FRACTIONAL CFO FOR PROCESS PIPING CONTRACTORS.
We manage the finance side for process piping 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 process piping the pipe is half the product and the traceability package is the other half. So we build and bill documentation labor weld by weld. ASME B31.3 requires every weld to have a unique number traceable to the welder, the procedure, the heat treatment and the examination results. A weak weld map delays hydrotest sign-off and final acceptance, and the money behind them. We review the welder qualification matrix weekly. Under Section IX, a welder who hasn't used a qualified process for more than six months loses that qualification. The lapse comes up at audit as rework on welds already in the rack. We also split shop spools from field welds in the cost codes. Controlled-position shop welding and confined-access tie-ins cost different amounts, inside one contract.
SPM is a construction CFO for process piping 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 Dossier Half
The pipe is half the product. The legally binding traceability package is the other half, and hydrotest sign-off waits on it. Build and bill the documentation labor weld by weld, and that's how you collect.
The Lapsed Ticket
Six months without using a qualified process and the welder loses the qualification, with no notice. You find out at audit, as rework on finished welds. The qualification matrix is a money control. Review it weekly.
The Five Percent Trigger
Sampled examination means one failed weld puts a welder's whole lot in question. Track repair rates by welder and process to see it coming. Price reject costs into every alloy bid.
FROM 8% TO 11.5% NET.
At $1M to $5M, the average process piping sub earns 24% gross margin and spends 16% of revenue on overhead. What's left is 8% net profit before taxes (Run On CFOS Trade Benchmark Reference). The CFOS target is 11.5% before taxes. That is the process piping 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 2.5 points to 26.5%, so 26.5 minus 15 leaves 11.5. 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 process piping 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 weld map is the deliverable
- The six-month qualification clock
- Progressive examination
- Shop spools vs field welds
- Alloy money
THE PROCESS PIPING GAP CALCULATOR. AVERAGE AGAINST TARGET, IN DOLLARS.
Put in your annual revenue. You get gross margin, overhead and net profit for process piping 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.
FREQUENTLY ASKED.
See the full benchmarks for every revenue band on Run On CFOS.
How process piping CFO firms compare: the process piping firm study, with every score and its source.
Process Piping is one of 14 trades in the MEP and systems family on our CFO for subcontractors page. Nearby trades with their own page:
