Annual Budget · Construction Finance · Revenue Planning · Overhead · Cash Flow Planning
Annual Budget · Construction Finance · Revenue Planning · Overhead Budget · Cash Flow
Construction Company
Budget Guide.
Most construction subcontractors don't build formal annual budgets. They look at last year's revenue and overhead, assume something similar for next year, and manage to whatever comes in. That approach works until it doesn't — when overhead grows faster than revenue, when a slow season depletes reserves, or when growth outpaces working capital. A formal annual budget changes the financial management posture from reactive to deliberate.
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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 Managing to Last Year's Numbers Without a Plan for This Year
Last year's revenue and overhead are backward-looking. This year's backlog, pipeline, overhead commitments, and capital plans are forward-looking. Managing without a budget means managing to history instead of intentionally toward where you want to go. The budget is the financial expression of your business plan for the year.
02
Overhead Commitments Are Made Without a Revenue Plan to Support Them
Hiring a new office manager, signing a new truck lease, adding a software platform — these overhead commitments are often made when business is good without modeling whether the revenue to support them will continue. A budget requires projecting revenue first and then sizing overhead to fit — not the reverse.
03
You Don't Know What Revenue You Need to Hit Your Financial Goals
If the goal is to distribute $200K to owners this year while building working capital and covering all overhead, what revenue does that require? The budget answers this question before the year starts — revealing whether the goal is achievable with current backlog and pipeline or whether new business development needs to happen.
How SPM Fixes It
The Construction Budget — Four Components
Revenue plan: projected revenue by month based on backlog, pipeline, and historical seasonal patterns. Overhead budget: projected G&A expenses by category — staff, facilities, insurance, equipment, vehicles, software — by month. Job margin target: the gross profit percentage required to cover overhead and hit net profit goals. Cash flow projection: monthly cash in and out based on revenue plan, collection timing, overhead commitments, and planned distributions.
Bottom-Up vs. Top-Down Budgeting
Top-down: set a revenue target based on goals, then size overhead to generate target net profit. Works when revenue is somewhat predictable and overhead is largely discretionary. Bottom-up: start with committed overhead and backlog, calculate the revenue required to hit profit goals, then identify the gap to fill through new business development. Better for contractors with high fixed overhead and uncertain pipelines. SPM uses the approach that fits each client's business model.
Annual Budget as Part of Executive Financial
Executive clients build an annual budget with SPM at the start of each year — projected revenue by month, overhead by category, job margin targets, and distribution plan. The budget is loaded into ControlQore so actual performance is compared to budget every month rather than to prior year alone. When actuals diverge from budget, the variance surfaces in the monthly meeting with a specific explanation and recommendation for the rest of the year.
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
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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 accurate does a construction budget need to be?
Directionally accurate is more valuable than precisely accurate. A budget that gets revenue within 10–15% and overhead within 5% for the year is a useful management tool — it gives you a benchmark to measure against and flags when actuals are diverging from plan early enough to act. Trying to build a budget accurate to the dollar is a waste of time in a project-based business where individual job timing creates inherent revenue variability.
When should the annual budget be built?
Ideally in October or November for a January start — allowing time to review prior year actuals, assess current backlog and pipeline, make overhead commitments for the new year, and set distribution targets before the year begins. Building the budget in February or March of the budget year is late — several months of actuals have already occurred without a plan to measure against. SPM schedules the annual budget process with Executive clients in Q4.
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.