Construction CFO

Fractional CFO for Construction Companies

In construction you can be profitable and still run out of cash, because the job earns money on a schedule that has nothing to do with when the bills come due. A fractional CFO runs the company off the WIP and the cash forecast instead of the bank balance — which is the difference between growing on purpose and growing until it hurts.

The WIP and the cash forecast run 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 to what you've earned, exposing over-billings that flatter a month and under-billings that mean you're financing the owner. Pair it with a real cash forecast and you stop being surprised by the gap between profit and money in the bank.

A CFO keeps both live, so growth doesn't quietly outrun your working capital and a great year on paper doesn't become a cash crisis in practice.

The numbers behind bonding, backlog, and bidding

Bonding capacity, backlog, margin fade against estimate, and overhead allocation decide which jobs you can take and whether you make money on them. Surety underwriters read your WIP and your balance sheet closely; a clean, well-run financial picture directly expands what you can bond and build.

We manage the WIP, track backlog and fade, and prep surety-ready financials, so bidding and bonding decisions rest on a model — not on how the last job felt.

How Kaizen runs it

You get a senior CFO a few days a month on top of clean, job-costed books with an accurate WIP schedule. We run a rolling cash forecast, track margin fade and backlog, manage the bonding relationship, and build the models behind equipment, overhead, and expansion decisions.

It's the difference between chasing the next job and choosing it. One of those builds a bondable, sellable company; the other builds a bigger version of the cash squeeze you already have.

What's included

Work-in-progress schedule with over/under-billing analysis
13-week rolling cash forecast across draw and retainage cycles
Backlog and margin-fade reporting
Bonding-capacity support and surety-ready financials

Overhead allocation and job-margin analysis
Equipment vs. subcontract and capex models
Expansion and working-capital scenario models
Monthly board-ready KPI and margin pack

Most contractors start with the 1-2-3 CFO™ Reset: Month 1 clean and job-cost the books with a WIP schedule, Month 2 stand up cash forecasting and backlog reporting, Month 3 the first real board pack.

Pricing

$4,000–8,000/mosenior CFO, fractional · scoped to size and backlog · no contract

~$200K+/yrwhat a full-time construction CFO costs fully loaded, benefits and bonus included

Days, not a hiresenior CFO judgment a few days a month, on top of a real finance team

Decisions with mathbidding and bonding calls backed by WIP and cash models, not a gut feeling

Straight answers

We have a bookkeeper. Why a CFO?

A bookkeeper keeps the numbers right; a CFO runs the WIP, the cash forecast, the bonding relationship, and the bid decisions. Many contractors keep their bookkeeper and add us for the strategy layer.

Can you help expand our bonding capacity?

Yes — a clean WIP, strong working capital presentation, and surety-ready financials directly affect what you can bond. It's often the reason a growing contractor calls us in.

How do you handle profit vs. cash?

We run the WIP alongside a 13-week cash forecast, so you see both the earned profit and the actual cash timing — and stop being ambushed by the gap between them.

What size company is this for?

Usually $5M+ or contractors carrying real backlog and bonding needs. Smaller shops getting paid on completion may just need solid job-costed bookkeeping — we'll tell you.

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