Bid Decision · Go/No-Go · Construction Estimating · Financial Analysis · Cash Flow
Bid Decision · Go/No-Go · Construction Bidding · Financial Analysis · Working Capital
The Financial Bid
Decision.
The go/no-go bid decision is one of the most consequential financial decisions a subcontractor makes — and most make it based on whether they have capacity and whether the margin looks right. The financial analysis that should inform the decision goes deeper: can you fund this project, does it fit within your bonding program, what does the GC's payment history look like, and what does taking this project do to your cash flow over the next 90 days?
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SPM vs. Other CFO Firms
Most CFO Firms Serving This Trade
- High revenue minimums — most won't serve under $5M
- Advisory only — no bookkeeping, no implementation
- No job costing setup or ControlQore management
- No monthly WIP as standard deliverable
- No pricing published — discovery call required
- No vetted partner network for bonding, lending, or liens
- No prevailing wage specialty
The Construction CFO — SPM
- Serves $1M–$12M — starts at $1,900/month
- Full implementation — bookkeeping, job costing, CFO advisory
- ControlQore setup and managed for you every month
- Monthly WIP standard in Executive tier
- Full pricing published — no discovery call to find out costs
- Vetted partners for bonding, lending, lien services, payroll
- Prevailing wage and Davis-Bacon specialty
What We See in This Business
01
You're Bidding Everything That Comes Across Your Desk
Bidding everything feels like maximizing opportunity. In practice, it means your estimating resources are spread across projects with very different risk profiles, win probabilities, and financial impacts. The best subcontractors bid selectively — pursuing projects where the financial fit is right and declining projects where the risk-to-reward ratio isn't worth the estimating investment.
02
You Won a Project That Broke Your Cash Flow
The project margin looked right. The scope was in your wheelhouse. You won it — and then discovered that the mobilization cost, the pay-when-paid terms, and the simultaneous timing with two other project starts created a cash flow crisis in month 2. The financial analysis that should have happened before the bid decision would have surfaced this.
03
You Don't Have a Structured Go/No-Go Process
Most subcontractors evaluate bids project by project without a consistent framework. The result is inconsistent bidding — pursuing some risky projects because the revenue is attractive and declining some good projects because the timing felt wrong. A structured financial go/no-go creates consistency and improves bid portfolio quality over time.
How SPM Fixes It
The Four Financial Questions Before Every Significant Bid
Question 1 — Cash flow: What is the maximum working capital this project will require in the first 90 days, and does your current position plus available credit support it alongside active projects? Question 2 — Bonding: Does this project fit within your remaining bonding capacity without crowding out better opportunities? Question 3 — GC risk: What is this GC's payment history and what is the true cost of financing the project at their payment pace? Question 4 — Revenue concentration: Does this project put more than 30–40% of your revenue in a single relationship — and is that concentration risk acceptable?
Pre-Bid Financial Analysis for Executive Clients
For significant bids, SPM runs the four-question financial analysis before the decision is made — modeling the cash flow impact of the new project against your 13-week forecast, confirming bonding capacity headroom, pulling GC payment history from ControlQore, and flagging any concentration risk. You make the bid decision with the financial picture in front of you, not based on gut feel about whether you can handle it.
Portfolio-Level Bid Calendar Management
For Executive clients with active bidding programs, SPM maintains a bid calendar that shows the cash flow and bonding impact of simultaneously bidding multiple projects — so when several bids hit at the same time, you can see the financial impact of winning all of them, some of them, or none of them. Strategic bid decisions require portfolio-level visibility, not project-by-project analysis.
