CONTROLQORE FOR GRADING CONTRACTORS.
Generic accounting software can't read actual cost per CY against your estimated unit price, break idle rate out by machine, or flag a cost code that has run over for two weeks straight. ControlQore can.
ControlQore for grading contractors uses cost codes by cut and fill category and by machine, aligned to the same structure as the grading estimate. Foremen post actual costs daily, so every week you can read actual cost per CY against the estimated unit price. Equipment idle rate is reported monthly by machine, and the WIP schedule is produced monthly from cost-to-cost percentage complete. Setup takes 30 days and clients are fully operational in 60 days.
The difference isn't the length of the report list. It's when you find out. A grading P&L tells you the month was fine or it wasn't, and by then the pad is signed off and the scrapers are on the next site. Cost codes built to the estimate turn the same hours, fuel, and machine time into a cost per CY you can compare to the unit price you bid. Read that in week two and you can still change the spread, swap a machine, or document a changed condition while the work is still in front of you.
THE NUMBERS GENERIC SOFTWARE MISSES.
WHAT IT IS.
ControlQore is purpose-built job costing and WIP reporting software for commercial subcontractors at $1M to $12M, and for a grading contractor it reports actual cost per CY against the estimated unit price by cut and fill category every week.
Grading is measured in cubic yards, so cost per CY is the number every other number on the job answers to. The estimate prices cut, fill, import, and compaction as separate operations, and ControlQore is built to report actual cost the same way, code by code, week by week. QuickBooks reports total labor cost by job, which is the limit of what it was built to do.
WHERE IT GOES WRONG.
No Cost Per CY Visibility
QuickBooks job tracking reports total labor cost by job. ControlQore reports actual cost per CY against the estimated unit price, every week, by cut and fill category. A cost code running more than 10% over estimated cost for two consecutive weeks is the job telling you something while there's still dirt left to move. At final measurement, those hours are already spent and the only lever left is a claim.
Cut and Fill Blended Into One Cost History
A grading estimate prices cut, fill, import, and compaction as separate operations, and then the accounting system collects all of it as one job cost total. Cut in rock and fill off an on-site stockpile don't cost the same per CY, and neither does import hauled by the ton. When one blended number is all you have, next year's bid gets built on an average that fits none of the four. Grading gross margin runs 18% at $1M to $5M, which leaves no room for a bid that's systematically wrong in either direction.
Idle Machines Charged to Nobody
A motor grader, a scraper, and a compactor sitting between phases still cost you the monthly payment, the insurance, and the yard time. Without a cost code per machine and a monthly count of billable hours against available hours, idle time disappears into overhead and the fleet looks cheaper than it is. Grading overhead runs 16% at $1M to $5M, the heaviest in the dirt family, and utilization by machine is the number that moves it.
WHAT WE BUILD.
SPM builds ControlQore cost codes for grading clients to match the estimate format: CY of cut by soil type, CY of fill by material type, import material by ton, and compaction passes. Each cost code maps to the corresponding category in the grading estimate, so actual against estimated is a direct comparison instead of a reconciliation. Labor, fuel, equipment time, and trucking post to the correct code. Foremen post actual costs daily.
Every week ControlQore reports actual cost per CY against the estimated unit price for each cost code. When any cost code runs more than 10% over estimated cost for two consecutive weeks, SPM flags it, and the review starts with the foreman rather than with the closeout. That's early enough to change the spread, swap a machine, or document a changed condition while the work is still in front of you.
The motor grader, the scraper, and the compactor each get their own cost code in ControlQore. Monthly reporting counts actual billable hours against available hours per machine, so idle rate is visible one machine at a time instead of buried in a fleet total. That number is what tells you whether to keep a machine, rent instead of own, or move it to a site that can keep it working.
The WIP schedule is produced monthly from ControlQore data using cost-to-cost percentage complete by job. Overbilled and underbilled positions are listed, and projected final margin is updated from the actual cost trajectory. The owner also gets a job-level P&L by cost code, a 13 week cash flow forecast, and an AR aging and collections report. Most clients clear $50,000 to $200,000 in earned AR in the first 30 days of engagement.
THE OUTPUTS, LISTED.
FLAT MONTHLY FEE. NO SOFTWARE INVOICE.
Three tiers, priced by your trailing twelve month revenue. ControlQore comes with Strategic, 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.
| 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.
FREQUENTLY ASKED.
