CONTROLQORE FOR ACOUSTIC CEILING CONTRACTORS.
Generic accounting software can't report grid and tile cost per room, count the re-entries that five trades above the grid cause, or price lay-in production separately from specialty systems. ControlQore can.
ControlQore for acoustic ceiling contractors uses cost codes by scope and by room. The codes are layout, hanger wire and seismic bracing, grid installation, tile drop, specialty systems and punch tile swaps, so labor cost per room is tracked against the rate set in the bid. Above-ceiling inspection sign-offs are recorded by room and treated as the notice to proceed. Every re-entry into a room already gridded posts its own hours with the cause recorded, so the remobilization is a documented cost. Lay-in grid and specialty systems have separate cost histories. The WIP schedule is produced monthly from cost-to-cost percentage complete.
A ceiling is bid by area and lost by the room. Duct, pipe, sprinkler, cable tray and conduit all finish and inspect above the grid before tile drops. So five other trades set your mobilization date, and every extra fix reopens a room your crew already closed out. Access decides the rest. A low corridor and an open lobby you reach only from a lift are the same square footage. They take very different hours, and a job-level labor total can't tell them apart. Check cost per room weekly against the bid. That's early enough to bill the re-entry while the superintendent still remembers whose work caused it.
THE NUMBERS GENERIC SOFTWARE MISSES.
WHAT IT IS.
ControlQore is a job costing and WIP platform for contractors. It tracks cost by job and cost code. An acoustic ceiling subcontractor can see grid and tile cost per room, and the remobilization cost of every room reopened after it was closed, while the floor is still in progress.
WHERE IT GOES WRONG.
Ceiling Labor Blended Across Rooms and Access Conditions
Grid work takes layout skill and lift access, and both change room to room. A low corridor, a mechanical space full of obstructions and an open lobby you reach only from a lift can have the same square footage on a takeoff. They don't take the same hours. Seismic categories add bracing, wire spacing and perimeter details. Those vary by jurisdiction and don't appear on the reflected ceiling plan, and code-comment revisions after permit change them again. Generic accounting software reports one labor total for the job. That averages all of it, so you can't tell which rooms are losing money while there are still floors left to install.
Re-Entries That Nobody Counted
The ceiling closes last in every room because everything is above it. Duct, pipe, sprinkler, cable tray and conduit all finish and inspect before tile goes in. So you mobilize on a date set by five other trades. Your crew grids rooms that then reopen for one more above-ceiling fix, and you pay for the remobilization. Nobody disputes the re-entry, because nobody counted the hours or wrote down whose fix caused it. Without above-ceiling sign-offs recorded by room, you have no record of when you were cleared to work and no basis to bill the second trip.
Lay-In Grid and Specialty Systems in One Book
Standard lay-in grid is production work, priced from repetition. Wood, metal, felt, cloud and open-plenum systems are engineered installations. They have submittal cycles, long-lead custom material and layout closer to millwork than to grid. Price both from one blended cost history and the specialty work gets priced like production, and the production work like specialty. Both are wrong, in opposite directions. The cash curve on specialty systems, with its submittals and lead times, is also nothing like the lay-in curve, and one book can't forecast either.
Tile Damage Booked as a Waste Factor
Ceiling tile is the most fragile finish on the job and the last one in. It's stored on site while every other trade works around the pallets. Spec'd attic stock inflates quantities, large orders need dye-lot matching, and damage happens all the time. When damaged tile and a waste factor post to the same place, the estimate learns the wrong lesson and repeats it next year. Tile damaged by a lift is a back-charge to the trade that operated the lift. You can only bill it if somebody logged the cause.
Retainage Held Behind Everyone Else's Punch
The ceiling is the easiest target on the punch walk, because every scuffed tile is visible from the floor. It's also the last release on the retainage line. You finish near last, so the hold waits on the whole project's closeout. Acoustic ceiling contractors at $1M to $5M net 8 percent before taxes on the SPM 48-trade dataset. So a 10 percent hold rivals the entire profit on the job. The CFOS target at that revenue is 11.5 percent net before taxes. Tile-swap punch labor takes real hours, and most bids include none. Every extra day spent arguing over a scuffed tile is another day the hold is outstanding.
WHAT WE BUILD.
