CONTROLQORE FOR SOLAR CONTRACTORS.
Generic accounting software can't report install cost per module by phase, track the begin-construction evidence that decides whether the 30 percent credit exists, or price the wait for energization as a cost. ControlQore can.
ControlQore for solar contractors uses cost codes by phase: mobilization, racking, module setting, DC wiring, inverter set, interconnection and energization, and the documentation file. Labor cost per module set is tracked against the rate set in the bid. Every job has its clock. It's either a begin-construction date with continuity records behind it or a December 31, 2027 in-service deadline. Non-FEOC equipment cost is tracked against the 40 percent threshold that applies to 2026 construction starts. Retainage and milestone billing under EPC and subcontract terms are tracked by job. The WIP schedule is produced monthly from cost-to-cost percentage complete.
Solar is two businesses in one set of books. The install is racking, modules, wire, and an inverter. You win or lose it on production per crew day, so cost per module set by phase tells you whether the bid holds. The credit is paperwork worth 30 percent of the project, and its calendar doesn't move. The residential Section 25D credit expired December 31, 2025. Projects that began construction by July 4, 2026 keep the 30 percent Section 48E credit with a roughly four-year continuity window. Everything that started later has to be placed in service by December 31, 2027 or it claims nothing. A job costing system that measures the install and ignores the file is measuring the smaller number.
THE NUMBERS GENERIC SOFTWARE MISSES.
WHAT IT IS.
ControlQore is a job costing and WIP platform for contractors that tracks cost by job and cost code, so a solar subcontractor can see install cost per module by phase, and what the wait for interconnection is costing, while the array is still going up.
WHERE IT GOES WRONG.
One Labor Number for Racking, Modules, Wire, and Inverter
Racking is repetitive production. Module setting is a count. DC wiring has a different crew rhythm, and the inverter set is a day nobody repeats. Generic accounting software reports one labor total for the array, which averages four unrelated production rates. Module count is the quantity the install is bid against, so labor cost per module by phase is the only figure you can check against the estimate. Without it, a racking crew well behind and a wiring crew ahead cancel each other out in the total, and your next bid learns nothing.
A Backlog Under Two Different Clocks
The OBBBA, signed July 4, 2025, split the commercial book in half. Projects that began construction by July 4, 2026 keep the 30 percent Section 48E credit with a roughly four-year continuity window into 2030. Projects that missed that start must be placed in service by December 31, 2027 to claim anything. That's a short, fixed deadline. If your pipeline isn't sorted by those two clocks, you don't know its margins. The credit is bigger than the profit on the work, and the schedule risk is different on each half.
Begin-Construction Evidence With Nowhere to Live
Whether the 30 percent credit exists at all comes down to a record. You need physical work of a significant nature, on site or off site under binding contract, or where it applies the 5 percent cost safe harbor. You also need continuity documentation through completion. IRS Notice 2025-42 removed the 5 percent path for solar above 1.5 MW and left only the physical work test. Then a federal court vacated that notice on June 6, 2026, with an appeal expected. Contractors made million-dollar procurement decisions while the rules changed. The physical-work record is the evidence that holds up, and it belongs on the job at audit standard. If it's filed in somebody's email, it's worth nothing when the file is requested three years later.
Cheap Modules That Cost the Credit
Projects beginning construction from 2026 onward have to meet Foreign Entity of Concern restrictions through the Material Assistance Cost Ratio. In 2026 at least 40 percent of relevant equipment cost has to come from non-FEOC sources, and the threshold rises in later years. So the procurement file is a tax document. The cheapest module supply and credit eligibility now pull in opposite directions. The price difference between compliant and non-compliant equipment belongs in the bid, so it doesn't surprise you at closeout. Generic accounting software has nowhere to track an equipment content ratio against a project's start date.
Interconnection and Retainage on the Same Cash Line
Under the policy news, solar is still construction. Utility queues and energization are a schedule gate nobody controls, and the transformer and inverter lead times the electrical trades deal with apply here too. The array can be complete while the money waits on a utility date. EPC and subcontract terms add retainage and milestone billing on top of that. Solar contractors at $1M to $5M net 7 percent before taxes on the SPM 48-trade dataset, against a CFOS target of 10.5 percent before taxes. A hold plus a standby crew plus a delayed final milestone costs more than the margin on the job.
WHAT WE BUILD.
SPM builds ControlQore cost codes for solar clients by phase: mobilization and site work, racking, module setting, DC wiring, inverter set, interconnection and energization, commissioning and punch, and the documentation file. Labor, equipment, and material post to the correct phase. Module count posts as the quantity behind the mechanical phases. Each week, actual labor cost per module is calculated by phase and compared to the rate set in the bid. Prevailing-wage and apprenticeship compliance is part of the 30 percent rate. The base rate is 6 percent. So the wage assumption belongs in the estimate, and the hours behind it belong to a phase code.
SPM sets up the credit clock as a job attribute in ControlQore. Every project in the backlog is either a safe-harbored start with continuity obligations into 2030 or a post-deadline job that has to be in service by December 31, 2027. Monthly reporting groups the pipeline by clock. Then the policy question becomes a schedule decision about which jobs get crews first. In the December 31, 2027 group, a delayed inspection can cost 30 percent of the contract. Verify current federal and state posture before quoting anybody, because these rules have been litigated inside a single year.
SPM sets up the begin-construction file as its own cost code and its own checklist on the job: physical work records with dates and photographs, binding contracts, procurement invoices, and continuity evidence through completion. It takes hours because somebody has to put it together, and it has a due date because the credit does. Where a portfolio crosses 1.5 MW across multiple buildings, the aggregation question gets answered before the start date. On a solar project, the paperwork is the largest single line item.
Equipment purchase orders post to a project in ControlQore with the supplier content documentation attached. So the Material Assistance Cost Ratio is a live figure against the 40 percent threshold for that project's start year, and nobody rebuilds a spreadsheet at year end. A module quote that's cheaper per watt and fails the content test gets compared against the credit it puts at risk before the order goes out. You see the tax consequence before you buy, and the ratio is worth 30 percent of the contract.
The WIP schedule for solar clients is produced monthly from cost-to-cost percentage complete by job. Underbilled positions, meaning work performed but not yet billed, show at once and trigger a corrected pay app. That's common when a job is complete and waiting on a utility date. Standby time during an interconnection queue posts to its own code, so the cost of waiting is a documented number. Retainage under EPC and subcontract terms is tracked as its own receivable class, with release conditions dated. Where a residential remnant, commercial work, and storage or service all operate under one roof, each is set up as its own division with its own cost history and cash curve.
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.
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