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CFOS OPERATING SYSTEMFRACTIONAL CFOCONTROLLERSHIPBOOKKEEPINGJOB COSTINGWIP REPORTINGSUBCONTRACTOR FINANCECONTROLQORECFOS OPERATING SYSTEMFRACTIONAL CFOCONTROLLERSHIPBOOKKEEPINGJOB COSTINGWIP REPORTINGSUBCONTRACTOR FINANCECONTROLQORE
THE CONSTRUCTION CFO SCHEDULE A FREE CALL
THE CFOS OPERATING SYSTEM

WHAT CFOS REPLACES
IN CONSTRUCTION.

THE SHORT ANSWER

Most construction subcontractors already have a bookkeeper, a CPA, and a spreadsheet. They still don't know if they're making money on individual jobs. They still get surprised at the end of the year. They still make decisions based on bank balance instead of actual financial position. CFOS replaces the setup that produces those outcomes — not by adding a new layer on top of it, but by replacing the structure entirely.

BY JOSH LUEBKER UPDATED MAY 2026 THE CONSTRUCTION CFO
THE EXISTING SETUP AND ITS GAPS

WHAT MOST SUBCONTRACTORS
CURRENTLY HAVE.

Before CFOS, the typical financial setup for a $3M–$8M subcontractor looks like this. Each piece does something. None of them talk to each other. And the owner ends up doing the interpretation work that none of them are positioned to do.

WHO
BOOKKEEPER
Records transactions. Reconciles the bank. Produces a P&L at month-end.
THE GAP
Can't interpret what the numbers mean. Can't run WIP. Can't build a cash forecast. Can't tell you if Job 14 is losing money. Not trained to connect bookkeeping output to operational decisions. Does exactly what you hired them for and nothing beyond it.
CFOS REPLACES WITH
A controller who closes the books, reconciles, runs the WIP, reviews every job's cost-to-complete, and reports to the CFO monthly. Same transaction accuracy — plus the interpretation layer that turns records into decisions.
WHO
CPA / TAX FIRM
Files the tax return. Handles compliance. Answers questions during tax season.
THE GAP
Looks at the business once a year in March. Not reviewing job margins in July. Not flagging the overhead rate problem in October. Not in the room when the owner is deciding whether to take on a $2M job that will break cash flow. The CPA is a compliance provider, not an operating advisor.
CFOS REPLACES WITH
Monthly strategic meetings with the CFO. Not tax advice — operating advice. Cash position. Job margins. Overhead rate. The decisions that happen between January and December, not just the ones that get reviewed in March. CFOS works alongside your CPA, not instead of them.
WHO
SPREADSHEETS
Job cost tracking in Excel. Cash flow projection in a different tab. WIP calculated manually once a quarter.
THE GAP
Numbers nobody fully trusts because they're assembled by hand. WIP that's three months old when decisions are made. Job cost that doesn't match the bookkeeping because they're in different systems. The spreadsheet is always a few days behind reality and one formula error away from being wrong in a way you won't catch.
CFOS REPLACES WITH
ControlQore — job costing and WIP platform connected to the books. Numbers that reconcile because they come from the same system. WIP run monthly from closed books. Cash forecast built from actual AR aging and billing schedule, not a spreadsheet estimate.
WHO
THE OWNER
Doing the financial interpretation work nobody else is doing.
THE GAP
The owner is getting bookkeeping output, a tax return, and a spreadsheet — and then figuring out what it all means alone. Making cash flow decisions based on bank balance. Making hiring decisions without a verified overhead rate. Running the business on intuition because the financial system doesn't produce actionable output.
CFOS REPLACES WITH
About 5 hours a month. One monthly meeting with the CFO. An action list that comes out of it. The owner runs the business. CFOS runs the financial operating system. No gaps between what the books say and what the CFO advises, because it is the same team.
BEFORE AND AFTER

WHAT CHANGES WHEN
CFOS IS IN PLACE.

