Marine Contractor Net Profit Margin
Healthy net profit margin for a marine contractor doing $3M–$10M is 8–14%. Most operators run 3–7%. The gap comes from miscategorized equipment costs inflating overhead, no per-project visibility, and government pay cycles that are never priced as carrying costs. A $13.5M marine GC recovered $917K per year in margin — going from 7% to 14% net — after installing per-project job costing and correcting cost classification. Same revenue. Same crews.
Net profit is the number left after every cost — project costs, overhead, everything. For marine contractors it is genuinely hard to calculate accurately because equipment idle costs, vessel standby, and dive team mobilization blur the line between direct costs and overhead. Most operators are running with a net margin number they cannot explain because the underlying cost allocation is wrong. When the classification is corrected and per-project reporting is installed, the real number surfaces — and in most cases it is significantly lower than what the books show.
What the Numbers Should Look Like
What 14% net looks like in practice: A $13.5M marine GC had 7% net and a $2.3M valuation. After 9 months of CFOS — per-project job costing, spending scrutiny, clean reporting — net went to 14% and the valuation reached $5.5M at a 3x multiple. The revenue did not change. The system did. Full case study →
FLAT MONTHLY FEE. NO SURPRISES.
Two tiers based on trailing 12-month revenue. No hourly billing. No payroll. No add-ons.
- ControlQore setup and job costing structure
- Books migrated to start of last taxable year
- Full-service bookkeeping and bank reconciliations
- Monthly job cost reports
- Everything in Core Financial
- Monthly CFO advisory meeting
- Controllership and WIP reporting
- Cash forecasting and AR follow-up rhythm
- Strategic accountability
Onboarding: 60 days. Full pricing by revenue band →
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