Labor Productivity · Job Costing · Earned Value · Construction Labor Management
Labor Productivity · Job Costing · Units Per Hour · Earned Value · Construction Labor
Labor Productivity
Tracking.
Labor is the most controllable cost on a construction job — and the hardest to track in real time. Most subcontractors discover labor overruns at job closeout, when there's nothing left to do about them. Tracking labor productivity during the job — units installed per hour against estimated units per hour — turns labor cost from a lagging indicator into a leading one.
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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 Find Out About Labor Overruns at Closeout
The job closed. The cost report came out. Labor was 30% over estimate. By then the crew is on the next job, the conditions that caused the overrun are months in the past, and there's nothing to be done about the current job. Labor productivity tracking during the job would have surfaced the overrun in week 3 — when there was still time to adjust crew size, change the work sequence, or submit a change order.
02
Your Labor Estimate and Your Job Costing Use Different Units
Your estimate was built in hours per unit — linear feet of pipe, square feet of drywall, tons of asphalt. Your job costing tracks hours by cost code. You can't compare them directly without a manual calculation that most foremen and PMs don't have time to run. The disconnect between estimating units and job costing hours makes labor productivity tracking practically impossible.
03
You Don't Know Which Crews or Foremen Are Productive
When labor overruns happen, most contractors know the job was over on labor but not which phase, which crew, or which foreman generated the overrun. Without foreman-level or crew-level labor tracking, the information needed to make better deployment decisions on future jobs doesn't exist.
How SPM Fixes It
Units-Based Labor Tracking in ControlQore
SPM builds estimate-aligned labor cost codes in ControlQore that track both hours and units — so actual units installed can be compared to estimated units per hour in real time. When a phase is 60% through its estimated hours but only 40% through its estimated units, the productivity gap is visible before the phase closes.
Weekly Labor Productivity Review
For Executive clients with significant labor-intensive scopes, SPM produces a weekly labor productivity summary — actual hours versus earned hours (hours that should have been spent based on units actually installed) by phase and by cost code. The report surfaces productivity gaps while the job is still running and while there's time to act.
Foreman-Level Labor Cost Tracking
For clients who want crew-level or foreman-level visibility, SPM sets up foreman-level labor cost codes in ControlQore so hours are tracked by crew. Over time, this data reveals which crews consistently perform at or above estimate and which consistently run over — informing crew deployment decisions on future similar projects.
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
Most Popular
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.
What is earned value in construction labor tracking?
Earned value is the budgeted hours for work actually completed — calculated by multiplying units installed by the estimated hours per unit. If you estimated 0.5 hours per linear foot of conduit and you've installed 200 linear feet, your earned value is 100 hours. If you've actually spent 130 hours to install those 200 feet, you're 30 hours over on labor productivity. Earned value makes the comparison between estimated and actual productivity objective and comparable across projects.
How often should labor productivity be reviewed on an active job?
Weekly at minimum for jobs where labor is a significant cost component. On fast-moving jobs — concrete pours, drywall hang, electrical rough-in — daily productivity checks by the foreman are appropriate. The goal is to catch a productivity problem in the same week it starts, not at the end of the phase. SPM implements the reporting cadence that matches the pace of each client's work.
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.