WHY SITEWORK CONTRACTORS RUN OUT OF CASH.
Sitework contractors run out of cash because one contract hides several trades inside it. Clearing, grading, utilities, and paving each have their own cost structure, but tracked as one blended number a winning phase masks a losing one. Add remobilization between scopes and six-figure retention on long jobs, and the bank account empties while the job still shows a profit.
A sitework contract bundles clearing, mass and fine grading, underground utilities, and sometimes paving into one job, which means several cost structures and several production rates living under a single number. Track the whole site as one bucket and a grading phase earning 25 percent will quietly cover a utility phase losing 20 percent. You never reprice the utility work because you never see it lose. Add the remobilization between scopes and retention of 5 to 10 percent on a $2M site, $100K to $200K held for months, and the cash squeeze is built in. CFOS costs each phase on its own so the loser cannot hide.
WHY SITEWORK EATS CASH.
Sitework is really several trades sold as one. A single contract can carry clearing, mass and fine grading, underground utilities, and sometimes paving. Each of those has a different cost structure, a different production rate, and a different way of failing, and all of it hides inside one blended job number.
When the whole site is tracked as a single bucket, the math averages out. A strong grading phase masks a bleeding utility phase. The job posts a modest profit, the utility pricing never gets fixed, and the same loss repeats on the next site. Meanwhile each scope tends to remobilize equipment and crews, and those moves cost thousands that rarely get billed as discrete events.
Sitework jobs are also large and long, which means retention is large and long. Five to ten percent on a $2M site is $100K to $200K held for months past substantial completion, while punch list and closeout drag the final billing and overhead keeps running. The income statement shows a profitable job. The bank account tells a different story.
THE MECHANISMS NO ONE PRICES IN.
One number averages a winner with a loser.
A sitework job tracked as a single number averages a strong phase against a weak one. Utilities can lose 20 percent while grading makes 25 percent, and the blended job still shows a modest profit. You never fix the utility pricing because the loss is never visible, and the same mistake rides along on the next site.
Every scope move is a cost you give away.
Each scope on a site job often remobilizes equipment and crews. Those moves run thousands of dollars and are rarely billed as discrete events, so they erode margin quietly across a long-duration job. Five phases can mean five mobilizations the bid treated as one.
Big long jobs mean big long holds.
Sitework jobs are large and long, so retention is large and long. Five to ten percent on a $2M site is $100K to $200K held for months past substantial completion. Punch list and closeout drag the final billing while overhead keeps running, and the last 10 percent of the cash is the hardest to collect.
THE WRONG DIAGNOSIS COSTS YOU YEARS.
Wrong answer 1: sitework is just complicated. It is, which is the argument for phase-level costing, not an excuse for blended numbers that hide the loss.
Wrong answer 2: the GC schedule killed us. Schedule slippage hurts, but without phase costing you cannot show which scope the slippage actually cost you, or bill for it.
Wrong answer 3: one bad phase was a fluke. If you cannot see phase margins, you cannot know it was a fluke. Most of the time it is a pricing pattern that repeats.
The real answer: there is no phase-level job costing and no schedule of values built to the real scopes. The whole site is one bucket, so the losers stay hidden. CFOS splits the bucket.
SAME BUSINESS. BETTER SYSTEM.
CFOS is the Construction Financial Operating System. For sitework contractors it installs as a set of specific deliverables, not advice:
FLAT MONTHLY FEE. NO SURPRISES.
Two tiers based on trailing 12-month revenue. No hourly billing. No payroll. No add-ons. Everything included in the flat monthly fee.
| Revenue | Core Financial | Executive 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 | Quoted |
FREQUENTLY ASKED.
