WHY ELECTRICAL CONTRACTORS LOSE MARGIN WITHOUT KNOWING IT.

Electrical contractors at $1M to $5M net 7.5 percent on average, rising to 9.5 percent by $25M to $50M; the CFOS target at $1M to $5M is 11 percent. Electrical carries the highest gross margins of the site trades, which means the gap to target usually sits in overhead and AR, not in the field. Every net profit figure here is stated before taxes, the same basis CFMA reports on, so the two are directly comparable.

Because the job structure buries cash in the middle. Wire and labor go in at rough-in, trim-out billing lands months later, retainage holds 5 to 10 percent, and switchgear deposits leave the account years before the gear bills. Profit shows on the statement while the cash sits in walls, holdbacks, and OEM production slots.

Two ways. Deposits of 10 to 30 percent are now standard to hold a production slot, which is cash out years early. And gear quoted at 16 weeks to 128 weeks means stored-materials billing and early buyout language have to be in the contract, or the contractor finances the wait.

On any fixed-price work crossing more than a quarter, yes. Copper moved 24.75 percent in a year and tariffs added 50 percent on top; a bid without an escalation or tariff clause is an unhedged commodity position. Index the clause to a published copper reference and date-stamp the bid basis.

About 15 percent of revenue at that size, trending to 13 percent by $25M to $50M. The published outside ranges are wider than the ones repeated around the industry: Jones Maresca and Company's 2025 Performance Benchmarks put total indirect cost at 8 to 15 percent of revenue for construction as a whole, and CFMA's 2024 Construction Financial Benchmarker reports SG&A at 11.8 percent across all respondents. Both are whole-industry averages rather than an electrical number, and /construction-overhead-rates-by-trade gives the electrical rate by revenue band. Electrical overhead runs highest of the trades here because of vehicles, tooling, and office load, which is why divisional tracking between service and construction isn't optional.

Build fully burdened rates per classification before the bid, not after the audit. Fringe handling, classification mapping, and weekly certified payroll are systems problems; misclassification claws margin back retroactively. Software handles the filing; the rate discipline protects the margin.

Calendar every lien and bond-claim deadline the day the contract signs, bill on time with clean waivers, and escalate on a fixed cadence instead of a mood. A $2.3M electrical contractor recovered from $365K sitting at 120 days by working exactly that system; the case study shows the sequence.

A bookkeeper records history. Escalation clauses, stored-materials billing, divisional margins, burdened prevailing-wage rates, and AR recovery cadence are a control system, which is CFO work. SPM operates that financial control function for electrical contractors. ---

CFOS serves commercial electrical subcontractors doing $1M to $12M. Pricing starts at $1,900 per month for companies under $1M and runs to $13,500 per month at the top published band. Onboarding takes 60 days.

Three tiers, and which one you are in depends on how much of the work you want off your desk. Core is where you stop guessing: job costing built against the way you estimate, a 13 week cash forecast, monthly WIP, and a monthly meeting that ends in decisions, while your bookkeeper keeps doing the books. Executive is where you stop touching the books, because we run the bookkeeping and the controllership as well. Strategic is where every job shows its margin while it is still running, because the job costing and WIP platform is set up and managed for you. No payroll. No scope gaps.

Sixty days. We migrate your books back to the start of your last taxable year, set up ControlQore, and build your job costing structure from scratch. Fully operational in two months.