CONTROLQORE FOR PLUMBING CONTRACTORS.
Generic accounting software can't read cost by phase from underground through trim-out, weight a schedule of values so rough-in bills at what rough-in costs, or reconcile a fixture allowance while the selection is still open. ControlQore can.
ControlQore for plumbing contractors uses cost codes by phase: underground, rough-in, top-out and trim-out. Each phase has its own labor, pipe and fixture cost against its own estimate. The schedule of values is reviewed before signing and weighted to where the money is spent. Trim-out is set up as a separate remobilization line, apart from the percentage of the whole. Copper and pipe get a dated price basis in every bid, and every fixture substitution delta is priced as a change order. The WIP schedule is produced monthly from cost-to-cost percentage complete.
Plumbing spends its money in two big pushes, with months of quiet between them. Underground and rough-in use the labor and the pipe early. The crew leaves while walls close and finishes go in. Then trim-out comes back months later to collect the last of the money behind punch and retainage. A flat percent-complete schedule of values bills that curve as if the cost were level. It underbills the front of the job and leaves money stuck at the back. Plumbing contractors at $1M to $5M net 9 percent before taxes on the SPM 48-trade dataset, against a CFOS target of 12.5 percent before taxes. The usual cause is a construction-heavy mix. Bad pricing is less often the cause.
THE NUMBERS GENERIC SOFTWARE MISSES.
WHAT IT IS.
ControlQore is a job costing and WIP platform for commercial subcontractors at $1M to $12M. It tracks cost by job and cost code. A plumbing contractor can read cost per phase, meaning underground, rough-in, top-out and trim-out, against what that phase is being billed at.
The two pushes are how the trade works. On a commercial plumbing contract, the underground crew is in the dirt before the slab. A rough-in crew comes back through the walls and tops out the risers. Then you leave the site while drywall, paint and flooring take over. Trim-out is a second mobilization on a job the accounting system thinks is nearly finished.
So every financial decision in this trade is a phase decision. Which phase is over. Which phase is billed ahead of its cost. Which phase took the change order nobody priced. A job cost report with one plumbing total per project can't answer any of those. That's why the fix here starts with the cost codes, before collections.
WHERE IT GOES WRONG.
Four Phases Reported as One Job Total
Underground, rough-in, top-out and trim-out are four different jobs with four different crews, cost structures and durations. Generic software adds them together and reports one plumbing number per job. A rough-in that went 400 hours long disappears behind an underground phase that beat the estimate. By the time trim-out closes the job out nine months later, nobody can rebuild which phase lost the money or why.
A Flat Schedule of Values Against a Two-Hump Spend
Cost comes early and collection comes late. A GC-drafted schedule of values that bills straight-line percent complete underbills the underground and rough-in phases, where you spend the labor and the pipe. It leaves the trim-out remobilization to be recovered behind punch, closeout and retainage. That's the rough-in cash hole. It's a billing setup problem, and collections won't fix it.
Fixture Allowances Reconciled at Closeout
Fixture packages are bought against owner allowances. Selections come in late, substitutions come in later, and the reconciliation happens at the end of the job when there's nothing left to negotiate against. Unpriced deltas you took on as favors during the job become back-charges at closeout, and you're the one holding them. The allowance was a budget with a number on it. Nothing in generic accounting software tracks the difference.
Copper Bought Across a Year, Priced Once at Bid
Copper was at $5.92 per pound in May 2026, up 24.75 percent on the year under a 50 percent tariff. A plumbing contractor buys it across every phase of a multi-year job. A fixed bid with no dated price basis and no escalation clause is a commodity bet you made by accident, in the customer's favor. PEX resin and cast iron move on their own cycles. You can't see any of that on a job cost report that only holds a total material number.
Under-Slab Surprises Covered Before They Were Documented
Rock, groundwater and mislocated existing lines under the slab are changed conditions only if somebody photographed, measured and priced them before backfill. After the pour, the evidence is gone and the cost is a donation. Plumbing is the first trade in the dirt, so it meets these conditions first. It pays for them more often than any other trade on the job.
WHAT WE BUILD.
SPM builds ControlQore cost codes for plumbing clients by the phases the trade works in: underground, rough-in, top-out and trim-out. Each is split by labor, pipe and material, and fixtures. Each code matches a category in the estimate, so a foreman's hours post to the same bucket the bid was built in. Weekly reports check each active phase against its own estimate. Any phase more than 10 percent over for two weeks in a row gets flagged while that phase is still on site.
SPM reviews every new plumbing schedule of values before it's signed and recommends weighting that fits the trade's cost curve. Underground and rough-in bill at what those phases really cost. Material stored on site is billable where the contract allows it. Trim-out is its own remobilization line, apart from straight-line percent complete. The review takes one meeting, and the cash benefit lasts the length of the job.
Fixture allowances are set up in ControlQore as their own budget lines and tracked against the selections as each one closes. Selection deadlines with schedule consequences go in the contract. Every substitution delta is priced as a change order before the fixture is ordered. Then you reconcile while there's still contract left to negotiate against. That's the only time it works in your favor.
Every bid records the date its copper, PEX and cast iron pricing was taken. Long jobs include an escalation clause indexed to a published reference. Underground and rough-in material packages get bought out early where the schedule allows it. In ControlQore, material posts to the phase that used it. When copper moves, you see which phase took the increase.
The steps are the same every time. Photograph the condition before anything is covered. Measure and log it the same day. Notify the GC in writing. Price the change order before the crew works around it. In ControlQore the change order gets its own cost code, so the added cost stays visible as changed conditions. It doesn't get mixed into the underground phase and make the crew look slow.
The WIP schedule is produced monthly from cost-to-cost percentage complete on live ControlQore data. On a job with two big pushes, this report finds the problem early. Heavy cost in rough-in with light billing behind it reads as underbilled. A job billed to 70 percent with trim-out still ahead of it reads as overbilled. You see both months before the closeout cash either one implies.
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.
