Construction & Trades
General contractors, builders, HVAC, plumbing, electrical, and landscaping companies that need job costing, cash flow management, and controller-level financial oversight.
The Reality of Contractor Finances
A general contractor in Palm Beach finishes a $180,000 pool and patio project. Materials ran $62,000. Labor came in at $48,000. Permits, equipment rental, and subs added another $31,000. On paper, that leaves $39,000 in profit. Except the estimate missed two weeks of delays from weather and inspections, three trips back for punch list items, and the concrete pour that ran over. Actual profit was closer to $18,000. The next similar bid went out at the same rates.
Construction is a cash flow puzzle. You pay for materials on delivery, make payroll every Friday, and wait 45 to 60 days for the final draw. A project can be profitable on paper while leaving you scrambling to cover next week’s expenses. The numbers in your accounting software mean nothing if they don’t reflect actual job costs and real cash position.
Who This Covers
Who This Covers
General contractors, custom builders, HVAC contractors, plumbers, electricians, roofers, landscaping companies, pool builders, and specialty trades throughout South Florida. Established businesses with crews and multiple projects running simultaneously.
What Makes It Complex
What Makes It Complex
Progress billing and retainage create revenue timing issues. Materials purchased for one job get charged to another. Labor costs spread across multiple projects need accurate allocation. Subcontractor payments require 1099 tracking. Equipment depreciation and vehicle expenses often get recorded incorrectly or ignored entirely.
Controller-Level Oversight
Most contractors reach a point where DIY bookkeeping or a part-time bookkeeper cannot keep up with the complexity. Transactions get entered, but nobody is reviewing them for accuracy. Costs end up in wrong categories. Jobs show profit when they actually lost money. The financials exist but nobody trusts them enough to make decisions.
Controller oversight changes that. Every month, transactions get reviewed and corrected. Adjusting entries for accruals, prepaid expenses, and depreciation are made properly. Reconciliations are verified. The month gets closed with financials that actually reflect reality. Your internal staff handles the day-to-day data entry while we ensure the output is accurate and useful.
Job Cost Accuracy
Job Cost Accuracy
Every expense coded to the correct project. Labor allocated based on actual hours worked per job. Materials assigned when used rather than when purchased. Equipment rental tied to specific projects. You see true profitability by job type, by project manager, and by customer.
Month-End Close
Month-End Close
Reconciliations reviewed and verified. Accruals recorded for expenses incurred but not yet billed. Work in progress tracked against draw schedules. Depreciation calculated correctly. Financial statements that close on time and accurately reflect the month’s activity.
Where Things Go Wrong
The most common problem is job costs that never get allocated properly. Materials get expensed when purchased rather than when used on a specific project. Labor hours get lumped together instead of tracked by job. You know total revenue and total expenses for the quarter but have no visibility into which projects made money and which ones lost it. That custom home might have looked great but actually cost you $12,000 when you account for all the change orders and punch list work.
Cash flow blindness is the other killer. A contractor with $300,000 in receivables and $80,000 in the bank feels safe until they realize $140,000 in bills and payroll are due before any of those receivables convert to cash. Without proper forecasting and AR aging analysis, profitable contractors run into cash crises that could have been predicted and prevented weeks in advance.
No Job-Level Visibility
No Job-Level Visibility
Total revenue looks good. Total expenses seem reasonable. But without accurate job costing, you cannot see which types of work generate real profit. Commercial projects might consistently hit 18% margin while residential remodels barely break even. You keep taking the wrong jobs because you never had the data to tell them apart.
Tax Surprises
Tax Surprises
A strong year with no quarterly estimates means a large tax bill in April and no cash saved to pay it. Vehicle mileage never tracked. Equipment purchases expensed wrong or depreciated incorrectly. Deductions get missed because the records were never set up to capture them.
What Changes
Bidding becomes informed by actual data. Historical job costs show what similar projects really cost, including the hidden expenses that always appear. You stop underbidding work because you know the floor. You identify which project types and which customers consistently generate margin. The jobs you take become choices rather than guesses.
Cash flow becomes predictable. AR aging reports show what is coming and when. Forecasts account for draw schedules, payroll timing, and vendor payments. You see the cash crunch three weeks out instead of three days out. Financial statements you can actually trust to make decisions about equipment purchases, new hires, and growth.
Accurate Bidding and Better Jobs
Accurate Bidding and Better Jobs
Historical data shows actual costs on completed projects. Estimates incorporate real numbers for labor, materials, and the overhead that always gets underestimated. You stop chasing volume and start selecting projects with reliable margins. Growth becomes intentional rather than reactive.
Financial Leadership
Financial Leadership
Monthly financials that close on time and reflect reality. Cash flow forecasts that prevent surprises. Tax planning throughout the year instead of scrambling in April. The financial clarity to evaluate new equipment, additional crews, or expansion into new markets based on verified data.
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