RUN ON CFOS.
CFOS is the Construction Financial Operating System: 6 connected systems that run the finance function of a commercial subcontractor doing $1M to $12M. Job costing built against how you estimate, a 13 week cash flow forecast, monthly WIP, trade benchmarks, and a meeting every month that ends in decisions. Bookkeeping, controllership, and CFO work in one engagement, so there are no scope gaps.
Most contractors at this size have a bookkeeper, a CPA, and a software subscription, and nobody whose job is the whole picture. Each provider does their piece correctly and the spaces between them are where the money goes. CFOS exists because the failures that put a profitable subcontractor into a line of credit aren't accounting failures. They're structural: an overhead rate nobody recalculated, cost codes that can't be compared to the estimate, billing that goes out late, and retention nobody is chasing. Those repeat across every trade we work in, which is why the answer is a system rather than advice.
THE FAILURES REPEAT. SO DOES THE FIX.
The problem CFOS was built for is a specific one. A subcontractor wins work, the jobs look acceptable when they close, and the bank account never grows. Owners read that as a sales problem or a pricing problem and it's almost always neither. Construction runs on accrual accounting, so your profit and loss records revenue when you invoice and costs when you incur them, while your bank account only knows what cleared. Labor goes out weekly and collects 45 to 90 days later. That distance is what a growing, profitable company funds out of its own pocket.
The second half of the problem is that nothing in a standard finance setup is responsible for catching it. A bookkeeper records what happened. A CPA files it. Neither is engaged to tell you which week you run short in nine weeks, or whether the job you're about to bid can carry your overhead. That work exists whether or not anybody is assigned to it, and when nobody is, the owner does it at whatever hour is left on a Sunday.
CFOS assigns it. Six systems cover the six ways the money leaves, each one with deliverables you can point at rather than advisory language, and a monthly cadence with a person and a date on every line. The result we build toward is an owner spending about five hours a month on finance and knowing more than they did spending twenty.
SIX WAYS THE MONEY LEAVES. SIX SYSTEMS THAT STOP IT.
PROFITABLE JOBS. EMPTY BANK ACCOUNT.
Most subcontractors who run out of cash are earning a profit while doing it. The money is real, but it reaches the bank 60 to 90 days after they spend it, and nobody is controlling the timing. Cash Control is the CFOS system that forecasts 13 weeks ahead and turns cash timing into a decision you make instead of a surprise you absorb.
YOU KNOW WHAT IT BILLED. NOT WHAT IT EARNED.
Almost every subcontractor under $12M can tell you what a job invoiced and can't tell you what it made. The cost codes in the accounting system don't line up with the way the work was estimated, so the two numbers can never be compared. Job Profitability is the CFOS system that rebuilds job costing against your estimating structure and reports cost to complete every month, so a losing job is caught at 40 percent complete instead of at closeout.
EVERY DAY YOU WAIT YOU FUND IT YOURSELF.
The days between finishing work and collecting for it are days you finance out of your own pocket. Most subcontractors sit at 75 to 90 days and assume that's the industry, when 45 is achievable and 30 is achievable with discipline. Cash Flow Cycle is the CFOS system that compresses billing, documentation, and collections until the cycle stops costing you a line of credit.
GROWTH EATS CASH BEFORE IT MAKES ANY.
Every additional million dollars of revenue requires cash up front for labor, material, and mobilization, and collects 60 days later. That's why a contractor can double revenue and end the year with less money than they started with. Working Capital is the CFOS system that sets how much growth your balance sheet can carry and builds the reserve that makes the next size of work possible.
IS 22 PERCENT GOOD? DEPENDS ON YOUR TRADE.
A gross margin that's excellent for a civil contractor is a losing number for a low voltage contractor, because the labor to material ratio is completely different. Without a trade specific benchmark, an owner has no way to tell a good year from a bad one. Trade Benchmarking is the CFOS system that sets your gross margin, net margin, and overhead targets from 48 trades broken out by revenue band.
THREE PROVIDERS. NOBODY RESPONSIBLE.
Most subcontractors under $12M have a bookkeeper, a CPA, and a software subscription, and no one whose job is the whole picture. Each provider does their piece correctly and the spaces between them are where the money goes. Operating Model Definition is the CFOS system that sets who owns which number, on which day, so nothing depends on the owner noticing.
WHAT REALLY HAPPENS, AND WHEN.
THE SCOPE, STATED PLAINLY.
THE NUMBERS WE RUN AGAINST.
| Measure | Target |
|---|---|
| Project gross profit | 21 to 29 percent |
| Company net profit | 10 to 14 percent |
| Working capital | 10 to 15 percent of revenue, 13 percent target |
| Current ratio | 1.3 to 2 |
| Debt to equity | Below 1 |
| Days sales outstanding | 90 weak, 45 target, 30 strong |
| Cash on hand | $650,000 |
| Monthly close | Complete by day 10 |
From the CONTROL book. Every one of these is held in one data file, so a page anywhere on this site that states a target reads it from here.
FLAT MONTHLY FEE. NO SURPRISES.
Priced by trailing 12 month revenue. No hourly billing. No payroll. No add-ons.
| Last 12 months revenue | Monthly fee |
|---|---|
| Up to $1M | $1,900 to $2,900 |
| $1M to $3.5M | $2,600 to $3,900 |
| $3.5M to $6.5M | $3,800 to $5,700 |
| $6.5M to $9.5M | $5,100 to $7,100 |
| $9.5M to $12.5M | $6,100 to $8,500 |
| $12.5M to $15.5M | $7,400 to $11,000 |
| $15.5M to $18.5M | $9,400 to $13,500 |
| $18.5M+ | Quoted individually |
Range reflects the three tiers below. Which one you're in depends on how much of the work you want off your desk. No payroll. No hidden line items.
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 rather than a report.
Your bookkeeper keeps doing the books.
You stop touching the books.
Everything in Core, and we run the bookkeeping and the controllership as well. Nobody in your office is answering coding questions or chasing a reconciliation at month end.
We do the books. No payroll.
Every job shows its margin while it's still running.
Everything in Executive, plus the job costing and WIP platform set up, loaded with your cost codes, and managed for you every month. You never have to learn it.
We do the job costing.
HOW IT GETS DELIVERED.
48 TRADES, BENCHMARKED BY REVENUE BAND.
Every client is measured against their own trade at their own revenue band and not against construction as a category, because a gross margin that's strong for a civil contractor is a losing number for a low voltage contractor. We hold benchmarks for 48 trades, of which 48 are published on this site so far and the rest are being added.
HEAD TO HEAD.
FREQUENTLY ASKED.
