What a construction CFO does
A fractional construction CFO does a chief financial officer's job part-time: plans your cash, reports to the bank and the surety, and works the numbers behind the big decisions. CFO stands for chief financial officer. The Bureau of Labor Statistics describes financial managers, who may advance to CFO, as preparing financial statements and forecasts and helping management make financial decisions. On our plan, all of it starts from books closed by the 10th.
Starts from closed books, profit by job and a monthly WIP schedule
CFO advice is only as good as the numbers under it. So the CFO plan includes everything in the Controller plan underneath: books closed by the 10th, every account reconciled, profit by job, a WIP schedule each month and the Monday forecast.
A payment recorded twice, caught in a roofing client's August close.
From Jordan's client work before Peacock Accounting & Finance. The client is unnamed.
“In a roofing client's August close, one customer's $12,250 deposit was in QuickBooks twice: once when it was paid in July, and again in late August after their job software re-synced. The second copy never matched a deposit in the bank, which is how I found it. Left alone, the books would have shown $12,250 more cash than the bank actually had.”Jordan Peacock, MBA, founder
The WIP schedule also shows how much of the bank balance belongs to the jobs. The Construction Financial Management Association warns against treating over billing as profit: spend that cash on something else, which it calls job-borrow, and the cash problem shows up later.
Keeps 13 weeks of cash in view, checked every Monday
Payroll and suppliers go out every week. Pay apps come in weeks later, and retainage waits for closeout. A 13-week cash forecast checked against your bank every Monday shows the short week while there's still time to chase a pay app, push a purchase or line up the bank.
Plans cash for the big decisions
A job bigger than any you've done, a new piece of equipment, a second crew: each one changes your next 13 weeks. Cash planning runs the decision through the forecast before you commit, so you see which weeks dip and by how much.
You're bidding a job twice the size of your largest so far: $800,000 against $400,000. You start with $125,000 in the bank, payroll runs every week, the first pay app is paid in week 8, and the contract holds 10% retainage to the end. To keep it simple, the rest of the company breaks even over these 13 weeks.
| Week | Spent on the job | Paid on the job | Bank balance |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $20k | $0 | $105k |
| 4 | $75k | $0 | $50k |
| 7 | $150k | $0 | −$25k |
| 10 | $205k | $108k | $28k |
| 13 | $260k | $216k | $81k |
Spent and paid are totals to date. Week 7 dips to $25,000 short. That's the week to plan for before you bid: a draw on the bank line, a deposit, or a different billing schedule. And by week 13, $24,000 of what you've billed is sitting in retainage.
Without the forecast, week 7 shows up as a payroll you can't cover. With it, you see the dip before you sign, and you walk into the bank with the number and the week.
Reports to the bank and the surety
Your bank and your surety both read your numbers. A surety's underwriter looks at interim statements as well as annual ones, and at your work in progress. Keeping those numbers current and consistent is CFO work, and the next section covers what the surety looks at.
What the bank and the surety receive
Before a surety writes your bonds, its underwriter prequalifies you. The Surety & Fidelity Association of America lists what the underwriter looks at for financial strength. Three items on that list come straight from the monthly work on the CFO plan:
| The underwriter reads | On the CFO plan |
|---|---|
| Interim financial statements | Books closed by the 10th, every account reconciled |
| Work in progress, bonded and non-bonded | The WIP schedule, every month |
| Cash flow | The 13-week forecast, checked against your bank every Monday |
Also on the list: annual statements, statements for three to five years, evidence of a bank line of credit, credit history, and net worth and working capital.
Its fact sheet adds billing patterns and jobs in process.
What goes in the bank and surety package:
- A monthly balance sheet and profit and loss
- The WIP schedule
- The lists of who owes you and who you owe (receivables and payables aging)
- The 13-week cash forecast
About bonding capacity
Your surety decides your bond line. What we do is keep the numbers it reviews current and consistent from month to month. Consistency counts. A contractor's CFO quoted by the Construction Financial Management Association warns that job projections that run too optimistic, or that hold back good news, hurt your credibility with your bank and your surety. Here's why the surety asks for your WIP schedule.
