HOW MUCH DOES A CONSTRUCTION CFO COST AND WHAT DO YOU ACTUALLY GET?
A full-time construction CFO at a $5M subcontractor costs $140,000 to $180,000 per year in salary — plus benefits, payroll taxes, office overhead, and the 6 to 9 months it typically takes to find and onboard the right person. A fractional construction CFO engagement starts at $1,900 per month — $22,800 per year — and is fully operational in 60 days. The question is not just cost. It is what each option actually delivers and whether your revenue level justifies a full-time hire.
At $1M to $8M revenue, fractional CFO is almost always the right structure. The work does not require 40 hours per week at that revenue level, and the fractional model gives access to senior-level financial expertise without the overhead of a full-time hire.
A bookkeeper records transactions correctly. They categorize expenses, reconcile accounts, process payroll, and produce financial statements on a schedule. That is the data layer. It is necessary. It is not sufficient for a $3M to $8M subcontractor who needs to know which jobs are making money, what cash looks like 8 weeks out, and whether the overhead rate in the estimate matches the real cost structure.
The gap between bookkeeping and CFO work is the interpretation layer — what the numbers mean, what is causing a variance, what action is required this week. A bookkeeper produces a P&L. A CFO tells you why gross margin dropped 4 points last quarter, which job caused it, and what to do about it before the next bid goes out.
At $5M revenue, the financial management workload does not justify a full-time CFO. A well-structured fractional engagement handles the same deliverables — closed-book financials by the 10th, cost-to-complete by the 12th, monthly job review meeting, 13-week cash forecast, CEO Report — in 15 to 20 hours per month. A full-time hire adds 20 to 25 idle hours per week that still get paid.
The crossover point where a full-time CFO starts to make financial sense is typically $15M to $20M in revenue, where the transaction volume, complexity of job costing, and banking relationships justify the full-time overhead. Below that, fractional is both more cost-effective and faster to deliver results.
A general CFO from manufacturing or retail does not know how pay applications work, what a WIP schedule is, how differing site conditions affect project margin, or why a concrete contractor's overhead rate needs to include workers comp at 22% of wage. These are not details — they are the fundamental mechanics of how construction subcontractors make and lose money.
CFOS was built by a former construction PM and master electrician. The system is designed around how construction projects actually work — billing cycles, retention, change orders, cost-to-complete — not adapted from a corporate finance framework. That specificity is what makes it work where generic CFOs fail.
FLAT MONTHLY FEE. NO SURPRISES.
Two tiers based on trailing 12-month revenue. No hourly billing. No payroll. No add-ons.
| 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 |
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