HOW CONSTRUCTION CFOS MANAGE JOB COST TRACKING.
A bookkeeper enters costs. A CFO manages them by comparing actual to estimate by phase every week, flagging overruns while a phase is still active instead of at closeout, and using that same cost data to build an accurate cost-to-complete for the WIP schedule. The difference isn't the software. It's whether anyone is comparing the numbers to something and acting on what they find.
Most subcontractors already have the first half of this. The costs are recorded in the right job and the right phase, the bookkeeper is careful, and the reports get produced. What's missing is somebody whose job it's to ask why a phase is over, this week, while the crew is still on site and the remaining hours can still change. Once the loss is in the closeout report, the only thing left to do is describe it. The whole value of job cost management is in the days between those two points.
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.
Job cost management is the weekly comparison of actual cost to the estimate at the phase level, plus the action taken on what that comparison finds, which is a different job from entering the costs in the first place.
Recording that $12,400 was spent on framing labor this week is data entry. Comparing that $12,400 to the $9,800 the estimate allowed for this phase, and asking why it's 27% over, is management. Both use the same numbers and only one of them changes the outcome of the job.
ENTERING COSTS IS BOOKKEEPING. COMPARING THEM IS CFO WORK.
The costs get entered and nobody compares them
Most subcontractors have the entry without the comparison. The costs are recorded correctly in the accounting system and nobody is measuring them against anything until the job closes and the loss is already permanent. The data was there the whole time. Nobody was assigned to look at it against the estimate.
The review happens monthly instead of weekly
A monthly job cost review catches an overrun after four weeks of it compounding. A weekly review catches it after one week. On an active phase with a crew still on site, that difference is the entire value of the system, because week one is a conversation and week four is a write-off.
Stale job cost makes the WIP schedule wrong
Cost-to-complete is only as good as the job cost behind it. If job cost tracking is stale or wrong, the WIP schedule is wrong, which means percent complete billing is wrong, which means the bank and the bonding company are looking at inaccurate numbers. The error doesn't stay inside the job. It travels all the way out to your credit.
WHAT IT LOOKS LIKE IN DOLLARS.
Recording that $12,400 was spent on framing labor this week is data entry. Comparing that $12,400 to the $9,800 the estimate allowed for this phase, and asking why it's 27% over, is management. The first one produces a report. The second one produces a phone call to the field while there are still hours left to change.
WHAT WE PUT IN PLACE.
CFOS installs weekly phase level cost review as a fixed rhythm rather than a report that gets generated and skimmed once a month. Cadence counts for more than software here. Any accounting system can produce the comparison, and almost none of them will make somebody read it every week.
Every active phase gets compared to its estimate weekly, and anything trending over gets raised with the PM that week. The point of the flag is the remaining hours, because those are the ones you can still change. A phase flagged in week one still has a correction available to it.
The cost-to-complete that goes into the WIP schedule gets built off the current cost data and the current field progress. That keeps percent complete billing honest and keeps the numbers the bank and the surety see tied to the actual jobs. Clean job cost is what makes the WIP defensible.
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.
FREQUENTLY ASKED.