BEFORE
P&L shows profitable. Bank account is empty. Owner doesn't know why.
VS
CFOS
CEO Report shows cash flow, job margins, AR aging, and working capital in one view. The gap between P&L profit and bank balance has an explanation every month.
BEFORE
Job 14 closes $80K worse than estimated. Nobody saw it coming.
VS
CFOS
Job 14 was flagged in month two when cost burn was trending 12 points above estimate. The PM was in the room. The problem was addressed while there was still time to act.
BEFORE
Made $4.9M last year. Netted $161K. Nobody knows where the rest went.
VS
CFOS
Overhead rate was 28% instead of the 10% in the estimate. Every job was priced 18 points below what it cost to execute. The problem was in the bid structure, not the field. Fixed in the next bid cycle.
BEFORE
MCA loan at 48% APR taken out to cover payroll. Owner doing this alone at 11pm.
VS
CFOS
13-week cash forecast showed the payroll gap eight weeks out. LOC draw planned. MCA never needed. Owner slept through the night.
PROOF

WHAT CFOS PRODUCES
IN PRACTICE.

$2.1M+
CLIENT AR RECOVERED THROUGH CFOS-MANAGED COLLECTIONS PROCESS
18
ACTIVE TRADE SPECIALIZATIONS — CIVIL, CONCRETE, ELECTRICAL, SWPPP, AND MORE
60 DAYS
AVERAGE ONBOARDING — BOOKS MIGRATED, SYSTEM LIVE, FIRST MONTHLY CADENCE RUNNING

The concrete sub doing $4.9M: had a bookkeeper, filed taxes on time, and tracked jobs in a spreadsheet. Netted $161K on $4.9M of revenue — 3.3%. After CFOS identified the overhead rate problem and rebuilt the bid structure, net profit went to $1.1M on $5.2M of revenue the following year. The work didn't change. The financial system did. Read the case study →

RevenueCore FinancialExecutive 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+QuotedQuoted

Core Financial: ControlQore setup, job costing, bookkeeping, bank recs. Executive Financial: everything in Core plus monthly CFO advisory, controllership, and accountability. Full breakdown →

FAQ

COMMON QUESTIONS.

CFOS replaces four things most subcontractors already have but that aren't working together: a bookkeeper who records transactions but can't interpret them, a CPA who files taxes but isn't advising between filings, spreadsheets that produce numbers nobody fully trusts, and the owner doing interpretation work alone. CFOS integrates all four into one operating system with no gaps between what the books say and what the CFO advises.

CFOS includes bookkeeping — the controller handles the monthly close, bank reconciliations, and record accuracy. But CFOS is an operating system that includes bookkeeping as one layer, not a bookkeeping service. The controller who closes the books is the same person who runs the WIP, reviews job cost, and reports to the CFO. There is no handoff between separate vendors.

No. CFOS does not replace tax preparation or compliance work. SPM works alongside your existing CPA. The difference is that you arrive at tax time with 12 months of clean, verified, job-cost-backed financials instead of a shoebox. The CPA's work gets easier and the outcome improves because the books are accurate all year, not reconstructed in March.

Most fractional CFO services provide strategic advice without touching the books. CFOS is a complete financial operating system — bookkeeping, controllership, and CFO advisory in one structure, built specifically for construction subcontractors. The CFO and controller are on the same team. There are no gaps between what the books say and what the CFO advises, because it is the same team looking at the same system.

60 days. Books migrated back to the start of the last taxable year, chart of accounts rebuilt for job costing, ControlQore configured, first monthly cadence running. The 60-day target is a hard commitment, not an estimate.

Josh Luebker — The Construction CFO
Josh Luebker
Fractional CFO · The Construction CFO

Former commercial construction PM and master electrician. Managed 150+ projects totaling $300M+. The problem isn't that subcontractors don't have financial help. It's that the help they have isn't connected. About Josh →

SYSTEM RESOURCES
SYSTEM
Run on CFOS
The full Construction Financial Operating System — all six modules explained
FLAGSHIP
Financial Control for Subcontractors
The complete system — five pillars, pricing, and what it produces in practice
PRICING
CFO Services Pricing
Core Financial and Executive Financial — what's included and what it costs

THE GAP DOESN'T CLOSE
WITHOUT THE SYSTEM.

Free 30-minute call. We look at your numbers and tell you what we see.

SCHEDULE A FREE CALL →

30 minutes. Free. No sales pressure. We'll tell you exactly what's broken before we talk about anything else.

THE CONSTRUCTION CFO
Run on CFOS Financial Control Fractional CFO Schedule a Call Josh@ConstructionCFO.net
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