WHEN TO SELL EQUIPMENT.
Most construction equipment gets kept too long. Falling utilization, rising maintenance cost, rising repair frequency, and advancing age all point toward a disposition decision that contractors put off, because selling equipment feels like shrinking. The framework replaces the feeling with two numbers: annual true ownership cost against annual internal revenue at the utilization you're getting today.
True cost is the part owners skip. It's the loan payment, or the capital cost equivalent when the machine is paid off, plus depreciation, plus insurance, plus average annual maintenance, plus what repairs realistically cost. Against that is utilization hours times your internal rate, which is what the machine earned off jobs. When cost beats revenue at today's utilization, the machine loses money every month it is in the yard, and the loss grows as maintenance rises. Most contractors never calculate this until a repair bill forces the question for them.
Want Josh to check your own numbers? Financial Health Snapshot, $1,500 one time. Your last 12 months read against your trade's benchmarks, with a 60 minute readout.
WHAT IT MEANS.
The sell-or-keep decision is a comparison of a machine's annual true ownership cost against the internal revenue it generates at its current utilization.
Utilization changes and nobody announces it. The project mix moves, a scope you used to pursue dries up, one GC stops calling, and a machine bought for a schedule that no longer exists stays in the yard earning a fraction of what it used to. The purchase wasn't wrong. The conditions it was built around moved, and the fleet hasn't caught up yet.
WHY THE MACHINE NEVER GETS SOLD.
You're keeping equipment that costs more than it earns
Every machine has a true cost: the loan payment, depreciation, insurance, maintenance, and the opportunity cost of capital tied up in it. When that true cost per available hour is higher than what the machine generates in internal rental income off jobs, the machine loses money every month. Most contractors don't do this calculation until a repair bill forces the decision for them.
Utilization has dropped but the equipment stays
A machine operating at 70 percent utilization when you bought it may be at 30 percent now, because the project mix, the volume, or the scope moved underneath it. At 30 percent utilization the true cost per productive hour rises hard against the 70 percent case. The machine made sense at 70 and it may not make sense at 30, and none of that's a judgment on the original purchase.
Repair cost is approaching replacement value
When annual repair cost gets close to 20 to 30 percent of the machine's current market value, the ownership economics fall apart quickly. You're spending real money maintaining an asset worth less every year. Sell-and-replace or sell-and-rent usually beats continued repair investment at that point, and every quarter you wait shrinks the sale proceeds.
WHAT IT LOOKS LIKE IN DOLLARS.
Those are the three utilization bands the decision is based on. Above 65 percent, keep the machine, because it earns its cost and gives you flexibility on schedule. Between 40 and 65 percent, do the analysis, since the answer depends on the true cost comparison and on whether utilization is trending up or down. Below 40 percent, take selling seriously, because renting equivalent equipment per use is likely cheaper than owning at that rate.
TWO NUMBERS, ONE DECISION.
Annual true ownership cost is the loan payment, or the capital cost equivalent if the machine is paid off, plus depreciation, plus insurance, plus average annual maintenance, plus estimated repair frequency. Annual internal revenue is utilization hours times your internal rate. If annual true cost is higher than annual internal revenue at current utilization, the machine loses money. When the distance between the two is widening, because maintenance is rising while utilization falls, the decision gets more urgent every quarter you leave it.
Above 65 percent utilization, typically keep it, since the asset earns its cost and buys you flexibility on schedule. Between 40 and 65 percent, do the analysis, because the sell-or-rent answer depends on the true cost comparison and on the direction utilization is heading. Below 40 percent, evaluate selling seriously, since renting equivalent equipment per use is likely cheaper than owning at that rate, and the sale proceeds can be redeployed into working capital or a replacement reserve.
SPM produces an annual equipment fleet analysis for clients with real fleets: utilization by asset, true cost by asset, and disposition recommendations for anything underutilized or costing more than it earns. The analysis is built from ControlQore job costing data where equipment hours are already tracked, so the utilization figures come off the jobs rather than out of memory. That's the difference between a fleet decision and a fleet opinion.
FLAT MONTHLY FEE. NO SURPRISES.
Three tiers, priced by your trailing twelve month revenue. Which one you're in depends on how much of the work you want off your desk. No hourly billing. No payroll. The one-time onboarding fee is right here in the table.
Built for subs doing $1M to $12M. Above $12.5M we quote.
| Last 12 months revenue | Core | Strategic | Platinum | One-time onboarding |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Under $1M | $1,900 | $3,100 | $3,300 | $1,000 |
| $1M to $3.5M | $2,600 | $4,100 | $5,300 | $1,500 |
| $3.5M to $6.5M | $3,800 | $5,900 | $8,300 | $3,000 |
| $6.5M to $9.5M | $5,100 | $7,600 | $11,800 | $4,500 |
| $9.5M to $12.5M | $6,100 | $8,900 | $14,900 | $6,000 |
| Above $12.5M | Quoted | Quoted | Quoted | Quoted |
The onboarding fee covers migrating your books back to the start of your last taxable year and getting you fully operational in 60 days. It's billed once, with your first invoice. It's the same for all three tiers, and it moves with your revenue band. Your first month is prorated, and your monthly engagement starts on the first of the first full month.
Just want the setup? Onboarding only is the same onboarding work with no monthly service after it, one time, at the onboarding fee plus $2,000. Start a monthly engagement later and $2,000 counts toward it. It starts at $3,000, and the price for every band is on the pricing page.
The three tier columns are the whole price. Which one fits depends on how much of the work you want off your desk. No payroll. No hidden line items. The onboarding fee is right here in the table.
- Online software only: QuickBooks, Sage, Viewpoint and similar. No VPN or hosted desktop.
- Not in any tier: payroll, pay applications, collections on receivables.
- Pricing valid through 2027.
CFO work. Your own bookkeeper keeps doing the books.
You stop guessing.
You get the CFO work. Job costing built against the way you estimate, a 13 week cash forecast, monthly WIP, and a meeting every month that ends in decisions and never in a report.
Your bookkeeper still does the books.
Core, plus bookkeeping and bank reconciliations, plus job costing and WIP software set up and managed for you. Use your own online accounting software or we supply it, one price.
Every job shows its margin while it is still open.
Everything in Core, plus the bookkeeping and bank reconciliations done for you, and the job costing and WIP software set up, loaded with your cost codes, and managed every month. Use your own online software, or move to ours and we cover it.
A bookkeeper we choose does the books and reconciliations. No payroll.
Strategic, plus a controller who handles payables and receivables the way an in-house controller would. You approve every payment.
You approve, and the money side gets handled.
Everything in Strategic, plus a controller we choose who handles your bills and receivables for you the way an in-house controller would. They call vendors, pay the bills and keep the accounting current. We plan the cash flow first, and you approve every payment because it is your money.
A controller we choose does the payables and receivables. No payroll, no pay applications, no collections.
FREQUENTLY ASKED.
