HOW SPM RUNS CLIENT FINANCE
SPM operates the full financial control function for commercial subcontractors $1M–$12M — not advisory, not dashboard-only, but ownership of the cash, WIP, and reporting functions through a structured monthly and weekly cadence. The monthly cycle drives book close, WIP review, cash forecast update, and strategic discussion. The weekly cycle handles billing velocity, AR collections, and cash checkpoints. Annual cycles handle CPA coordination, surety relationship management, and rate review. The owner spends 5–10 hours per month on finance instead of 20–40, and the work that does happen produces actual decisions.
Most fractional CFO firms advise. SPM operates. The cash, the WIP, the reporting — we own the function and produce the outputs.
WHAT IT MEANS TO RUN THE FINANCE FUNCTION
Most fractional CFO firms position themselves as advisory: they meet with the owner, review reports the bookkeeper produces, identify problems, and recommend changes. The owner is supposed to translate the advice into operational reality. The bookkeeper produces the reports. The CFO advises on what they mean.
The structural problem is that the bookkeeper usually can’t produce the reports the CFO wants, the owner doesn’t have time to translate advice into operations, and the gap between advice and execution swallows most of the value the engagement was supposed to produce. The owner ends up with smart analysis they can’t act on and operations that don’t change.
SPM runs differently. We own the financial control function operationally. The bookkeeper’s role gets absorbed into our process. The reports get produced by us in the structure we need them. Cash forecasting, WIP review, and AR management happen on our cadence using our systems. The CFO advisory layer sits on top of operations we control, not operations we observe.
WHAT HAPPENS EVERY MONTH
BOOK CLOSE
Prior month transactions reviewed, classified, and reconciled. Bank accounts, credit cards, and credit lines reconciled. Payroll posted (we don’t process payroll, but we book it). Job cost transactions validated against estimates. Adjusting entries (accruals, depreciation, deferred items) posted. Close completes by day 7 of the following month for accrual books, day 10 for cash basis review.
WIP SCHEDULE PRODUCTION
Project managers update costs-to-complete by project. Cost-to-complete validation against schedule progress. POC math run. Billings vs. costs reconciled. WIP schedule produced and reviewed for anomalies (margin jumps, billing imbalances, completion percentage inconsistencies). Final WIP signed off and integrated into accrual books.
CASH FORECAST UPDATE + DASHBOARD PREP
13-week cash forecast refreshed with current AR, AP, payroll, and known cash events. Variances against prior forecast analyzed. Cash position trend updated. Key metrics dashboard prepared: working capital, current ratio, days sales outstanding, gross margin by trade/project, overhead absorption rate, retention tail. Pre-meeting briefing delivered to the owner.
STRATEGIC ACCOUNTABILITY MEETING (EXECUTIVE TIER)
60–90 minute meeting with the owner and (where applicable) the PM lead or operations lead. Standard agenda: cash position and forecast trajectory, WIP review highlights, AR/AP attention items, project margin performance, capacity decisions pending, surety/banking touchpoints needed. Action items captured with owners and timelines. Meeting drives the next month’s priorities.
WHAT HAPPENS EVERY WEEK
- Billing velocity check — Pay apps due this week submitted on time. T&M invoices for the prior week issued within 5 days. Project status confirmed against billing schedule. Anything trending late gets escalated.
- AR collections review — Outstanding receivables aged past terms reviewed weekly. Direct collection actions taken (phone calls, escalations, prompt-pay statute references for public work). Cash arrivals reconciled against expected timing.
- Cash position checkpoint — Operating cash position checked Monday morning. Payroll funding confirmed for the week. Vendor payment scheduling reviewed against incoming cash. Any tight weeks flagged 2 weeks in advance.
- Project cost review — New project costs coded against the cost code structure. Variances from estimate flagged within the week, not at month-end. PM communication initiated on any project trending materially over.
WHAT HAPPENS EVERY YEAR
- CPA coordination — Year-end package delivered to the CPA in review-ready or audit-ready quality, depending on engagement level. CPA questions answered without owner involvement. Tax-ready P&L delivered. Schedule M-1 reconciliations done.
- Surety relationship management — Annual surety meeting prepared. Updated financial package delivered. Bonding capacity review run. Capacity growth requests built into the relationship cadence.
- Banking relationship review — Annual covenant check with the lender. LOC capacity and pricing reviewed. Equipment financing structure validated. Any banking changes (new facilities, refinancing, equipment loans) scoped and executed with the owner.
- Rate review and pricing analysis — T&M rates re-validated against current cost-to-deliver. Overhead absorption rates re-calculated against trailing year actuals. Pricing recommendations delivered for next bid cycle.
- Operating model tune-up — What worked this year, what didn’t, what changes to the cadence or reporting structure are needed for next year.
5 HOURS A MONTH ON FINANCE
The owner’s monthly time commitment with SPM running the finance function:
- 90–120 minutes in the strategic accountability meeting (Executive tier)
- 30–60 minutes reviewing the prepared dashboard before the meeting
- 15–30 minutes on AR collection escalations where owner-level intervention helps
- 30–60 minutes on cash decisions (large vendor payments, capacity additions, equipment moves)
Total: 3–5 hours per month on finance for most engagements. 5–10 hours during high-activity periods (major bid pursuit, year-end, surety renewal). The rest of the financial control work runs without owner involvement.
The owner stops spending 30 hours a month wrestling with QuickBooks and starts spending 30 hours a month running the business.
THE STRUCTURAL ADVANTAGE
The operating model works because SPM owns both the production and the analysis layers. The bookkeeping isn’t outsourced to a separate firm whose work product we then have to interpret. The WIP isn’t produced by a PM who doesn’t understand accrual accounting. The cash forecast isn’t maintained in a spreadsheet nobody updates.
Everything runs through one team using one set of systems. ControlQore handles job costing and WIP. Standardized chart of accounts handles bookkeeping. Standardized 13-week forecasting handles cash. The structure compounds: every month’s work feeds the next month’s reporting, every reporting cycle informs the next bid’s pricing, every year’s closeout feeds the next year’s operating model.
This is what the CFOS framework actually is in operation: a continuously-running financial control function that produces the outputs the owner needs to run the business, on the cadence the business needs them, without the owner having to learn accounting.
FREQUENTLY ASKED
