CIVIL CFO SERVICES — BUILT FOR CIVIL CONTRACTORS.
Civil contractors need a CFO who understands equipment cost basis, unit price billing, mobilization cash gaps on public projects, and the difference between lump sum and measured work. A generic CFO or bookkeeper does not know any of that. CFOS is built specifically for civil subcontractors — concrete, earthwork, utilities, grading, SWPPP, and sitework — doing $1M–$12M in annual revenue.
Civil contracting has more moving financial parts than almost any other trade. Equipment fleet of 20+ machines with different cost structures. Public project pay cycles of 60–90 days. Unit price contracts where quantity overruns create change orders the GC does not want to pay. Multiple sites running simultaneously, each with its own cost center. Every one of those variables creates cash flow and margin exposure that generic financial management cannot see. CFOS is the system built around how civil work actually operates.
WHAT MAKES CIVIL FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT DIFFERENT FROM EVERY OTHER TRADE.
Equipment Cost Allocation
A civil contractor with 15 owned machines — excavators, dozers, compactors, haul trucks — has a fleet that represents $2M–$5M in capital and $300K–$600K per year in true ownership costs. If those machines are deployed on jobs at rates that do not cover replacement reserve, maintenance at real utilization, insurance, and idle days, every job is subsidizing the fleet. CFOS builds equipment cost basis for every owned machine and charges it correctly on every project so the cost is recovered in billing, not absorbed in overhead.
Mobilization Cash Gaps
Civil contractors mobilize equipment, stage material, and set up site infrastructure before a single billing event occurs. On a $1.2M sitework project, mobilization cost can run $150K–$200K before the first pay app is submitted. On a public project with a 90-day pay cycle, that $200K is outstanding for 4+ months. Without a cash forecast that maps mobilization requirements against available LOC, a contractor can win more work than their working capital can fund — and end up with a cash crisis on profitable contracts.
Unit Price Quantity Variance
Unit price contracts pay per linear foot, cubic yard, or ton. When actual quantities exceed estimated quantities — due to design changes, differing site conditions, or scope growth — the additional work needs to be billed as a change order. When quantities come in short, revenue is less than projected. Without job-level tracking that compares estimated quantities to actual quantities monthly, the financial impact of quantity variance is invisible until the job closes and the final reconciliation reveals a loss.
THE CIVIL FINANCIAL OPERATING SYSTEM — WHAT GETS SET UP.
WHAT CFOS HAS DELIVERED FOR CIVIL CONTRACTORS.
A $7.1M civil contractor came in with 34 pieces of equipment, 14 trucks, and none of them tracked individually for job costing. Three months after CFOS built the equipment cost basis, the balance sheet was up $779K. The money was always there — they just could not see it.
FREQUENTLY ASKED.
