CONTROLQORE FOR SECURITY SYSTEM CONTRACTORS.
Generic accounting software can tell you the monitoring book billed. It can't tell you which accounts inside it earned anything, what a device cost to install against the bid, or what last quarter's attrition did to the value of the book. ControlQore can.
ControlQore for security system contractors has two cost structures at once. Install work is costed by device type and system function, meaning panel and power, cable and pathway, camera installation, reader and access control hardware, door hardware interface, head-end and programming, and commissioning, which produces installed cost per device against the bid. Recurring work is costed per contract, with wholesale monitoring cost, platform fees per account, and service truck rolls posted against that account's monthly rate, which produces a per-contract P&L. Install and RMR operate as separate divisions with separate overhead recovery, and RMR mix and attrition report monthly.
Security system contractors at $1M to $5M net 6 percent before taxes on the SPM 48-trade dataset, and the CFOS target at that revenue is 10 percent before taxes. The recurring book is why that distance is worth closing. Monitoring books transact at roughly 28x to 60x monthly recurring revenue, recurring-mix integrators clear 6x to 9x EBITDA against 4x to 5x for project-only shops, and the published contrast is blunt: a $2M-EBITDA project shop clears $8M to $10M at sale, while the same EBITDA at a 40 percent RMR mix clears $14M to $18M. RMR is now 38.5 percent of industry revenue, up from 33 percent two years earlier. An owner who can't state RMR mix, per-contract margin, and attrition is letting somebody else's spreadsheet price the company.
THE NUMBERS GENERIC SOFTWARE MISSES.
WHAT IT IS.
ControlQore is a job costing and WIP platform for contractors that tracks cost by job, cost code, and contract, so a security integrator can read installed cost per device on the project side and profit per monitoring account on the recurring side.
WHERE IT GOES WRONG.
The Book Bills, and Nobody Can Say Which Accounts Earn
The industry's own trade press says it in owner language: RMR contracts are billing, but nobody can tell you which ones are profitable. Wholesale monitoring cost, platform fees charged per account and service truck rolls against flat-rate obligations wear down each contract without anyone seeing it. Aging systems on flat-rate service are where it starts. The book grows while margin per account falls. A single monitoring revenue line on the P&L can't show either half of that. Only per-contract profit shows it.
Install and Monitoring Blended Into One P&L
Integrators typically have 60 to 75 percent one-time install revenue against 25 to 40 percent recurring service contracts. Installs pay big and slow on construction terms, with pay applications, retainage and the 51-day average wait Billd reported in 2026. Monitoring pays small and fast on subscription terms. One P&L across both covers up which business funds the other. It misprices both every month, and you can't see the RMR mix that decides what the company is worth at exit.
Attrition Reported Annually or Never
Attrition is the biggest factor in what an RMR book is worth. Each point of monthly attrition below the category baseline can add 2x to 3x of multiple. It's also a plain operating loss. Every canceled account wipes out contracted future revenue that cost real install labor to create, on commercial customers who often stay 7 to 12 years. Most integrators look at churn at renewal season or not at all. The buyers who will one day price your business look at it monthly.
No Installed Cost Per Device on the Project Side
The install division lives in the same pay-application and retainage world as every other subcontractor, and it usually gets costed the same way, as one labor total per job. Cameras, readers, panels, access control hardware, and pathway consume different labor at different rates, and low-voltage labor licensing varies by state on top of that. Without cost per device by type, the estimator can't tell whether the last project missed on cabling, on head-end programming, or on commissioning, so the next bid repeats it.
Overhead Recovered on One Revenue Type
Licensing, UL and certification requirements, monitoring platforms, central-station costs, 24/7 service obligations and fleet all add to a security integrator's overhead. That overhead has to be recovered from both revenue types on purpose. When you build recovery into install pricing only, the monitoring book ends up paying for the building, and per-account margin reads worse than the accounts really are. The fix is a recovery rate calculated per division.
WHAT WE BUILD.
SPM sets ControlQore up so every monitoring account is its own costed object. Wholesale monitoring cost, platform fees per account and service truck rolls post to the contract that caused them, against that contract's monthly rate. The per-contract P&L gets reviewed quarterly. The accounts at the bottom of it get a decision: reprice, restructure the service obligation, or let it go. Contract term, escalator and assignability are recorded next to the margin, because buyers price all three.
Install and recurring are two divisions in ControlQore, with separate P&Ls and separate overhead recovery, because the valuation market prices them separately. Install comes with pay applications, retainage and the 51-day wait. Recurring uses subscription billing that pays small and fast. With the divisions split, you can state your RMR mix any day, before a buyer works it out for you. The same split keeps install pricing from paying for thin monitoring accounts.
RMR mix and monthly attrition go on the CEO report every month, next to gross margin and cash. Attrition is reported as accounts lost and RMR lost, with a reason coded to each cancellation, so operations can act on churn. Monitoring books sell at roughly 28x to 60x monthly recurring revenue. So a point of attrition changes what the company is worth, and it gets discussed that way in the monthly meeting.
SPM builds install cost codes by device type and system function: panel and power, cable and pathway, camera installation, reader and access control hardware, door hardware interface, head-end and programming, and commissioning. Labor and material post to the device that used them, so installed cost per device is compared weekly to the bid. Completed jobs give you an actual cost per device by type, and that calibrates the next estimate.
The install division gets a WIP schedule monthly from cost-to-cost percentage complete by job. Underbilled positions, meaning devices installed and not yet billed, trigger a corrected pay application. Overbilled positions flag jobs where billing is ahead of installed devices. The recurring division stays out of WIP, because subscription revenue has no percentage complete. Keeping it out is part of why the schedule holds up with a bonding agent or a banker.
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.
