An outsourced construction controller does the financial control work of an in-house controller — job costing, WIP schedules, and cash forecasting — without the $195K+ hire. Builder Ledger does it exclusively for construction companies, so every report speaks WIP, retainage, and percentage-of-completion instead of generic accounting.
No contract · Month-to-month · From $2,000/mo · Direct access to Brian
An outsourced construction controller is a senior construction accounting professional engaged on a monthly retainer instead of a salary. The job is financial control at the job level: knowing what every active job has earned, what it has cost, what it will cost to finish — and whether the cash will be there when payroll, subs, and suppliers come due. It is the layer between your bookkeeper, who records what happened, and your CPA, who files what happened last year.
Estimated profit and margin on every active job, updated monthly — caught mid-job, while crew mix, sequencing, and change orders can still change the outcome.
A reconciled work-in-progress schedule with over/under billing on every job — ready for your banker or bonding agent whenever they ask, not assembled in a scramble.
AR aging, draw schedules, payroll cycles, and payables mapped twelve weeks forward, so a cash gap shows up while it is still a planning problem.
Jobs tracking below target margin — or falling behind on billing — get flagged the month it starts, not discovered at closeout.
Reporting packages prepared for lender and bonding reviews, in the format underwriters actually read — so your capacity is judged on clean numbers.
45–60 minutes with Brian reviewing every finding. Under an hour of your time a month; you make the decisions with real numbers in front of you.
A generalist ages retainage like a slow-paying invoice. On your jobs it is 5–10% of every contract, held until the end — frequently the entire profit margin. Lump it into receivables and your cash position looks healthier than it is, right up until it matters.
Bill ahead on a job and cash looks strong. A generalist reports a good month. A construction controller recognizes borrowed cash — money collected on work not yet performed, which has to be earned out on jobs coming up behind it.
Revenue, margin, and the WIP all hang off cost-to-complete estimates. If nobody challenges those estimates monthly, reported margin is fiction until closeout — which is exactly when most owners find out a job lost money.
A full-time construction controller costs $130K–$160K in salary before benefits, payroll taxes, a $25K–$40K recruiting fee, and a 3–6 month ramp — $195K–$250K in year one. An outsourced construction controller delivers the same monthly oversight on a flat retainer starting at $2,000/mo, productive from the first month, month-to-month with 30 days' notice to cancel. For most $1M–$20M contractors, the math is not close.
"Brian called me two months in and said we were going to lose $40K on that job if nothing changed. Adjusted the crew, closed it out fine. I never would've caught it."
Mechanical Sub · Phoenix, AZ · $6M
"Revenue was up and I was still sweating payroll every two weeks. Turns out we had a billing gap on two jobs. Fixed it week three. Cash flow completely turned around."
General Contractor · Dallas, TX · $14M
"Found out our TI work was averaging 4% margin. Half what we made on ground-up. Stopped chasing that work. Margin went up without doing more volume. Nobody ever showed me that before."
Specialty Contractor · Denver, CO · $9M
Book a free consultation. We'll review your books, your WIP, and your cash position — and tell you honestly where you're at risk. Most contractors find something worth fixing in the first 45 minutes.
Onboarded in 18 days · Month-to-month · Cancel with 30 days' notice