EIFS AND STUCCO: THE MOISTURE LIABILITY SHADOW

EIFS/stucco contractors at $1M to $5M net 8 percent on average, rising to 14 percent by $25M to $50M; the CFOS net profit target is 11.5 percent before taxes at $1M to $5M, the trade average plus 3.5 points. The trade earns solid gross margins. The losses come from underpriced detail work, weather-damaged schedules and warranty exposure nobody reserved for. Every net profit figure here is gross margin minus overhead, stated before taxes, the same basis CFMA reports net income on.

Because it's a sealed system. Install it with bad flashing, caulking or penetration details and it holds water in the wall. Class actions started in 1995 and built a remediation industry that still bills $15,000 to $40,000 per full replacement. Modern drainage-plane systems fixed the design risk. Installation quality is the rest, so detail-level QC documentation is the installer's real insurance.

A bookkeeper records history. System-level cost codes, detail rates you hold to, warranty reserves and weather-delay documentation make up a control system, and that's CFO work. SPM does that CFO work for EIFS and stucco contractors.

Three tiers, and which one you are in depends on how much of the work you want off your desk. On Core we build your plan every month and your team does the work: 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. On Strategic we build the plan, track it and adjust it every month: our team does the bookkeeping and the bank reconciliations, and the job costing and WIP software is set up and managed for you, on your own online software or ours. On Platinum we manage the money side for you every week: our team handles your bills and receivables the way an in-house controller would, and you approve every payment. We don't do payroll.

Sixty days. We migrate your books back to the start of your last taxable year and build your job costing structure from scratch, and on Strategic and Platinum we set up the job costing and WIP software too. You're fully up and working in two months. The onboarding fee is one time, the same for every tier, and set by your revenue band.