINGS THAT DRAIN THE CASH.
The Survey Skipped
Hazmat found mid-swing stops the machine and adds $2 to $7 per square foot under abatement protocol. Bill the pre-demolition survey as its own line and use it to trigger change orders. If you don't, it's the most expensive thing you never charged for.
The Gate Rate
Disposal is 20 to 30 percent of project cost. Tipping fees went up about 10 percent in a year, to roughly $62 per ton. Track per-ton actuals against the bid rate. It's the simplest variance report in the trade, and the most useful.
The Untracked Paycheck in the Pile
Salvage is part of the contract consideration. Ferrous sets the tonnage, non-ferrous sets the margin, and disputes go to court. A scrap ledger on every job with grades, weights and settlements turns a guess into revenue.
FROM 4% TO 10% NET.
At $1M to $5M, the average demolition sub earns 20% gross margin and spends 16% of revenue on overhead. What's left is 4% net profit before taxes (Run On CFOS Trade Benchmark Reference). The CFOS target is 10% before taxes. That is the demolition average plus 3.5 points, and never below 10%. The book CONTROL's 12% is the rule of thumb across trades. It is not the industry average.
Two changes get you to the target. Overhead comes down 1 point to 15%, and gross margin comes up 5 points to 25%, so 25 minus 15 leaves 10. The gross margin points come from the three problems above, once you price them and bill for them. On a $3M year, every point is $30,000.
WHAT WE CHANGE.
These are the demolition problems we put a number on first. Each one gets its own cost code, its own line on the schedule of values or its own line in the 13 week cash forecast, so you can read it in the monthly meeting while the job is still open.
- The hazmat surprise
- Tipping fees take 20 to 30 percent of the job
- Salvage is revenue and it belongs on the estimate
- Selective demo is a different business than full teardown
- Mobilization-heavy, milestone-poor
THE DEMOLITION GAP CALCULATOR. AVERAGE AGAINST TARGET, IN DOLLARS.
Put in your annual revenue. You get gross margin, overhead and net profit for demolition contractors your size: the industry average and the CFOS target, in dollars a year. Nothing you type leaves this page.
Another trade too? The gap calculator for every trade.
Your figures show here once you put in your revenue.
Why aim for the target. An average is the middle of the pack: about half of companies do worse. And about 6 in 10 construction businesses close within 10 years (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics: about 40 percent of construction businesses opened in 2013 were still open in 2023). So the business in the middle is one of the ones that close. On those numbers, average is a business that closes within 10 years. That is why the CFOS target is a requirement.
Want your own numbers against these? The Financial Health Snapshot builds a CEO Report from your last 12 months and sets every figure against your trade.
YOU PAY ONE FLAT MONTHLY FEE.
The fee is set by your trailing 12 month revenue. We don't bill by the hour and we don't do payroll. The one-time onboarding fee is in the table too.
Type a number and your band and its prices show here. The full table is below.
Built for subs doing $1M to $12M. Above $12.5M we quote.
| Last 12 months revenue | Core | Strategic | Platinum | One-time onboarding |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Under $1M | $1,900 | $3,100 | $3,300 | $2,500 |
| $1M to $3.5M | $2,600 | $4,100 | $5,300 | $4,500 |
| $3.5M to $6.5M | $3,800 | $5,900 | $8,300 | $6,000 |
| $6.5M to $9.5M | $5,100 | $7,600 | $11,800 | $7,500 |
| $9.5M to $12.5M | $6,100 | $8,900 | $14,900 | $9,000 |
| Above $12.5M | Quoted | Quoted | Quoted | Quoted |
The onboarding fee covers migrating your books back to the start of your last taxable year and getting you fully operational in 60 days. It's billed once, with your first invoice. It's the same for all three tiers, and it moves with your revenue band. Your first month is prorated, and your monthly engagement starts on the first of the first full month.
Just want the setup? Onboarding only is the same onboarding work with no monthly service after it, one time, at the onboarding fee plus $2,000. Start a monthly engagement later and $2,000 counts toward it. It starts at $4,500, and the price for every band is on the pricing page.
The three tier columns are the whole price. Which one fits depends on how much of the work you want off your desk. No payroll. No hidden line items. The onboarding fee is right here in the table.
- Online software only: QuickBooks, Sage, Viewpoint and similar. No VPN or hosted desktop.
- Not in any tier: payroll, pay applications, collections on receivables.
- Pricing valid through 2027.
What Core, Strategic and Platinum each include is on the pricing page.
Prevailing wage note: Demolition work often comes from public bids. On those jobs, certified payroll and wage classifications have to match the job cost record. ControlQore keeps the classification with the cost code, so the certified report and the job cost report come from the same data. Your office stops typing the same numbers twice every week.
FREQUENTLY ASKED.
See the full benchmarks for every revenue band on Run On CFOS.
How demolition CFO firms compare: the demolition firm study, with every score and its source.
MORE PROBLEMS WE PUT A NUMBER ON.
Mobilization-heavy, milestone-poor
Mobilization cash flow · Structural shoring cost allocation
Big iron moves in before dollar one bills, and shoring or stabilization of adjacent structures adds engineered cost at the front. Demolition's spend curve is the steepest front-load in the dirt trades.
Selective demo is a different business than full teardown
Selective vs full demo job costing
Full structural demo costs $9 to $22 per square foot by building class in 2026; selective interior demo is hand labor, protection, and dust control around occupied or preserved space. One blended cost history misprices both.
warehouse/light industrial $9-15/SF, retail $11-18/SF, Class B/C office $14-22/SF full structural (BidFlow 2026); frame type determines it (wood $4-8/SF, concrete/masonry $8-16/SF).
The hazmat surprise (the change order that stops the machine)
Hazmat discovery billing process
Asbestos, lead paint, PCBs in old ballasts and transformers, refrigerants in abandoned HVAC. Discovery mid-demo stops the machine, triggers abatement protocols, and adds $2 to $3 per square foot billed separately, and up to $2 to $7 per square foot over baseline in heavier cases. Residential comparisons show the swing: roughly $20 to $30 per square foot with substantial asbestos versus $7.50 to $12 without.
Tipping fees take 20 to 30 percent of the job
Tipping fee variance cost code
Landfill tipping fees and hauling account for 20 to 30 percent of total demolition project cost, and tipping fees jumped roughly 10 percent this year to a national average near $62 per ton. A residential teardown alone generates 50 to 150 tons. A bid built on last year's gate rate donates the increase.
"Landfill tipping fees and transportation costs may account for 20-30% of the total project cost." (O'Rourke Wrecking) "Tipping fees jumped 10% this year to a national average of $62.28 per ton." (Design Estimation, 2026)
Demolition is one of 14 trades in the sitework and civil family on our CFO for subcontractors page. Nearby trades with their own page:
