Construction Controller

Controller Services for Construction Companies

In construction you can be profitable and cash-poor at the same time, and the only report that reconciles the two is a WIP schedule somebody senior actually keeps honest. A controller owns that schedule and the reviewed close — so growth doesn't quietly outrun your working capital.

Construction workers on a steel-frame building

The WIP is the report that runs the company

Billing, cost, and cash march to three different drummers on a construction job. The work-in-progress schedule reconciles what you've billed against what you've earned, exposing the over-billings that flatter a month and the under-billings that mean you're financing the owner. Kept by a controller, it's the report your surety and lender trust; kept loosely, it's a spreadsheet nobody believes.

Underneath sits job-margin review — retainage, change orders, estimate-to-actual fade — caught in the monthly review instead of discovered at closeout when it's too late to bill.

What a controller adds over a bookkeeper

A bookkeeper records the transactions. A controller makes them right and turns them into a reviewed package: an accurate WIP, job-level P&Ls, backlog reporting, and surety-ready financials. That's the layer that turns a busy contractor into a bondable, sellable company.

As the backlog grows, standardized job reporting shows which projects and PMs make money — not one blended margin hiding the job going sideways.

How Kaizen runs it

We sit on top of your bookkeeping — ours or yours — and run a documented monthly close, WIP schedule included, on the same date every month. Costs and billings get tied to each job so the schedule reconciles instead of floating.

Then the improvement part we're named for: each close the WIP gets more accurate and the review catches more before it reaches you. Controller judgment without the salary or the eventual departure.

What's included

Reviewed monthly financials with a documented, same-date close
Work-in-progress schedule with over/under-billing analysis
Job-level P&Ls and margin-fade review
Retainage tracked on receivables and payables

Backlog reporting kept current
Surety-ready financials for bonding
Standardized job reporting across PMs and divisions
Oversight of your bookkeeper or bookkeeping team — a second set of senior eyes

New engagements usually begin with the 1-2-3 CFO™ Reset: Month 1 clean and job-cost with a WIP schedule, Month 2 stand up job P&Ls and backlog reporting, Month 3 systems and a budget.

Pricing

$3,000–6,000/moscoped to job volume, backlog, and bonding · no contract

~$120K+/yrwhat a full-time construction controller costs fully loaded — if you can even hire one

One hire, one riskan in-house controller who needs managing and takes your WIP knowledge when they leave

Team + reviewcontroller oversight plus a bookkeeping team and a WIP that holds up

Straight answers

We have a bookkeeper. Why a controller?

A bookkeeper records; a controller owns the WIP, reviews job margins, and produces bonding-grade financials. Many contractors keep their bookkeeper and add us for the oversight and the WIP.

Can you produce financials our surety will accept?

Yes — an accurate WIP, clean job costing, and an on-time reviewed close in the format underwriters expect. It often directly expands what you can bond.

Our WIP and job costing are a mess. Fixable?

Usually Month 1. We rebuild the cost structure and schedule, then keep it accurate every close so it becomes a report you trust.

We run one job at a time on completion. Overkill?

Probably, and we'll say so. Without real backlog and bonding needs, a solid job-costed bookkeeper may be all you need.

Free 20-minute books assessment

We'll show you the five things we'd fix first in your books — useful whether you hire us, hire someone, or do neither.

Talk to Sales

Or call us directly: +1 786 789 0969