SITEWORK GROSS MARGIN BENCHMARKS.
Sitework contractors average about 18% gross margin at $1M to $5M, rising to roughly 20% at $5M to $10M. The CFOS target at $1M to $5M is 24%, 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.
Sitework has six points between an 18 percent gross average and a 24 percent target because the package contract hides quantity variance, and six points is $60,000 on a $1M year and $300,000 on a $5M year. Mass-balance assumptions meet real topography, import and export quantities move, and where a grading unit-price contract would expose the change a lump-sum package buries it until closeout. Standby is the other leak, since every utility crew, third-party inspector, and franchise utility passing through the sequence can idle the spread, and standby that's not coded and documented is margin donated to somebody else's delay. Surveyed quantities read against the estimate monthly, plus a standby code with a cause, close most of the six points.
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.
SITEWORK FINANCIAL BENCHMARKS. WHERE YOU SHOULD BE.
| METRIC | INDUSTRY AVERAGE | CFOS TARGET | AT $10M TO $25M | NOTES |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gross Margin ($1M to $5M) | 18% | 24% | 22% | Industry figure rises to 20% at $5M to $10M and 22% at $10M to $25M. |
| Overhead Rate ($1M to $5M) | 15% | 14% | 13% | Falls to 13% 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.
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 published sitework reference. What is survey data here and what is our own analysis 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 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. No add-ons.
| Last 12 months revenue | Monthly fee |
|---|---|
| Up to $1M | $1,900 to $2,900 |
| $1M to $3.5M | $2,600 to $3,900 |
| $3.5M to $6.5M | $3,800 to $5,700 |
| $6.5M to $9.5M | $5,100 to $7,100 |
| $9.5M to $12.5M | $6,100 to $8,500 |
| $12.5M to $15.5M | $7,400 to $11,000 |
| $15.5M to $18.5M | $9,400 to $13,500 |
| $18.5M+ | Quoted individually |
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.
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 rather than a report.
Your bookkeeper keeps doing the books.
You stop touching the books.
Everything in Core, and we run the bookkeeping and the controllership as well. Nobody in your office is answering coding questions or chasing a reconciliation at month end.
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 job costing.
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