WHY PMS BREAK JOB COSTING.
Job costing fails in the field long before it fails in the books. PMs code costs to the wrong job, estimate percent complete by schedule instead of by cost burn, absorb change order work without triggering a billing event, and approve invoices against the wrong cost codes. The financial system only knows what the PM puts into it.
None of this is intentional. A PM's job is the job: the crew, the schedule, the GC, and the inspector. The financial structure underneath it's somebody else's system as far as the PM is concerned, and it stays that way until somebody explains what the system needs from them. Every number the CFO reports on a job traces back to a PM input, whether that's the coding, the percent complete, or the change order billing. Fix the inputs and the reports fix themselves. Rebuild the reports without fixing the inputs and you get the same wrong answers faster.
WHAT IT MEANS.
Field to financial alignment is the practice of mapping every cost code in the estimate to its job cost code before mobilization, so the PM knows where every receipt, invoice, and labor charge belongs.
The reporting chain goes in one direction. The PM codes the cost, the bookkeeper processes what was coded, the controller closes what was processed, and the CFO reports what was closed. Every step downstream inherits whatever the first step got wrong, which is why fixing job costing inside the accounting software almost never works on its own.
WHERE THE DATA GOES BAD.
Coding costs to the wrong job
A material delivery comes in for Job B while the PM is managing Job A. The invoice gets coded to Job A, because Job A is what was open on the screen. Job A's costs are overstated and Job B's costs are understated, so both job margins are wrong. Nobody catches it until closeout, if anybody catches it at all.
Percent complete by schedule
The PM says 60 percent complete because 60 percent of the schedule is done. Meanwhile 74 percent of the labor budget has been used. The cost to complete reads fine and the WIP reads fine. The job is heading for a loss and nothing in the reporting system flags it, because the PM's input determines everything downstream of it.
Change order work without a billing trigger
The GC approves a verbal change order and the PM directs the crew to proceed. The costs post to the job and nobody submits the change order billing. Three weeks later the PM remembers it, and by then the leverage window is closing. The job has been showing a false loss for weeks, because the cost posted with no revenue to match it.
Approving invoices without checking cost codes
The PM approves an invoice and the cost code field says misc overhead. The PM doesn't catch it, the bookkeeper processes it, and that cost goes to overhead instead of to the job it belongs to. Overhead reads worse and job margin reads better, so both numbers are wrong. The PM was the last checkpoint and waved it through.
THREE THINGS THAT CHANGE.
Before mobilization, the PM, the CFO, the controller, and the estimator get in one room. Every cost code in the estimate gets mapped to its job cost code, every cost category gets explained, and every approval workflow gets confirmed. The PM leaves knowing where every receipt, invoice, and labor charge belongs. That happens before day one rather than after the first month closes.
Every scope change, verbal or written, triggers a change order document before the work starts rather than after it. The leverage exists before the work is done. The PM understands that work performed without a billing event is free work. The CFO tracks open change orders monthly and flags any that have costs with no billing against them.
Every PM reviews their job cost scorecard after close: actual spend by cost code against estimate. It's not a summary and it's not a blended job total. It goes cost code by cost code, with the CFO in the review. When a code is trending over, the PM explains why and what's being done about it, and that review is what turns PM accountability from an idea into a practice.
FLAT MONTHLY FEE. NO SURPRISES.
Three tiers, priced by your trailing twelve month revenue. Which one you're in depends on how much of the work you want off your desk. 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Under $1M | $1,900 to $3,300 | $1,000 |
| $1M to $3.5M | $2,600 to $5,300 | $1,500 |
| $3.5M to $6.5M | $3,800 to $8,300 | $3,000 |
| $6.5M to $9.5M | $5,100 to $11,800 | $4,500 |
| $9.5M to $12.5M | $6,100 to $14,900 | $6,000 |
| $12.5M to $15.5M | $7,400 to $17,650 | $7,500 |
| $15.5M to $18.5M | $9,400 to $22,400 | $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.
Every job shows its margin while it is still open.
Everything in Core, plus the bookkeeping and bank reconciliations done for you, and the job costing and WIP software set up, loaded with your cost codes, and managed every month. Use your own online software, or move to ours and we cover it.
A bookkeeper we choose does the books and reconciliations. No payroll.
You approve, and the money side gets handled.
Everything in Strategic, plus a controller we choose who handles your bills and receivables for you the way an in-house controller would. They call vendors, pay the bills and keep the accounting current. We plan the cash flow first, and you approve every payment because it is your money.
A controller we choose does the payables and receivables. No payroll, no pay applications, no collections.
FREQUENTLY ASKED.
