Subcontractors

Part-Time CFO and Controller for Subcontractors

Waiting on the GC to pay, and not sure which jobs are making money? Monthly numbers by job and a cash plan built around pay applications and retainage, from a team led by a former construction CFO.

Sound Familiar?

If two or more of these sound familiar, let’s talk.

What We Do

Subcontractor Accounting and CFO Services

Accounting for subcontractors runs on the GC’s schedule: pay applications due on their dates, change orders that need paperwork before they get paid, and retainage held until the job closes out. We close your books every month and give you job costs, a WIP schedule and a cash forecast, so you know how each job is doing while it’s still running.

Every month

  • Books closed and reconciled on time
  • Job costing on every job, with cost to complete checked with your project managers
  • A WIP schedule with over and under billing
  • Pay applications (G702/G703) reviewed before they go out
  • Pending change orders and retainage tracked until they’re paid
  • A 13-week cash flow forecast and a monthly meeting to walk you through it

When you need it

  • An annual budget and business plan
  • Lines of credit and term loans
  • Bonding support and the reports your surety asks for
  • Cleanup of books that are behind
  • Getting ready to sell or bring in a partner
Learn more in our guide to the construction WIP schedule, see how we handle WIP and job costing, or see all our services.

Why It Matters

Why Subcontractors Run Short on Cash

A subcontractor pays its crews every week and its suppliers every month, but gets paid only after the GC approves a pay application, and the GC pays on its own schedule. Retainage holds back part of every payment until the job closes out. Change orders add another wait: work done before the paperwork is signed can sit unbilled while the job keeps going.
The job reports can hide trouble, too. If cost to complete comes from the system’s math instead of your project managers, a job can look fine until it’s nearly done. For example, a $10,000 drywall budget with $8,000 spent shows $2,000 left. If the PM says it will take $6,000 more to finish, the job will come in $4,000 over budget, and it’s better to know that halfway through than at the end.

What We Track for Subcontractors

Cost to Complete

What’s left on each job, checked with your project managers.

Change Orders

Every pending change order, from the request to the payment.

Retainage

What each GC is holding back and when it’s due.

Over and Under Billing

Whether your billing is ahead of the work or behind it, job by job.

Results

Results for Contractors

Helped a construction company recover $2 million in legal claims on contract disputes.

Meet Alan

Led by a Former Construction CFO

Alan G. Lefkowitz, CPA, founded CFO Strategies in 2009 and has more than 30 years of financial leadership experience. For over 10 years he was CFO of mid-sized construction and real estate companies, overseeing the financial performance of major New York projects, including the Yankee Stadium and the Goldman Sachs office tower. Today he and his team bring that experience to contractors who need CFO-level help without a full-time hire.

From First Call to Monthly Reporting

1. Book a Call

Tell us about your company, your software and what isn’t working.

2. Free Cash Flow Review

We look at your books, WIP and cash position and tell you what we’d fix first.

3. Cleanup and Setup

We clean up what needs fixing and set up job costing and monthly reporting.

4. Monthly Reporting

Every month you get clear reports on job profitability, WIP and cash.

We can usually start within a couple of weeks, after a short review of your books. See how it works or view our pricing.

FAQ

Frequently Asked Questions

Straight answers for subcontractors.

Yes. Specialty subcontractors are among our clients, including drywall and interior and exterior trades, along with general contractors, construction managers, roofers and HVAC companies.

Closing the books every month, job costing, a WIP schedule with over and under billing, pay application review, tracking change orders and retainage, payroll and sales tax filings, and a forecast of cash for the months ahead.

We track every pending change order from the request to the payment and show you which ones are getting old, so work you’ve done doesn’t sit unbilled.

Yes. We prepare the financial statements and WIP reports bonding companies ask for, and we’ve helped contractors get larger bonding lines.

QuickBooks Online, QuickBooks Desktop, Sage 100 Contractor, Sage 300 CRE, Foundation, Sage Intacct, Viewpoint Vista and Plexxis. See what we do in each one.

No. We work at will and ask for 30 days’ notice.

See How Your Jobs Are Really Doing

Book a free consultation. We’ll look at your numbers and tell you what we’d fix first, with no obligation.

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