WHY FRAMING CONTRACTORS MISPRICE MULTI-STORY WORK.
Framing labor productivity isn't constant across floors. Framing on floor 1 is faster, with easier material staging, shorter lift distances, and simpler logistics. Upper floors slow down as staging complexity increases, crane time extends, and safety requirements add overhead. A framing contractor who tracks all labor in one code can't see the per-floor production rate, and can't build a defensible estimate for the next multi-story job out of actual cost history.
The typical increase from floor 1 to floor 5 is 15 to 25 percent on labor cost per square foot, and that's not a performance problem. It's what hoisting, staging, and fall protection cost. A blended rate obscures it in both directions, because the lower floors look worse than they were and the upper floors look better, so nobody can say which part of the building the money went into. Two or three jobs tracked by floor ends the guessing, since the estimate then comes off the contractor's own numbers instead of an industry table.
Rather talk it through first? Book a 20 minute call. Nothing gets sold on this call.
Want it set up for you? Onboarding only, from $4,500 one time. Books migrated and job costing built, then your own team keeps it up.
WHAT IT MEANS.
Floor-by-floor job costing is a separate cost code for each level of a multi-story building, so labor hours, fully burdened labor cost, and square footage framed are tracked per floor instead of blended across the whole structure.
WHERE THE BLENDED RATE OBSCURES THE MONEY.
One labor line for all floors misprices every upper floor
A commercial framing contractor estimating a 6-story wood frame building typically builds a blended labor rate, an average across all floors that over-weights productivity on floor 1. In execution the upper floors take more time than the blended rate assumed while the lower floors finish faster, so labor goes over budget on the top half of the building. The PM then spends the final 8 weeks trying to recover it.
Upper floor logistics cost is coded to general conditions
Upper floor framing needs crane picks, material hoisting, staging platforms, extended setup and breakdown, and additional safety equipment. Those hours usually get coded to general conditions instead of framing labor, because the foreman has no dedicated code for them. When the PM reviews framing labor, the upper floor cost reads lower than it really was, since part of it's under another heading.
You can't build an accurate multi-story estimate without floor-level actuals
A framing contractor with no floor-level tracking has to price upper floor work off industry tables or intuition, and both understate it. The visible frame erection looks the same from below while the unseen hours for staging, hoisting, and safety are higher on every level up. Margins on floors 3 through 6 come in under the estimate job after job, and without floor-level history there's nothing to correct it with.
WHAT IT LOOKS LIKE IN DOLLARS.
The typical labor rate increase from floor 1 to floor 5 is 15 to 25 percent per square foot. Floor-level variance becomes detectable in week 2 or 3 of framing a floor, which is early enough to change the crew size or the staging plan. The standard tracking method is 1 code for the entire building, which is why almost nobody sees it.
After 2 to 3 jobs tracked this way, a framing contractor has actual cost-per-floor data that makes the next multi-story estimate defensible. The advantage compounds, because every job adds another building to the history. Industry tables stop being the reference and your own closeouts take over.
FOUR THINGS THAT CHANGE ON THE NEXT JOB.
Every floor gets its own cost code for direct framing labor and framing-related logistics. When the foreman logs time, it goes to the floor currently being worked. At week end, labor cost and hours by floor are visible and comparable to the floor-level estimate.
Every week, square feet framed by floor gets recorded next to the labor hours logged, which produces cost per square foot by floor. That number is compared to the estimated rate. A floor at 130% of estimated cost per square foot has a problem that's identifiable and still correctable on the remaining scope of that floor.
Every hour spent hoisting materials, rigging panels, staging lumber, or maintaining a pick zone on an upper floor is framing cost rather than a general conditions cost. CFOS creates a framing-logistics code for each floor, so the total cost of framing that floor is in one place instead of being split across codes that make the floor look cheaper than it was.
At job closeout, CFOS produces a cost-per-floor summary with labor hours, fully burdened labor cost, and square footage by floor. That summary becomes the estimating reference for the next multi-story job. Actual floor-level data replaces blended industry tables and produces bids that price upper floor work correctly.
FLAT MONTHLY FEE. NO SURPRISES.
Three tiers, priced by your trailing twelve month revenue. Which one you're in depends on how much of the work you want off your desk. No hourly billing. No payroll. The one-time onboarding fee is right here in the table.
Built for subs doing $1M to $12M. Above $12.5M we quote.
| Last 12 months revenue | Core | Strategic | Platinum | One-time onboarding |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Under $1M | $1,900 | $3,100 | $3,300 | $2,500 |
| $1M to $3.5M | $2,600 | $4,100 | $5,300 | $4,500 |
| $3.5M to $6.5M | $3,800 | $5,900 | $8,300 | $6,000 |
| $6.5M to $9.5M | $5,100 | $7,600 | $11,800 | $7,500 |
| $9.5M to $12.5M | $6,100 | $8,900 | $14,900 | $9,000 |
| Above $12.5M | Quoted | Quoted | Quoted | Quoted |
The onboarding fee covers migrating your books back to the start of your last taxable year and getting you fully operational in 60 days. It's billed once, with your first invoice. It's the same for all three tiers, and it moves with your revenue band. Your first month is prorated, and your monthly engagement starts on the first of the first full month.
Just want the setup? Onboarding only is the same onboarding work with no monthly service after it, one time, at the onboarding fee plus $2,000. Start a monthly engagement later and $2,000 counts toward it. It starts at $4,500, and the price for every band is on the pricing page.
The three tier columns are the whole price. Which one fits depends on how much of the work you want off your desk. No payroll. No hidden line items. The onboarding fee is right here in the table.
- Online software only: QuickBooks, Sage, Viewpoint and similar. No VPN or hosted desktop.
- Not in any tier: payroll, pay applications, collections on receivables.
- Pricing valid through 2027.
CFO work. Your own bookkeeper keeps doing the books.
You stop guessing.
You get the CFO work. Job costing built against the way you estimate, a 13 week cash forecast, monthly WIP, and a meeting every month that ends in decisions and never in a report.
Your bookkeeper still does the books.
Core, plus bookkeeping and bank reconciliations, plus job costing and WIP software set up and managed for you. Use your own online accounting software or we supply it, one price.
Every job shows its margin while it is still open.
Everything in Core, plus the bookkeeping and bank reconciliations done for you, and the job costing and WIP software set up, loaded with your cost codes, and managed every month. Use your own online software, or move to ours and we cover it.
A bookkeeper we choose does the books and reconciliations. No payroll.
Strategic, plus a controller who handles payables and receivables the way an in-house controller would. You approve every payment.
You approve, and the money side gets handled.
Everything in Strategic, plus a controller we choose who handles your bills and receivables for you the way an in-house controller would. They call vendors, pay the bills and keep the accounting current. We plan the cash flow first, and you approve every payment because it is your money.
A controller we choose does the payables and receivables. No payroll, no pay applications, no collections.
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