Committed Costs · Actual Costs · Job Costing · Cost-to-Complete · Construction
Committed Costs · Actual Costs · Purchase Orders · Job Costing · Construction Accounting
Committed Costs vs.
Actual Costs.
Most construction job costing systems show you what you've spent. The best ones show you what you've committed to spend — the purchase orders, subcontracts, and approved change orders that will hit your job cost even though no invoice has arrived yet. The difference between committed cost job costing and actual cost job costing is the difference between knowing your job outcome in advance and discovering it at closeout.
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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
Your Job Cost Only Shows What's Been Invoiced
If your job costing only reflects invoices that have been processed, your cost picture is always behind. A $200K subcontract that's 80% complete has $160K of cost committed — but if the invoices haven't arrived yet, your job cost shows nothing. Your cost-to-complete estimate, your WIP, and your profit projection are all wrong as a result.
02
You Don't Know Your Exposure on Open Purchase Orders
Material purchase orders, equipment rentals, and subcontract commitments represent real financial obligations even before an invoice arrives. Without tracking committed costs, these obligations are invisible in your job costing until they hit — often all at once at the end of a phase.
03
Your WIP Is Inaccurate Because Committed Costs Aren't Included
A WIP schedule is only as accurate as the cost data feeding it. If committed costs aren't in job costing, percent complete calculations understate true cost incurred, overbilled and underbilled positions are wrong, and the financial picture your surety is reviewing doesn't reflect reality.
How SPM Fixes It
Tracking Committed Costs in ControlQore
ControlQore tracks committed costs separately from actual costs — purchase orders, subcontract values, and approved change orders are entered when committed, not when invoiced. Your job cost shows total committed cost (what you've obligated) and actual cost (what you've been invoiced for) simultaneously. Cost-to-complete estimates are based on total committed cost, not just invoiced cost.
Purchase Order Workflow Built Into Job Costing
SPM sets up a purchase order workflow in ControlQore during onboarding so material orders and subcontract commitments are entered at the time of commitment. When the invoice arrives, it's matched against the existing PO rather than entered as a new cost — preventing double-coding and giving you a clean committed vs. invoiced cost comparison by job.
Accurate WIP From Committed Cost Data
With committed costs in ControlQore, WIP calculations are based on true economic cost — not just what's been invoiced. Percent complete, earned revenue, overbilled and underbilled positions are all calculated from the complete cost picture. Executive clients receive monthly WIP that reflects committed costs and produces an accurate financial picture for surety and bank review.
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.
What counts as a committed cost?
Committed costs include: signed subcontracts (full contract value), approved purchase orders for materials, executed equipment rental agreements, and approved change orders from your own subcontractors. Cost estimates, verbal agreements, and unapproved purchase requests are not committed costs — they may be included in cost-to-complete forecasts but not in committed cost tracking.
How does committed cost tracking change my cost-to-complete?
With committed costs tracked, cost-to-complete equals total estimated cost minus total committed cost minus actual cost incurred. Without committed costs, cost-to-complete is estimated from scratch each month — which is time-consuming and less accurate. The committed cost approach produces more reliable cost-to-complete estimates because a large portion of remaining cost is already locked in via purchase orders and subcontracts.
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.