What it costs: $6,500 a month
We charge $6,500 a month for the Outsourced CFO plan: one price a month, month to month. Stop any month.
It includes everything in the Outsourced Bookkeeper and Controller plans, and adds bank and surety reporting and cash planning for the big decisions. If your books are behind, we quote the catch-up work in writing before we start.
Outsourced Bookkeeper
$1,750 a month
Books closed by the 10th, every account reconciled.
Outsourced Controller
$3,250 a month
Job costing, WIP and a 13-week cash forecast checked every Monday.
Fractional CFO
Outsourced CFO
$6,500 a month
Cash planning, bank and surety reporting, and a partner for the big decisions.
See the CFO plan, line by line.
Next to a full-time CFO
A year of the plan, beside the hire
National median yearly wages, May 2025. BLS counts CFOs among chief executives. Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics. Wages only: a hire also costs benefits and payroll taxes.
A year of the plan is $78,000. The Bureau of Labor Statistics counts CFOs among chief executives, whose national median wage was $213,990 in May 2025. Financial managers, the role BLS says can advance to CFO, had a median of $166,570. Both figures are wages only: a hire also costs benefits and payroll taxes. The plans page sets each plan beside the Pittsburgh-area hire it stands in for.
Book your free 13-Week Cash Review
30 minutes, then a one-page summary in 2 business days.
When a fractional CFO is worth it, and when it isn't
It's worth it when a bond line, a bank line or a big bid depends on numbers you don't have yet. For example:
Worth it when
- Your bonded work is growing, and the surety wants interim statements, not just year-end ones.
- Your bank line renews this year, and you want the numbers ready before the bank asks.
- You're bidding a job much bigger than any you've done, and you don't know what it does to your cash.
- Big decisions get made on the bank balance, without a forecast.
Not yet
If your books don't close every month, start with the Bookkeeper or Controller plan. CFO advice on stale numbers is guesswork.
Controller or CFO?
A controller tells you which jobs made money and which week cash runs short. A CFO takes those numbers to the bank and the surety, and helps you make the big calls. Higher plans include everything in the lower ones, so the CFO plan has the controller's work under it. The full comparison is on the controller page: bookkeeper, controller or CFO?
A fractional CFO in Pittsburgh, for contractors anywhere in the US
We're based in Pittsburgh and work with contractors anywhere in the US, remotely. The best fit is a contractor doing $2 million to $20 million a year.
If your bond agent or banker pointed you here, see how we work with bond agents and bankers.
Who does the work
“I'd get phone calls on weekends. ‘Hey Jordan, can you look at my QuickBooks for a second?’ That ‘second’ would turn into two hours of untangling miscategorized transactions and explaining why their profit number didn't match their bank balance.”
Jordan Peacock, MBAFounder, Peacock Accounting & Finance
Jordan Peacock, MBA, does the work: seven years in corporate accounting and finance, in month-end close, financial reporting and budgets. He works in your QuickBooks, alongside whoever does your taxes, and checks your forecast against your bank every Monday.
Questions about a fractional construction CFO
What does CFO stand for in construction?
Chief financial officer: the person who owns a company's cash, its bank and surety relationships and the numbers behind its big decisions.
Do you charge by the hour?
No. The Outsourced CFO plan is one price, $6,500 a month, month to month. If your books are behind, the catch-up work is quoted in writing before we start.
What does a full-time CFO cost?
The Bureau of Labor Statistics counts CFOs among chief executives, whose national median wage was $213,990 in May 2025. That's wages only: a hire also costs benefits and payroll taxes. A year of our Outsourced CFO plan is $78,000.
Where do I find a fractional CFO?
Ask your accountant, your bond agent or your banker, or search for one directly. Whoever you talk to, ask for a published price and a sample report.
Can you help us get a bigger bond line?
We can't promise one: your surety decides. We keep the numbers it reviews current and consistent: the closed books, the WIP schedule and the forecast.
Do you do taxes?
No. We don't prepare or file tax returns, and we're not a CPA firm. Jordan Peacock: I am not a certified public accountant or public accountant. We work alongside whoever does your taxes.