A GOOD CFO. THE WRONG INDUSTRY.
A generalist fractional CFO firm serves software companies, clinics, retailers and contractors from one playbook. A construction fractional CFO builds the finance function around how a subcontractor earns money: job costing against the estimate, monthly WIP and cost to complete, retainage tracked by job, and a 13 week cash forecast that follows pay application dates. If you are a commercial sub or a self-performing GC from $1M to $12M, the construction specialist will reach useful numbers sooner, because nothing has to be translated from another industry first.
Most generalist fractional CFOs are capable people. The issue is the starting point. Their standard reports are a monthly profit and loss, a budget against actual, and a cash forecast built on invoice terms. On a construction company that profit and loss can be correct and still say nothing about which job lost money, because revenue on open jobs depends on percent complete, 5 to 10 percent of every invoice is held as retainage for months, and a pay app approved on the 25th can mean cash 60 to 90 days later. A generalist can learn all of that. The question is whether you want to pay for the learning.
WHAT EACH ONE DOES.
| Capability | Generalist Fractional CFO | Construction Fractional CFO |
|---|---|---|
| Industries served | Many, from one standard playbook | Construction only: commercial subs and self-performing GCs |
| Job costing | Usually by expense type, or by job when asked | By job and phase, using the cost codes you estimate with |
| WIP schedule and cost to complete | Only if the firm has construction clients | Every month, on every open job |
| Retainage | Booked as a receivable | Tracked by job, with the closeout documents required to release it |
| Cash forecast | Built on invoice terms | 13 weeks, built on pay app dates and GC pay cycles |
| Benchmarks | General industry ratios | 48 trades by revenue band, with the source of every figure |
| Published price | Rarely: 9 of the 24 firms in our 2026 study publish one | Every revenue band through $12.5M, above that quoted |
| Stated client size | Often missing: 9 of the 24 firms in our 2026 study state no revenue range | $1M to $12M |
| Audited statements and tax returns | Some CPA owned firms do both | Neither. Your CPA keeps that work |
The two counts of 24 come from the construction CFO firm study, which scores 24 firms that serve contractors, SPM included, and links every fact to a public page. Firms that serve every industry are less likely to publish either figure than the construction firms in that study.
THE TASKS EACH ROLE OWNS.
These are the tasks a construction company assigns to each role, taken from the full chart of who owns each task in a subcontractor. Open a role to see its tasks.
CFO, 5 tasks
- Set up the system. Set up the chart of accounts, which is the profit and loss statement at the business level.
- Set up the system. Choose the job cost codes, aligned with the business strategy and the work the company performs.
- Review the numbers every month. Build the 13 week cash flow forecast: week by week, with the bank account starting Monday and ending Sunday.
- Review the numbers every month. Build the CEO report: a rolling 12 months from the profit and loss statement and the balance sheet.
- Review the numbers every month. Send the WIP report to the bank or surety.
Controller, 15 tasks
- Set up the system. Set up the chart of accounts, which is the profit and loss statement at the business level.
- Set up the system. Enter the cost codes into the accounting software.
- Decide what to bid and win it. Open the project in the accounting system once it's awarded.
- Manage the job. Charge equipment to projects each month.
- Pay the crews and the vendors. Code credit card transactions and invoices to the job, using the cost codes set up at the start.
- Pay the crews and the vendors. Pay the invoices when the money comes in for the project, as long as there's a current COI and W-9.
- Pay the crews and the vendors. Hold retention on the subs, and track it on the sub's pay application.
- Bill and collect. Send lien waivers with the pay application, and collect them from subs when they're paid.
- Bill and collect. Send a weekly aging report.
- Bill and collect. If the contract's payment deadline passes without payment, send a notice of nonpayment with the intent to lien.
- Review the numbers every month. Close the books by the 10th: reconciled and balanced, so the numbers for that month and earlier months don't change.
- Review the numbers every month. Keep the WIP report current.
- Review the numbers every month. Send the WIP report to the bank or surety.
- Review the numbers every month. Bill retention at the time it can be collected.
- Close out. Close the project in the accounting system once all payments are received.
Accounting team (AP, AR and bookkeeping), 9 tasks
- Decide what to bid and win it. Open the project in the accounting system once it's awarded.
- Manage the job. Charge equipment to projects each month.
- Pay the crews and the vendors. Code credit card transactions and invoices to the job, using the cost codes set up at the start.
- Pay the crews and the vendors. Pay the invoices when the money comes in for the project, as long as there's a current COI and W-9.
- Pay the crews and the vendors. Hold retention on the subs, and track it on the sub's pay application.
- Bill and collect. Send lien waivers with the pay application, and collect them from subs when they're paid.
- Bill and collect. Send a weekly aging report.
- Bill and collect. If the contract's payment deadline passes without payment, send a notice of nonpayment with the intent to lien.
- Close out. Close the project in the accounting system once all payments are received.
See the Accounting team (AP, AR and bookkeeping) tasks on the full chart
WHEN YOU NEED CAPITAL OR A DEAL.
A fractional CFO firm that serves every industry is a fair choice when the work in front of you is not construction specific: raising equity, getting ready for a sale to a buyer outside the trades, a multi entity structure with a real estate company and an operating company, or a lender package where the lender cares more about the balance sheet than about jobs.
It also fits a contractor above the size SPM serves who already has a construction controller in house. In that setup the controller owns job costing and WIP, and the outside CFO brings capital markets and deal experience. Ask any firm for a construction case study with numbers before you sign, and ask who on the team has read a WIP schedule.
WHEN YOU NEED TO KNOW WHICH JOBS EARN.
A construction specialist is the better fit when the questions are about the work: which jobs make money while they are still open, what the overhead rate is this month and what it should add to the next bid, whether the cash in week 9 covers payroll, and how much bonding capacity the balance sheet supports.
SPM is built for commercial subcontractors and self-performing GCs from $1M to $12M. Job costing is set up to match how you estimate, WIP and cost to complete are reviewed every month, retainage is tracked by job with the closeout documents it needs, and every month ends in a meeting with written to dos and dates. Prices for every revenue band are published before you call.
WHERE WE COME OUT.
For a commercial sub or a self-performing GC from $1M to $12M, the construction specialist. The generalist may know finance just as well. The work that moves profit at that size is job costing that matches the estimate, a WIP review every month, retainage that gets collected, and a cash forecast built on pay app dates. A specialist starts there on the first day. A generalist starts with a profit and loss that can be correct and still unable to say which job lost money.
Pick the generalist when the job is capital, a sale or a structure question that has little to do with how the work gets built, or when you already have a construction controller and want deal experience on top. Either way, ask for a construction case study with numbers and a price for your revenue band before the first call. Our own scores, including where SPM scored low, are in the construction CFO firm study.
FREQUENTLY ASKED.