SPM builds ControlQore cost codes for acoustic ceiling clients by scope: mobilization, layout, hanger wire and seismic bracing, grid installation, tile drop, specialty systems, lift and high-access work, and punch tile swaps. Rooms and floors get their own codes, so hours post where they were worked. Each week, actual labor cost per room is compared to the rate in the bid. Seismic bracing is priced by code category. If a jurisdiction's bracing details cost more than the bid assumed, you see it on the first floor.
SPM sets up room-readiness tracking in ControlQore. The above-ceiling inspection sign-off is recorded per room and treated as the notice to proceed for that room. Crews don't grid a room without it. That makes your trade the gatekeeper. Every re-entry after a room is closed posts hours to a remobilization code, with the cause recorded and a photograph attached. That record turns the second trip into a billed change order, and you argue it while the superintendent still remembers the fix.
SPM sets up lay-in grid and specialty engineered systems as separate divisions in ControlQore. Each has its own cost codes, labor history and margin. Lay-in builds a production record you can bid from. Specialty tracks its submittal dates, long-lead material commitments and the cash curve those create, so a deposit on custom wood doesn't read as a bad month. After a few jobs the two divisions report separate gross margins. That's usually the first time an owner sees which one is funding the company.
ControlQore posts ordered quantities against installed quantities by tile type, so your waste factors come from your own history. Spec'd attic stock is tracked as its own line, so it stops inflating the waste number. Dye-lot requirements on large orders are recorded with the order. Damage posts to a log with a cause: site storage, handling by the ceiling crew, or another trade's equipment. The third one is a back-charge with documentation behind it. It only exists if somebody wrote down what happened the day it happened.
The WIP schedule for acoustic ceiling clients is produced monthly from cost-to-cost percentage complete by job. Underbilled positions, meaning work performed but not yet billed, are visible right away and trigger a corrected pay app. That's common in this trade, because room milestones get billed late when the sign-offs are behind. Overbilled positions flag jobs where billing is ahead of production. Retainage is tracked as its own receivable class by job and by GC, with release conditions dated from day one. Tile-swap punch labor is priced into the bid as its own code, so closeout is funded work.
FLAT MONTHLY FEE. NO SOFTWARE INVOICE.
Three tiers, priced by your trailing twelve month revenue. ControlQore comes with Strategic and Platinum, and it never appears as its own line item on an SPM invoice. Which tier you're in depends on how much of the work you want off your desk.
Built for subs doing $1M to $12M. Above $12.5M we quote.
| Last 12 months revenue | Core | Strategic | Platinum | One-time onboarding |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Under $1M | $1,900 | $3,100 | $3,300 | $2,500 |
| $1M to $3.5M | $2,600 | $4,100 | $5,300 | $4,500 |
| $3.5M to $6.5M | $3,800 | $5,900 | $8,300 | $6,000 |
| $6.5M to $9.5M | $5,100 | $7,600 | $11,800 | $7,500 |
| $9.5M to $12.5M | $6,100 | $8,900 | $14,900 | $9,000 |
| Above $12.5M | Quoted | Quoted | Quoted | Quoted |
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, and it moves with your revenue band. Your first month is prorated, and your monthly engagement starts on the first of the first full month.
Just want the setup? Onboarding only is the same onboarding work with no monthly service after it, one time, at the onboarding fee plus $2,000. Start a monthly engagement later and $2,000 counts toward it. It starts at $4,500, and the price for every band is on the pricing page.
The three tier columns are the whole price. Which one fits 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.
- Online software only: QuickBooks, Sage, Viewpoint and similar. No VPN or hosted desktop.
- Not in any tier: payroll, pay applications, collections on receivables.
- Pricing valid through 2027.
CFO work. Your own bookkeeper keeps doing the books.
We build your plan every month. Your team does the work.
You get the CFO work: job costing built to match the way you estimate, a 13 week cash forecast, WIP every month, and a monthly meeting that ends with decisions.
Your bookkeeper still does the books.
Core, plus bookkeeping and bank reconciliations, plus job costing and WIP software set up and managed for you. Use your own online accounting software or we supply it, one price.
We build the plan, track it and adjust it every month.
We only work with trade subcontractors. We know what to look for, and we fix problems while they're still small. 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 pay for it.
Our team does the bookkeeping and the reconciliations. We don't do payroll.
Strategic, plus a controller who handles payables and receivables the way an in-house controller would. You approve every payment.
We manage the money side for you, every week.
Everything in Strategic, plus our team does the controller work. We handle your bills and receivables the way an in-house controller would: we 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.
Our team does the payables and receivables. We don't do payroll, pay applications or collections.
FREQUENTLY ASKED.
