I recently had the pleasure of sitting down with Josh Luebker from The Construction CFO on our Constructive Conversations podcast, and our discussion really highlighted something I've been observing in the industry: CFO services are rising these days, and they're providing tremendous benefits to contractors.
Understanding the Gap
Josh shared something that really resonated with me. After working on approximately $2 billion worth of construction projects over his decade-long career, he noticed a significant disparity in the industry. The big companies have sophisticated systems figured out—how they job cost, forecast, and manage their lines of credit. But nobody is helping the small contractor figure out how to do that.
As Josh pointed out, it's not intuitive. When you're already working 60 hours a week running your business and doing the work yourself, you can't just jump into a $60,000 software package and expect it to work for you.
A Common Challenge
This is something I see regularly in my work with contractors. Many of them understand building—they're excellent at their craft. But the business aspects, particularly the accounting side, can be foreign territory. I readily admit I couldn't build a shed from scratch without directions, so why would I expect a heavy highway builder or vertical builder to step in and build a WIP schedule or understand deferred taxes without help?
The Fractional CFO Solution
What makes fractional CFO services so valuable is that they provide contractors access to high-level financial expertise without the full expense of hiring a full-time CFO as an officer-level employee. Josh has built his business around taking everything he learned at the highest level and boiling it down to something simple that anybody can replicate.
His company serves clients nationwide, from Montana and Canada down to Houston and Mexico, from San Francisco to Washington, D.C. The beauty of modern technology—something we all learned during COVID—is that we don't need to be 20 minutes from someone to service them effectively.
Why This Matters
The construction industry needs more support like this, especially for contractors in that one to five million dollar range who are growing and becoming more sophisticated. These services go beyond just entering bills and making payroll. They provide an overall way to manage your business from a financial standpoint with someone who understands it at a high level.
At Brown Edwards, we see how these services pair well with what we're trying to do as CPAs—helping our clients succeed, be profitable, and eventually retire wealthy. While we can't help companies make certain management decisions that would impair our independence, fractional CFO services fill that critical gap.
If you're a contractor struggling with the financial side of your business, or if you've outgrown your current bookkeeping setup, it might be time to consider bringing in fractional CFO expertise. The investment in getting your financial house in order can be the difference between just staying busy and building a truly profitable, sustainable business.
Eddie Thompson is a Director with Brown Edwards and host of the Construct-ive Conversations podcast, where he discusses important topics affecting the construction industry.
