FRACTIONAL OR FULL TIME? REVENUE DECIDES.
A capable construction CFO is a six figure salary plus benefits, and the work at $4M doesn't fill the week. Below roughly $12M to $15M of revenue, a fractional CFO wins on both cost and capability. Above it, an in house hire starts to win, because there are enough decisions to justify someone in the building every day.
People treat this as a cost question, and that gets the capability backwards. A $5M contractor who hires the CFO they can afford at that salary usually gets someone without construction experience. General corporate finance doesn't carry over to construction. Job costing against an estimate, WIP and percentage of completion, retention, pay application timing and bonding are all trade specific. Fractional wins in this band because the money buys expertise. It doesn't buy hours. Once revenue supports an experienced construction CFO at market salary, and there are enough daily decisions to keep one busy, the math reverses.
WHAT EACH ONE DOES.
| Capability | Fractional CFO | In House CFO |
|---|---|---|
| Annual cost | A flat monthly fee set by revenue band | Six figure salary plus benefits, bonus and payroll tax |
| Construction specific experience | Across many contractors, already built | Depends entirely on who you can attract at that salary |
| Time to operating | 60 day onboarding, structure comes built | Ramp plus designing the structure from scratch |
| Availability | Scheduled cadence plus the monthly meeting | In the building every day |
| Bookkeeping and controllership included | Yes, one engagement with no scope gaps | No, hired separately underneath the CFO |
| Job costing and benchmark library | Existing, 48 trades by revenue band | Built from scratch by the hire |
| Risk if it doesn't work out | Cancel the engagement | A termination, an empty seat, and a rehire |
| Best fit revenue | $1M to about $12M | About $12M to $15M and up |
WHEN YOU NEED THE EXPERTISE MORE THAN THE HOURS.
Fractional is right between roughly $1M and $12M of revenue, where the CFO work is real and doesn't fill a full week. The decisions that need a CFO come around the monthly close, the forecast and bidding. That's a set amount of work on a set calendar.
It also wins in this band because of what the money buys. The same spend that hires a generalist full time buys someone who has done construction finance at many companies. That counts, because the failures are trade specific and they repeat. There's also no ramp. The job cost structure, the forecast and the benchmarks come already built. A new hire would have to design them from scratch.
WHEN THE DECISIONS ARE DAILY.
An in house CFO starts to win above roughly $12M to $15M of revenue. The trigger is how many decisions you make. Complexity isn't it. When bid go or no go calls, banking and bonding relationships, hiring and equipment decisions come up every day, having that judgment in the building is worth the salary. A monthly calendar slot isn't enough anymore.
It's also the right answer earlier if the company is getting ready for a sale, a large acquisition or a capital raise. Those take a full time person for months. Watch for whether there's a full week of CFO level decisions to make. Hire before that and you get an expensive controller.
WHERE WE COME OUT.
For a commercial subcontractor between $1M and $12M, fractional is the right answer, and capability decides it more than cost. At that revenue, the salary you can offer doesn't reliably attract someone who has managed construction finance before. You'll see the difference in the first quarter. Expertise on a monthly schedule beats inexperience full time.
Above roughly $15M, hire. You have enough decisions to justify it, and the salary is high enough to attract someone with real experience. You'll know it's time when the monthly meeting can't keep up with how fast decisions need making. At that point, hire and keep the structure that's already working. Don't start over.
FREQUENTLY ASKED.
