ENVIRONMENTAL REMEDIATION GROSS MARGIN BENCHMARKS.
Environmental Remediation contractors average about 23% gross margin at $1M to $5M, rising to roughly 24% at $5M to $10M. The CFOS target at $1M to $5M is 25.5%, set at whatever gross margin produces that net profit once your overhead is paid, and never below your trade's own average. The distance between the average and the target is almost always overhead that was never loaded into the rate.
In remediation the biggest lever on the two and a half points between the trade average and the target is technology selection, and two and a half points is $25,000 on a $1M year and $125,000 on a $5M year. Mismatched treatment has a documented 2 to 3 times re-remediation cost while matched technology can cut lifecycle cost 40 to 60 percent, so the margin decision happens before the crew mobilizes. The remediation gross figure at this revenue is derived from the nearest comparable trade in the SPM 48-trade dataset rather than measured directly, so read it as a reference point while you build your own. Disposal class, gate rate by class, and haul distance to a permitted facility are the other three levers, and all of them are countable per load.
How to calculate: Gross margin is Revenue minus Direct Job Costs, divided by Revenue, times 100. Direct job costs include labour, materials, equipment and subcontracted work tied to the job. Not shop overhead, office staff or G and A.
ENVIRONMENTAL REMEDIATION FINANCIAL BENCHMARKS. WHERE YOU SHOULD BE.
| METRIC | INDUSTRY AVERAGE | CFOS TARGET | AT $10M TO $25M | NOTES |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gross Margin ($1M to $5M) | 23% | 25.5% | 26% | Industry figure rises to 24% at $5M to $10M and 26% at $10M to $25M. |
| Overhead Rate ($1M to $5M) | 16% | 15% | 14% | Falls to 14% by $10M to $25M as fixed cost spreads over more revenue. |
| Days Sales Outstanding | 90 days | 45 days | 30 days | Ninety days is weak, 45 is the target, 30 is strong. Nothing else moves cash faster. |
Industry figures are the AVERAGE for the trade at each revenue band, from the SPM Trade Benchmark Reference, not a floor. Net profit is stated before taxes. The CFOS target is what we build toward. The third column is what companies at $10M to $25M average, shown for direction of travel; that is a larger company, which is a different thing from a better run one. The gross margin figures for environmental remediation are derived from the nearest comparable trade in the same dataset, so treat them as a reasonable starting point and not a survey result.
Gross margin and overhead come from CFMA, Jones Maresca and SPM's own trade data, because those are the figures those sources report by trade and size. Net profit is calculated from them as gross margin minus overhead, so the three rows tie. That makes it an operating profit figure: what is left before interest, other income and expense, and the tax planning choices owners make, such as bonuses, depreciation methods and retirement contributions.
Surveys report net income before taxes after those items, so a reported net can run below the figure here. At the typical contractor the difference is small: CFMA's 2025 medians are 7.1 percent before interest and taxes and 6.7 percent net income before taxes. It grows with size. Against the separate measured net profit dataset, the calculated net runs 0.8 points higher at $1M to $5M, 2.2 points at $5M to $10M and 3.5 points at $10M to $25M, because the gross margin and overhead rows change faster with size than reported net profit does. The bands above the $10M to $25M band are published at runoncfos.com as a modeled extension of the same curves. They have not been reconciled against the licensed CFMA Benchmarker, and the calculated net there runs well above survey medians, so read them as a model and not as a survey result.
Trade figures are from the SPM Trade Benchmark Reference, 48 trades, published by Sulphur Prairie Management, LLC. Net profit is stated before taxes, on the same basis CFMA reports, so the two are directly comparable. Re-validate against CFMA reporting on the normal quarterly cycle, per the benchmark reference's own instruction.
The reference itself is published at the full remediation reference. The method behind these numbers separates the survey data from our own analysis.
- 2024 Construction Financial Benchmarker, Executive Summary, Construction Financial Management Association, 2024. 21.8% gross profit margin, 11.8% SG&A and 6.3% net income before taxes across all respondents, with a best-in-class top quartile at 11.9% net income before taxes.
- 2025 Construction Financial Benchmarker, Construction Financial Management Association, 2025. 6.7% net income before taxes (6.3% in 2023), a 7.1% EBIT margin and an 8.8% EBITDA margin at the median, with interest coverage of 30.4 times, across the 1,558 companies in the 2025 analysis (fiscal year 2024 results).
- 2025 Performance Benchmarks, Construction Companies, Jones Maresca and Company, 2025. Specialty contractor gross margin of 15% to 25%, net profit of 5% to 8% for a well managed company, and total indirect cost of 8% to 15%.
The same metric across every trade is published on Gross Margin by Trade, and the full dataset for all 48 trades across the published revenue bands is available as JSON and CSV, with one plain-language statement per row. Free to use with attribution.
FLAT MONTHLY FEE. NO SURPRISES.
Priced by trailing 12 month revenue. No hourly billing. No payroll. The one-time onboarding fee is right here in the table.
| Last 12 months revenue | Monthly fee | One-time onboarding |
|---|---|---|
| Up to $1M | $1,900 to $2,900 | $1,000 |
| $1M to $3.5M | $2,600 to $3,900 | $1,500 |
| $3.5M to $6.5M | $3,800 to $5,700 | $3,000 |
| $6.5M to $9.5M | $5,100 to $7,100 | $4,500 |
| $9.5M to $12.5M | $6,100 to $8,500 | $6,000 |
| $12.5M to $15.5M | $7,400 to $11,000 | $7,500 |
| $15.5M to $18.5M | $9,400 to $13,500 | $9,000 |
| $18.5M+ | Quoted individually | Quoted individually |
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. Your first month is prorated, and your monthly engagement starts on the first of the first full month.
Range reflects the three tiers below. Which one you're in 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.
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.
You stop touching the books.
Everything in Core, and we run the bookkeeping and the controllership as well. Your office stops answering coding questions and stops chasing a reconciliation on the last day of the month.
We do the books. No payroll.
Every job shows its margin while it's still running.
Everything in Executive, plus the job costing and WIP platform set up, loaded with your cost codes, and managed for you every month. You never have to learn it.
We do the books, the job costing, and the software. No payroll.
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