EXCAVATION: HAUL-OFF AND TRUCKING

Excavation contractors at $1M to $5M in revenue net 7 percent on average, rising to 10 percent at $5M to $10M. The CFOS net profit target is 10.5 percent before taxes at $1M to $5M, the trade average plus 3.5 points, and it rises with the average at each larger band. The difference usually comes from untracked production rates, haul-off cost changes and iron that bills nothing. Every net profit figure here is gross margin minus overhead, stated before taxes, the same basis CFMA reports net income on.

Because the trade pays you last and charges you first. Equipment payments and fuel are due daily. Trucking subs bill weekly. The receivable is paid 60 to 90 days later, minus retainage. Add one rock surprise or one failed compaction test and the quarter's cash is spoken for.

Classify soils in the bid. Include unit prices for rock and unsuitable material, and tie both to a written changed-conditions clause. You spend the cost of extra spoil before any dispute is settled. The paper trail is what gets the surprise paid as a change order.

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.