DOT PROJECT CASH FLOW: PUBLIC AND DOT JOBS THAT PAY IN 90 DAYS

Plan on 60 to 90 days from work performed to cash received once approval cycles are included. Mobilization is often capped at 5 to 10 percent and released in stages as the contract earns. The jobs are good; the cash timing is the part that causes companies to fail.

Civil subcontractors at $1M to $5M in revenue net 7 percent on average, rising to 15 percent by $25M to $50M. The CFOS target at $1M to $5M is 10.5 percent, and it rises with revenue. The gap between average and target is usually in three places: unbilled mobilization, untracked equipment cost, and retainage held without a plan. Every net profit figure here is gross margin minus overhead, stated before taxes, the same basis CFMA reports net income on.

About 13 to 14 percent of revenue at that size, falling toward 11 percent as revenue grows. The published outside ranges are wider than most owners expect: 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. Neither figure is a civil number, and /construction-overhead-rates-by-trade has the civil rate by revenue band. Overhead that goes unmeasured gets recovered by accident, and civil overhead stays out of sight in the shop, the yard, and the pickup fleet.

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. Strategic is where every job shows its margin while it is still open: a bookkeeper we choose does the books and the bank reconciliations, and the job costing and WIP software is set up and managed for you, on your own online software or ours. Platinum is where you approve and the money side gets handled: a controller we choose handles your bills and receivables the way an in-house controller would, and you approve every payment. 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.