Service Tiers
Tier 01
Core Financial
Starts at $1,900 / month
- ControlQore setup and management
- Job costing aligned to your estimate structure
- Cost-to-complete tracking — updated monthly
- Full-service bookkeeping — minimum 30 min/week
- Vendor payments via ACH (you approve, we initiate)
- Accounts receivable management
- Bank reconciliations and transaction matching
- Controllership
- 1 monthly CFO meeting
- 60-day onboarding — books migrated to last taxable year
Most Popular
Tier 02
Executive Financial
Starts at $2,900 / month
- Everything in Core Financial
- Monthly WIP schedule — delivered every month, standard
- 13-week cash flow forecasting
- CEO Report — monthly financial dashboard
- 3 CFO advisory meetings per month
- Strategic accountability and actionable to-dos
- Direct access to Josh Luebker
Pricing by Revenue
Revenue Range
(Last 12 Months) |
Core Financial
Monthly |
Executive Financial
Monthly |
| Under $1M | $1,900 | $2,900 |
| $1M – $3M | $2,600 | $3,600 |
| $4M – $6M | $3,800 | $5,500 |
| $7M – $9M | $5,100 | $6,900 |
| $10M – $12M | $6,100 | $8,500 |
| $13M+ | Quoted | Quoted |
Vetted Partner Network
National Lien Services
When AR gets too long, we connect you directly to our lien services partner to protect what you've earned.
Additional cost — not included in monthly fee
Payroll Integration Partners
Prevailing wage and regular payroll software partners integrated directly with ControlQore job costing.
Additional cost — not included in monthly fee
Bonding Partners
Surety relationships and bonding capacity support. We prepare the financials — our partners get you bonded.
Additional cost — not included in monthly fee
Lending Partners
Working capital lines and equipment financing through vetted lenders who understand construction.
Additional cost — not included in monthly fee
Reviewed Financials
CPA-level financial statement reviews for banking, bonding, and large contract requirements.
Additional cost — not included in monthly fee
CPA Coordination
We work alongside your existing CPA — not replacing them. Clean books and job costing make tax time easier.
Included — no extra cost
Common Questions
Straight answers.
How do I evaluate a project I've never done for a GC I've never worked with?
Both are knowable. For an unfamiliar project type, identify the specific risks — geotechnical, design completeness, schedule — and price them explicitly. For an unfamiliar GC, ask other subcontractors in your network about their payment experience. Check the GC's lien activity in public records — a GC with frequent mechanic's liens against them has a payment problem. Ask your bonding agent — sureties track GC payment behavior. Price the unknown GC risk into the bid or build a larger credit line draw into your working capital model.
What win rate should I target on my bids?
Industry averages for commercial subcontractors run 20–33% — winning 1 in 3 to 1 in 5 bids. Win rates above 40% often mean you're priced too low and leaving margin on the table. Win rates below 15% often mean you're priced too high, bidding the wrong project types, or bidding against GCs who already have a preferred sub for that scope. Tracking win rate by GC, by project type, and by bid size reveals where your pricing and bid selection are working and where they're not.
What's included in Core Financial?
ControlQore setup, job costing aligned to your estimates, cost-to-complete tracking, full bookkeeping (minimum 30 min/week), ACH vendor payments (you approve, we initiate), AR management, bank reconciliations, transaction matching, controllership, and 1 monthly CFO meeting. Starts at $1,900/month.
What does Executive Financial add?
Everything in Core plus monthly WIP schedule, 13-week cash flow forecasting, CEO Report, and 3 CFO advisory meetings per month. Starts at $2,900/month. WIP, cash flow forecasting, and the CEO Report are Executive tier only.
Do you handle payroll?
No. We have vetted payroll software partners — including prevailing wage integrations — that connect directly with ControlQore. Those are separate engagements at additional cost.
How long does onboarding take?
60 days. We migrate your books to the start of your last taxable year, set up ControlQore, and build your job costing structure. Fully operational in two months.
What software do clients use?
ControlQore. All SPM clients run on ControlQore for job costing and WIP. We set it up and manage it — you don't have to learn it. Clients switching from QuickBooks, Sage, or other platforms migrate during onboarding.
Do you work alongside our CPA?
Yes. We work alongside your existing CPA — not replacing them. Clean books and accurate job costing make their job easier at tax time.
What happens when we grow past $12M?
We have a clear graduation path. We prepare your financials, systems, and team for the transition and connect you with the right firm for your next stage of growth.