CONTROLQORE FOR UNDERGROUND UTILITY CONTRACTORS.
Generic accounting software can't track actual cost per linear foot by pipe type and depth band, document a utility conflict change order inside 48 hours, or split overhead between prevailing wage and private work. ControlQore can.
ControlQore for underground utility contractors uses cost codes built to the estimate format, meaning 8-inch water main by depth band, 12-inch sewer by depth band, service connections per unit, and restoration by SF. Actual cost per linear foot by pipe type is compared to the estimated unit price every week, and any cost code running more than 10% over estimate for two consecutive weeks gets flagged for review. The WIP schedule is produced monthly from cost-to-cost percentage complete. Setup runs 30 days and clients are fully operational in 60.
A generic cost code template rolls every foot of pipe into one job total, so the only reading you get is whether the job as a whole came out ahead, and that reading comes after the last restoration is done. Cost codes cut to pipe size and depth band do something different. They turn the same crew hours into a cost per linear foot you can hold against the bid unit price in week two. Week two is early enough to move a crew, change the method, or write a change order while the superintendent still remembers what the crew hit.
THE NUMBERS GENERIC SOFTWARE MISSES.
WHAT IT IS.
ControlQore is a job costing and WIP reporting platform for commercial subcontractors at $1M to $12M that tracks cost by job and cost code, so an underground utility contractor can read actual cost per linear foot by pipe type and depth band against the bid unit price the same week the pipe goes in.
WHERE IT GOES WRONG.
No Cost Per Linear Foot Visibility
QuickBooks shows total labor cost by job. It can't tell you what an 8-inch water main at the deeper cover band cost per linear foot last week against the unit price you bid it at. Generic cost code templates produce blended totals, and a blended total hides the losing run behind the profitable one until closeout. By closeout the pipe is in, the restoration is done, and every hour you would have changed is already paid.
Utility Conflicts Absorbed Instead of Billed
Most utility conflicts are billable under the differing site conditions clause in the subcontract. They get absorbed anyway, because nobody wrote the GC inside 48 hours, nobody photographed the conflict before the crew rerouted, and the daily report went in with no superintendent acknowledgment on it. Six weeks later the claim is one crew's memory against a schedule, and the GC has no reason to pay it. That cost stays in your job and comes straight out of gross margin.
One Overhead Rate Across Prevailing Wage and Private Work
DOT and municipal underground utility work carries fringe benefit requirements of $12 to $20 per hour above base wages. A contractor running one blended overhead rate across prevailing wage and private jobs loads part of that fringe cost onto private work that never carried it, and understates it on the public work that does. Both bids come out wrong in opposite directions. The private jobs read worse than they're and the public jobs read better, which is the reverse of what you need to price the next one.
WHAT WE BUILD.
SPM builds ControlQore cost codes for underground utility clients to match the estimate format: 8-inch water main by depth band, 12-inch sewer by depth band, service connections per unit, and restoration by SF. Each cost code points at the corresponding estimate category. When a foreman posts hours, those hours hit the same bucket the bid was built in, so the comparison of actual against estimated is direct rather than reconstructed.
Actual cost per linear foot by pipe type is compared to the estimated unit price every week. When any cost code runs more than 10% over estimate for two consecutive weeks, SPM flags it. The cause is identifiable in the cost code detail, so the conversation is about a specific run of pipe at a specific depth and not about the job feeling tight.
The documentation sequence is fixed and it runs every time. Written GC notice within 48 hours of discovering the utility conflict. Photo documentation before the crew reroutes anything. Daily reports carrying superintendent acknowledgment. A cost proposal within 48 hours. Most utility conflicts are billable under differing site conditions clauses, and this is the paperwork that keeps them billable.
DOT and municipal underground utility work carries fringe benefit requirements of $12 to $20 per hour above base wages. SPM calculates separate overhead rates for prevailing wage work and private work rather than one blended rate across both. Each bid then carries the burden it will genuinely absorb, and the closeout comparison on a public job stays comparable to the next public job.
The WIP schedule is produced monthly from cost-to-cost percentage complete on live ControlQore data. Overbilled and underbilled positions are visible by job, along with projected final margin. The schedule goes out in a form you can put in front of a bonding agent or a banker without a cleanup pass first.
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.
