Built to $110M. The Finance Function Never Got the Memo.
Commercial contractor scaled to $110M without finance function evolution. How a CFO Power Team aligned operations with growth trajectory.
Commercial Construction — Multi-Generational
Built to $110M. The Finance Function Never Got the Memo.
A decades-old commercial construction firm had grown to $110M in annual revenue. The reputation was earned over generations. The financial infrastructure hadn't kept pace with a single decade. A Financial Discovery Assessment found $577,000 in annualized value and built the foundation the business needed to protect what it had built.
A Legacy Built Project by Project. A Finance Function That Stopped Growing With It.
There are businesses that grow fast and businesses that grow well. This firm grew both ways — steadily, reputationally, and over decades, reaching $110M in annual revenue through work that spoke for itself. The challenge wasn't what they built. It was how they managed what building it produced.
At nine figures, the financial decisions that matter most — which projects to bid, how to allocate overhead, when to expand the bonding line — require data precision that the existing infrastructure simply couldn't provide. The CEO Dashboard that should have existed didn't. Project selection was driven by experience and instinct, which had served the business well for decades but couldn't tell you whether the last ten projects had been priced correctly once overhead was fully allocated.
The accounting team was running manual processes at a volume they weren't designed for. Paper-based AP, non-automated bank feeds, and manual time tracking created a close cycle that was slow, error-prone, and consistently behind the pace of the business. Bonding agents and lenders were getting financial statements that reflected what the business had been rather than what it was.
For established construction businesses at this scale, this is often a quiet crisis — the business looks successful from the outside, and it is, but the financial infrastructure running underneath it is sized for a company half its size. That gap is expensive. That's when they called us.
The Assessment
What a Nine-Figure Construction Business Looks Like Without CFO-Level Infrastructure
Every dollar of inefficiency is larger at $110M. Every compliance gap is more consequential. Every decision made without data costs more. Here's what we found.
$176,000 in Payroll Errors — Annually
At 100+ employees with manual time tracking and no systematic overtime management, payroll errors weren't occasional — they were structural. Hours misallocated across jobs. Overtime approved inconsistently. Burden rates applied incorrectly. Automated time tracking and payroll workflow controls identified $176,000 in projected annual savings. At this workforce scale, this was the most significant single finding in the engagement.
Projected Annualized Savings: $176,000
Overhead Allocation Without a Dashboard
Project selection at $110M requires knowing your actual overhead rate — not an estimate, but a precise, current number. Without a CEO Dashboard integrating project performance, overhead costs, and WIP, the business was making bid decisions based on historical assumptions that may not have reflected current cost structures. We built the reporting infrastructure that made real-time overhead visibility possible for the first time.
Action: CEO Dashboard and Overhead Model Built
Fuel and Fleet Spend Without Controls
A large equipment fleet generated significant fuel spend with no formal procurement controls, no systematic tracking of usage by equipment or job, and no bulk purchasing strategy. Unauthorized usage went undetected. Implementing a fuel management system identified $35,000 in annualized savings — money that had been absorbed invisibly into project costs.
Annualized Savings: $35,000
Bonding Capacity Threatened by Noisy Books
A $110M commercial contractor's bonding line is existential — without it, the business can't bid the work that sustains the revenue. Bonding agents underwrite based on financial statements, and the statements they were receiving had high-materiality inaccuracies in AR, AP, and general ledger accounts that accumulated through manual processing. We initiated a full balance sheet true-up before the next bonding review — protecting the capacity the business needed to keep operating at scale.
Action: Full Balance Sheet True-Up Completed
No Risk Assessment Framework at Nine Figures
Complex multi-site commercial projects, subcontractor relationships, a large mobile workforce, and significant equipment exposure all require systematic risk assessment — not ad hoc judgment applied project by project. The company had no formal framework. We established one, closing gaps in both operational risk management and insurance coverage that had gone unaddressed as the business grew.
Action: Risk Assessment Framework Established
No Forward Cash View for a Project-Based Business
Construction cash flow is inherently lumpy — front-loaded costs, milestone-based billings, retainage held until project completion. Without a 13-week rolling cash forecast that models the project portfolio forward, liquidity management is reactive. A business at this scale making working capital decisions without forward visibility is taking risks it doesn't need to take. We built and implemented the forecast model alongside the engagement.
Action: 13-Week Cash Forecast Model Implemented
Multi-generational businesses carry something most companies don't: decades of earned trust with clients, subcontractors, and the community. Protecting that legacy means building the financial infrastructure to match the reputation — before a lender, a bonding agent, or an unforeseen crisis reveals the gap.
Is This Your Business?
Your Bonding Line and Your Banking Relationship Depend on Financial Statements You Can Stand Behind.
If you're running a construction business at $20M or above and your finance function is still sized for a smaller operation, a Financial Discovery Assessment finds what that gap is costing before it becomes a problem you can't ignore.
Common Questions
Construction Company Financial Leadership
How does a construction company improve bonding capacity?
Bonding capacity is driven primarily by the quality and reliability of your financial statements, your working capital position, and the strength of your surety relationship. A fractional CFO helps by cleaning up the balance sheet, implementing proper WIP accounting, and managing the surety relationship proactively — not reactively when capacity is already at risk.
What does a fractional CFO do for a construction company?
For construction businesses, a fractional CFO focuses on job costing accuracy, overhead allocation, bonding and banking relationships, cash flow forecasting across the project lifecycle, and the reporting infrastructure that lets owners make good project selection decisions. At larger revenue levels, they also drive the systems that allow the business to scale without proportional administrative cost.
When does a construction business need CFO-level leadership?
The signals are: project selection decisions made without confidence in overhead numbers, bonding agents asking questions you can't answer clearly, a monthly close that takes more than 10 days, or revenue growing faster than the finance function's ability to keep up. Multi-generational businesses often have this gap — the revenue grew, but the finance function stayed sized for an earlier era of the company.
What is work-in-progress (WIP) accounting and why does it matter?
WIP accounting matches revenue recognition to the percentage of completion of each project, rather than billing milestones or cash receipt. For construction companies, inaccurate WIP accounting can significantly misstate profit in any given period — making a profitable business look unprofitable or vice versa. Lenders and bonding agents understand this and look specifically at WIP schedules when evaluating financial statements.
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Services and Industries
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Fractional CFO & Controller Services
Senior financial leadership on a fractional basis — the right oversight for a business your size.
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Financial Discovery Assessment
A structured diagnostic designed to find what your finance function is missing — and what it's costing.
Who We Serve
Construction & Contractors
We understand the financial complexity of construction — bonding, WIP, overhead, and the project-based cash cycle.