Civil work — grading, sitework, underground utility, paving, earthwork — has financial problems that don't surface in standard accounting software. These are the three we see most often in Tennessee civil contractor books when a new client comes on board.
Civil work doesn't fit standard accounting templates. Unit prices, earthwork quantities, equipment fleets, and public retainage require a job costing system built specifically for how civil contractors bid and operate.
All systems run on ControlQore — purpose-built for contractors, set up and managed by SPM. You don't need to learn new software.
Pricing is based on your trailing 12-month revenue. No hourly billing, no surprise invoices. Core Financial covers bookkeeping, job costing, and ControlQore. Executive Financial adds monthly CFO advisory and controllership.
| Revenue | Core Financial | Executive Financial |
|---|---|---|
| Under $1M | $1,900/mo | $2,900/mo |
| $1M–$3M | $2,600/mo | $3,600/mo |
| $4M–$6M | $3,800/mo | $5,500/mo |
| $7M–$9M | $5,100/mo | $6,900/mo |
| $10M–$12M | $6,100/mo | $8,500/mo |
| $13M+ | Quoted | Quoted |
Tennessee's civil construction market is active across all three grand divisions — Middle Tennessee's Nashville infrastructure boom, East Tennessee's industrial and utility work, and West Tennessee's agricultural and municipal civil sector. Each market has its own payment norms, GC relationships, and public agency dynamics. SPM serves civil contractors across all three.
Civil contracting in Tennessee is competitive. Margins on earthwork, underground utility, and paving are thin — typically 20–26% gross margin at the $1M–$5M level. At those margins, a 6% labor overrun on a single job costs you nearly a quarter of your gross profit on that contract. The only way to catch it in time is a job costing system that flags variance at Week 3 — not at closeout.
Most Tennessee civil contractors are running QuickBooks with job names in the memo field. They can tell if the company made money. They cannot tell if Job #31 is the one bleeding $80K. That gap is exactly what SPM fills — and we fill it in 60 days.
We onboard clients fully in 60 days. Books migrated to the start of the last taxable year. ControlQore configured with cost codes that mirror your estimate structure. WIP reporting framework built and running before Month 3. After that, your job is to run the work. Our job is to make sure you know the numbers every month.
A fractional CFO for civil contractors in Tennessee handles job costing aligned to your estimates, WIP reporting, cash flow forecasting, bookkeeping, and monthly financial advisory — without the cost of a full-time hire. For civil contractors doing $1M–$12M, SPM builds these systems through ControlQore and delivers monthly CFO-level insight for a flat monthly fee starting at $1,900.
The most common problems: unit price contracts where production rates drop below estimate, equipment costs allocated to overhead instead of individual jobs, retainage held on TDOT and municipal work for 12–18 months, and cash flow stress from paying crew and equipment costs 60 days before GC payment arrives.
Yes. TDOT projects have specific payment structures including state retainage, DBE tracking, and certified payroll on prevailing wage work. SPM handles the job costing and financial structure — unit price production tracking, retainage modeling in the cash flow forecast, and certified payroll cost allocation in ControlQore.
SPM starts at $1,900/month for Core Financial and $2,900/month for Executive Financial for contractors under $1M. For civil contractors in the $3M–$8M range, pricing runs $3,800–$5,100/month for Core and $5,500–$6,900/month for Executive. All pricing is based on trailing 12-month revenue.
Yes. SPM serves civil contractors across Tennessee — Nashville and the Middle Tennessee corridor, Memphis and West Tennessee, and Knoxville and the East Tennessee market. All services are delivered remotely. Tennessee's infrastructure investment is creating significant civil work across all three markets.
One call with Josh. We'll tell you what your civil books should look like and what it takes to get there in 60 days.
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