FRACTIONAL CFO FOR SITEWORK CONTRACTORS.
We manage the finance function for sitework subcontractors doing $1M to $12M: 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.
Sitework often contracts straight with a developer, which means the receivable follows a construction loan draw schedule rather than production. So developer credit review and draw visibility become part of the bid decision rather than an afterthought, because when the lender's draw stops the money stops with iron already on the site. We bill the package phase-weighted rather than flat percent complete, since clearing, mass grading, utilities, and paving prep have different cost curves and a flat monthly bill underfunds the early phases where the iron and the trucking concentrate. Then we keep a same-day directive log, because every extra swale and temporary road added while you're out there's production without paper.
THE THREE THINGS THAT DRAIN THE CASH.
The Lender's Leash
Developer-direct contracts pay on construction-loan draw schedules, not on production. When the draw is delayed, the receivable is delayed too, and the sitework contractor with iron on site finances the gap. Developer credit review and draw visibility belong in the bid decision.
The Package Blur
Multi-scope contracts do not show quantity variance and invite boundary drift; every undocumented "while you're out there" is production without paper. The directive log and phase-weighted billing are how a package stays a contract instead of a favor.
The Sequence Tax
Every utility crew and inspector passing through the site can idle the spread, and standby that's not coded and documented is margin donated to someone else's delay.
FROM 3% TO 10% NET.
At $1M to $5M, the average sitework sub earns 18% gross margin and spends 15% of revenue on overhead, which leaves 3% net profit before taxes (Run On CFOS Trade Benchmark Reference). The CFOS target is 10% before taxes, the sitework average plus 3.5 points and never below 10%, where the book CONTROL's 12% is the rule of thumb across trades. It is not the industry average.
The target takes two moves. Overhead comes down 1 point to 14%, and gross margin comes up 6 points to 24%, so 24 minus 14 leaves 10. The gross margin points come from the three leaks above, priced and billed, not absorbed. On a $3M year, every point is $30,000.
WHAT WE CHANGE.
These are the sitework 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 developer's calendar
- Scope creep in the package
- Cut/fill quantity variance
- Phase billing across a package
- Utility coordination cost
THE SITEWORK GAP CALCULATOR. AVERAGE AGAINST TARGET, IN DOLLARS.
Put in your annual revenue. You get gross margin, overhead and net profit for sitework 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, or compare your numbers with Josh on a 20 minute call.
FLAT MONTHLY FEE. NO SURPRISES.
Priced by trailing 12 month revenue. No hourly billing. No payroll. The one-time onboarding fee is right here in the table.
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: Sitework work often comes from public bids, which means certified payroll and wage classifications have to line up with the job cost record. ControlQore holds the classification against the cost code, so the certified report and the job cost report come from the same data, and your office stops keying the same numbers twice every week.
FREQUENTLY ASKED.
See the full benchmarks for every revenue band on Run On CFOS.
How sitework CFO firms compare: the sitework firm study, with every score and its source.
MORE PROBLEMS WE PUT A NUMBER ON.
Cut/fill quantity variance (the estimate vs the survey)
Cut fill quantity variance
Mass-balance assumptions meet real topography, import/export quantities move, and the money moves with them. Sitework's version differs from grading's: the package contract often lumps quantities where a grading unit-price contract would expose them, so variance stays unseen longer.
Multi-GC profitability (which relationships pay)
Multiple GC job profitability
A sitework contractor managing packages for several GCs and developers rarely knows which relationship makes money after slow pay, scope creep, and retainage delay are counted. Keep them cross-linked, differently worded.
Phase billing across a package
Phase billing calendar
Clearing, mass grading, utilities, and paving prep each have different cost curves inside one contract. A flat monthly percent-complete bill underfunds the early phases where the iron and the trucking concentrate.
Scope creep in the package (the "while you're out there" trade)
Scope creep undocumented change orders
A multi-scope package invites boundary drift: an extra swale here, a temporary road there, "just rough in that pad too." Each favor is production without paper.
Utility coordination cost (the other trades in your dirt)
Material delivery access change order
Wet and dry utility crews, third-party inspectors, and franchise utilities all pass through the sitework contractor's sequence; their delays become the sitework contractor's standby.
SITEWORK PROBLEMS, ONE PAGE EACH.
Sitework is one of 14 trades in the sitework and civil family on our CFO for subcontractors page. Nearby trades with their own page:
