CONTROLQORE FOR TILE & STONE CONTRACTORS.
Generic accounting software can't report setting cost per square foot by layout type, track ordered material against installed material, or track a flood test as both a cost and a billable milestone. ControlQore can.
ControlQore for tile and stone contractors uses cost codes by scope, meaning substrate acceptance and testing, prep and leveling, waterproofing membrane, flood test, layout, setting by layout type, grout, movement joints, and sealing, to track setting cost per square foot against the rate set in the bid. Ordered quantities are tracked against installed quantities by layout type, so the waste factor comes from your own history. Flood tests get a cost code and a line in the schedule of values. The WIP schedule is produced monthly from cost-to-cost percentage complete.
Tile is bid per square foot and lost per cut. Straight-lay field tile, diagonal lay, large format, and book-matched stone each set at a different rate and waste at a different rate. A blended labor number covers up all four. Read setting cost per square foot by layout type weekly against the bid. That's early enough to add setters, change the layout, or write the change order while there's still tile to set. The substrate and the membrane are the other half, because both decide who pays for a failure. Both are documents before they're costs.
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 tile and stone subcontractor can see setting cost per square foot by layout type while the setters are still on the job.
WHERE IT GOES WRONG.
Setting Cost Blended Across Four Layout Types
Straight-lay field tile, diagonal lay, large format, and book-matched stone cut differently, set at different rates, and take different layout time. In generic accounting software, a job with all four reports one labor figure. That's the average of four production rates. ControlQore reports setting labor cost per square foot by layout type against the rate set in the bid. When the large format is over its rate and the field tile is under, you see both while there's still tile to set.
Waste Estimated From Net Square Footage
An estimate built from net square footage gives away every cut. Diagonal lays, large formats, and natural-stone veining push waste well past field-tile norms. The difference leaves the job as material nobody counted. Without ordered quantities recorded against installed quantities by layout type, next year's waste factor is a guess built on the same guess that lost money this year. Track the ratio by job and your waste factor becomes history you can bid from.
The Inherited Substrate With No Priced Scope Behind It
Tile is a rigid finish set on somebody else's slab. Flatness beyond tolerance becomes lippage, and slab moisture breaks down thinset bonds. Large-format tile tightened the published flatness standard to roughly 1/8 inch in 10 feet for tile with any side 15 inches or longer. So get the upstream flatness report and the moisture readings before a setter starts. When prep and leveling have no cost code, the prep is done for free and the callback is billed to the setter. Generic accounting software reports that as a labor overrun. The argument goes to your crew, when the party who turned over a slab out of tolerance should answer for it.
Flood Tests With No Budget and No Record
Wet areas fail at the membrane. The bill covers tear-out, re-waterproofing, re-tiling, and the damage below. The party who can't produce the flood-test record pays for it. A test with no cost code and no milestone in the schedule of values gets skipped the first time the schedule tightens. Where a separate waterproofing trade is also on the job, put the scope boundary in writing before either trade starts. Generic accounting software has nowhere to track a witnessed, photographed test as both a cost and a billable event.
Retainage Larger Than the Margin on the Job
Tile finishes late, so the release waits on total project closeout. A 5 to 10 percent hold against an 8 percent net profit before taxes at $1M to $5M means the retainage is larger than the profit on the work. The CFOS net profit target at that revenue is 11.5 percent, stated before taxes. Punch on visible finish work is strict. Grout shade and lippage claims get read under raking light. Every day of that argument is another day the hold is outstanding.
WHAT WE BUILD.
SPM builds ControlQore cost codes for tile and stone clients by scope: substrate acceptance and testing, prep and leveling, waterproofing membrane, flood test, layout, setting by layout type, grout, movement joints, sealing and stone care, and punch. Labor, material, and freight post to the correct code. Each week, actual setting labor cost per square foot is calculated by layout type and compared to the rate set in the bid. Variance gets reviewed while the setters are still on the job.
Every order posts to a layout type in ControlQore, and installed quantities post against the same code. That gives you an ordered-to-installed ratio by job. Straight-lay field tile, diagonal lay, large format, and book-matched stone each build their own history. After a few jobs, the waste factor for each one is a measured figure, and your bid uses the number your own work produced. Attrition allowances on fragile and book-matched material are priced from that history.
SPM builds substrate acceptance into the job as its own cost code and its own step. The flatness report and the moisture readings are requested at turnover and stored against the job. Prep and leveling are priced as scope. When a condition is out of tolerance, the prep code already has a budget, and the change order is written with a documented cost. Nobody sets past a failed condition without a signed directive. That's the difference between a documented dispute and a callback you own.
Every wet area gets a flood-test cost code in ControlQore and a milestone in the schedule of values. The test is budgeted, witnessed, photographed, billed, and stored before a single tile is set. Where a waterproofing trade is also on the job, SPM puts the membrane scope boundary in writing during the subcontract review. A test that gets paid for gets done. The photographs and the billing record decide who pays if a shower fails two years later.
The WIP schedule for tile and stone 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. Overbilled positions flag jobs where the billing is ahead of production. Retainage of 5 to 10 percent is tracked by job and by GC, with the release condition and the expected date on the cash forecast. At an 8 percent net before taxes the hold is larger than the profit, so closeout inspection standards belong in the contract before the first tile goes down.
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.
