DRYWALL: THE CRITICAL-LIGHTING PUNCH FIGHT

Inspection under permanent lighting, viewed from several feet back at a perpendicular angle, not a flashlight raked down an unlit hallway. Put the inspection standard in the contract before the job starts; a sub who can't cite the standard pays for skim coats the spec never required.

Drywall contractors at $1M to $5M net 5.5 percent on average, rising to 8.5 percent by $25M to $50M; the CFOS target at $1M to $5M is 10 percent. The gap usually hides in unpaid rework, untracked back-charges, and schedule compression the unit price never carried. Every net profit figure here is stated before taxes, the same basis CFMA reports on, so the two are directly comparable.

Because labor pays out weekly through hang and finish, the receivable lands 60 to 90 days later, and 5 to 10 percent retainage waits on the whole project's punch list, not just yours. At a 5.5 percent net margin, the retainage hold is bigger than the profit.

Three tiers, and which one you are in depends on how much of the work you want off your desk. Core is where you stop guessing: job costing built against the way you estimate, a 13 week cash forecast, monthly WIP, and a monthly meeting that ends in decisions, while your bookkeeper keeps doing the books. Executive is where you stop touching the books, because we run the bookkeeping and the controllership as well. Strategic is where every job shows its margin while it is still running, because the job costing and WIP platform is set up and managed for you. No payroll. No scope gaps.

Sixty days. We migrate your books back to the start of your last taxable year, set up ControlQore, and build your job costing structure from scratch. Fully operational in two months.