Construction Cash Flow — Causes and Fixes for $1M–$12M Subcontractors
Cash Flow · Profitable But Broke · Pay-When-Paid · Underbilling
Construction Cash
Flow Problems.
The most common call SPM gets: 'We're busy, we're profitable, we have no cash.' It's not a mystery — it's a system problem. Here's exactly what causes it and how SPM fixes it for commercial subcontractors doing $1M–$12M.
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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
Profitable on Paper. Broke in Practice.
Your P&L says you made money. Your bank account disagrees. This is a timing problem — not a profitability problem. Revenue is recognized when billed. Cash arrives 45–90 days later. Costs go out the door immediately. The gap between when you spend and when you collect is where cash disappears on every project.
02
Pay-When-Paid Is Financing Your GC
Pay-when-paid contract terms mean you're carrying the cost of completed work for 45–90 days while your GC waits on the owner. On a $3M job with 60-day payment terms, you could be advancing $400K or more of someone else's project out of your own working capital.
03
Underbilling on Pay App 1 Digs a Hole
Most subcontractors underbill Pay App 1 because mobilization costs don't feel like billable progress. By Pay App 2 you're already in a cash deficit that takes the rest of the job to recover from — and every new project starts the same way.
How SPM Fixes It
13-Week Cash Flow Forecasting
Executive clients get a 13-week cash flow forecast that shows exactly where cash is going, when it's arriving, and where the gaps are — 60 to 90 days in advance. Not reactive. Proactive. Built around your actual billing cycles and payment terms.
Pay-When-Paid Exposure Modeling
We quantify your pay-when-paid exposure by job and build it into your cash flow forecast. You know exactly how much cash you're advancing to GCs and what your collection timeline looks like — so slow payers don't catch you off guard at payroll.
Pay App 1 Billing Restructure
We restructure your schedule of values to recover mobilization, equipment, and setup costs upfront so you're not starting every job in a cash deficit. Core clients get this as part of job costing setup. Executive clients get ongoing billing strategy.
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.
Is cash flow forecasting included in Core Financial?
No. The 13-week cash flow forecast is an Executive Financial deliverable. Core Financial includes job costing, cost-to-complete tracking, and AR management which together give you real-time visibility into job-level cash position. The full forward-looking forecast is Executive tier only. Starts at $2,900/month.
What is the most common cash flow problem SPM fixes?
Underbilling on Pay App 1 combined with pay-when-paid terms. Most subcontractors start every job in a cash deficit and never fully recover it before the next job starts. The fix is restructuring the schedule of values and modeling pay-when-paid exposure by job — both of which are built into the SPM engagement.
What if AR is already slow and collections are a problem?
SPM actively manages AR — not just records it. We track open invoices, flag slow payers, and connect you to our National Lien Services partner when collections need enforcement. Lien services are at additional cost but the AR management and escalation process is built into both tiers.
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.