CONTROLQORE SETUP

CONTROLQORE SETUP FOR CONTRACTORS.

QUICK ANSWER

ControlQore is a job costing and WIP platform purpose built for contractors, more affordable and more AI infused than the legacy construction accounting tools. SPM sets it up, migrates your data, and manages it every month at no added cost. The software cost sits inside the monthly fee and never appears as a separate line item on your bill.

Setup is the part that decides whether the software is worth anything. It starts by lining up your chart of accounts and cost code structure with the format your estimators already bid in, so job cost maps cleanly to the numbers they use to price work. Historical financial data comes in next, usually back to the start of your last taxable year, so the WIP schedule has real history to work from on day one. Then the WIP logic gets configured and run against a live job before anybody outside SPM reads an output.

BY JOSH LUEBKERPublished 2026-08-06Updated 2026-08-07
THE DEFINITION

WHAT IT MEANS.

ControlQore is job costing and WIP software built specifically for commercial subcontractors, which tracks cost by job and cost code, generates the WIP schedule automatically off that cost data, and surfaces job profitability while the job is still running rather than only at month end close.

Most job costing software was built for general contractors managing dozens of subs, then adapted downward for subcontractors as an afterthought. ControlQore was built the other direction, for commercial subcontractors first, with WIP reporting, cost code structure, and job profitability tracking designed around how a $1M to $12M subcontractor really works.

SPM does the whole setup: chart of accounts alignment, historical data migration, cost code structure, and WIP configuration. There's no separate ControlQore invoice, no training course you sit through, and no implementation project you have to run yourself while you're also running the company.

COMMON MISTAKES

WHAT CONTRACTORS GET WRONG.

01

We'll have to learn a whole new software system

You won't. SPM runs ControlQore for you as part of the engagement, which means somebody on our side owns the coding, the reconciliation, and the monthly close inside it. You see the reports and the WIP schedule. Logging in yourself stays optional the whole way through.

02

This is going to be an extra monthly bill on top of our CFO fee

It's not. The software cost is absorbed inside the monthly fee, and ControlQore never appears as its own line item on an SPM invoice. That is a hard rule on every bill we send, for as long as the engagement runs.

03

Setup will take months and disrupt our current process

Setup runs inside the standard 60 day onboarding window, alongside the rest of the engagement, rather than as a separate and longer software project. Your existing system keeps running in parallel until ControlQore is validated and live. Nothing goes dark while the two overlap.

THE ARITHMETIC

WHAT IT LOOKS LIKE IN DOLLARS.

What the platform is worth, and who covers it

The platform is priced against revenue at $150 per $1M rather than by seat. SPM absorbs that cost inside the monthly fee, so it's value you get rather than a charge you carry. It's never invoiced separately and never itemized, which is the same rule we hold on every other tool in the engagement.

WHAT SETUP INVOLVES

HOW IT GETS BUILT.

Chart of accounts and cost codes lined up with your estimate

The chart of accounts and cost code structure get aligned to the format your estimators already use, whether that's CSI divisions, phases, or something your company built itself. When the codes match the estimate, a bid to actual comparison compares like to like and the PM can read it without translating. When they don't, every variance report is comparing two different structures.

Historical data migrated back through your last taxable year

Financial data gets migrated in, typically back to the start of your last taxable year, so the WIP schedule has real history behind it from the first report. For jobs already in progress at migration, cost to date gets rebuilt out of existing records. Without that step, an active job looks like it started at zero and the first WIP report is wrong for every job already underway.

WIP logic configured, then validated against a live job

SPM configures the WIP calculation logic, connects it to your existing accounting records, and runs the first full job costing cycle internally before you ever see an output. What you get on day one is a working system rather than a blank template you have to populate yourself. If something doesn't reconcile, it gets caught in that internal run instead of on a report somebody takes to a bank.

Ongoing monthly management, by the same team

After go live, job cost reconciliation, platform updates, and monthly WIP updates stay with SPM. There's no separate maintenance contract and no renewal to negotiate. The people who configured the cost codes are the same people who reconcile them every month, so drift gets caught by whoever built the structure.

WHAT YOU GET

THE OUTPUTS, NAMED.

Chart of accounts and cost codes aligned to your existing estimate structure, not a generic template
Historical data migrated back to the start of your last taxable year, in progress jobs included
WIP calculation logic configured and validated against a real job before go live
Ongoing monthly management, updates, and job cost reconciliation, all handled by SPM
No separate ControlQore invoice, subscription, or per seat license fee, ever
$10.7M+
Client AR Recovered Since 2023
48
Active Trade Specializations
60 DAYS
Average Onboarding Time
PRICING

FLAT MONTHLY FEE. NO SURPRISES.

Three tiers, priced by your trailing twelve month revenue. Which one you're in depends on how much of the work you want off your desk. No hourly billing, no payroll, and no add-ons.

Last 12 months revenueMonthly 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.

Core

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.

Executive

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.

Strategic

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.

COMMON QUESTIONS

FREQUENTLY ASKED.

ControlQore is a job costing and WIP platform built specifically for commercial subcontractors. It tracks cost by job and cost code and generates the WIP schedule automatically off that data, so the schedule is a byproduct of the bookkeeping rather than a monthly spreadsheet rebuild. SPM configures it and manages it for you.
No. The software cost is absorbed inside the monthly fee and it never appears as a separate line item. There's no per seat license, no implementation fee, and no renewal charge, because SPM carries the platform cost as part of the engagement rather than passing it through to you.
Setup happens inside SPM's standard 60 day onboarding window. Chart of accounts alignment, historical data migration, and WIP configuration all run alongside the rest of the engagement rather than as a separate project with its own timeline. Nobody on your side has to manage a software rollout.
No. SPM sets it up, manages it monthly, and delivers the reports and the WIP schedule to you. You don't need to log in and run the software yourself unless you want to, and plenty of owners do want to once they trust the numbers coming out of it.
ControlQore handles job costing and WIP specifically, and it connects to your existing accounting records rather than replacing your general ledger outright. SPM manages that integration as part of setup, so there's no period where the two systems disagree and nobody knows which one to read.
WHAT THIS TIES INTO
Josh Luebker, The Construction CFO
Josh Luebker
FRACTIONAL CFO · THE CONSTRUCTION CFO

Former commercial project manager and master electrician: 150+ projects worth $2.1B combined, from $50,000 to $300M. Now fractional CFO to commercial subcontractors.

WHO IS GOING TO SET YOUR JOB COSTING UP?

Bring your current chart of accounts and one recent bid breakdown. We will tell you in one call how far apart those two are and what closing the distance takes.

You don't hire a CFO because it's safe, you do it because the real risk isn't having one.
Book a 20 minute diagnostic

20 minutes. No sales pressure. We will tell you exactly what's broken before we talk about anything else.

OR START WITH THE WORKBOOKS. NO CALL NEEDED.