You’ve built the business. The back office hasn’t kept up.
Built for commercial GCs who are making real money and need the back office to match. Accurate financials, WIP your banker and surety trust, and a finance function that runs without the owner in it — from a CFO who’s read drawings, priced work, and operated in the field.
Who This Is For
You’re running a $20M+ GC. You shouldn’t still be your own CFO.
Most owners at this stage have already tried hiring their way out of it. The problem keeps coming back.
It’s not a staffing problem. It’s a structural problem.
Sound Familiar?
You’re signing off on every AP payment because nobody else has the full picture
Your WIP schedule is missing or your banker doesn’t trust it
You know you made money last year — but you can’t tell your lender where it came from or why it won’t happen again
You’ve burned through controllers and nothing sticks
Your bonding company is asking for financials you’re not confident in
You’re profitable on paper but the cash flow doesn’t match
A $40M GC without the right financial structure in place isn’t just flying blind. He’s leaving money on the table on every project, carrying underbillings he can’t see, capping his own bonding capacity, and building on a foundation that won’t hold as the business grows.
What Changes
Three things every GC owner should be able to say — and most can’t.
01
Financials You Trust
Accurate, timely, and defensible. WIP that reflects reality. Numbers your banker and surety broker can rely on.
02
Margin Visibility by Job
Know where you’re making money and where you’re losing it — by project, by division, in real time. Not at year-end when it’s too late to act.
03
A Foundation You Can Build On
When the numbers are right, the decisions get easier. Which work to chase. Where to allocate capital. What comes next. The foundation opens up the future.
Why It’s Different
GC Specific. Operator-Built. Fully Accountable.
01
I’m a construction operator, not a finance generalist.
I can read your drawings, understand your estimates, and have a credible conversation with your super. That means I catch what a finance-only CFO misses — a front-loaded schedule of values, a cost-to-complete built on a PM’s optimism. The numbers tell one story. The work tells another. I understand both.
02
I sit across from your banker and surety broker as your CFO.
I know what they’re looking for before they ask. Your WIP, your backlog, your cash position — I can defend every number. The owner who walks in prepared doesn’t get surprised. He walks out with his line intact or expanded. His bonding capacity grows because the financials tell the right story.
03
I serve as your CFO of record — on paper, legally accountable.
Named on your company documents. Included in the engagement. It tells your bank, your bonding company, and your team exactly where accountability sits — and it filters for the right clients. An owner who isn’t comfortable with that level of financial transparency probably isn’t the right fit.
04
I operate at the ownership level — not the accounting level.
Financial structure is the foundation. What gets built on top of it depends entirely on what the business needs. Bid strategy and project pursuit. Go/no-go discipline. Organizational development and succession planning. Capital allocation and investment advisory. New entity formation and deal architecture. Executive accountability and operating structure. These aren’t add-ons. They’re what the engagement becomes when the financial foundation is in place and the owner is ready to use it differently. One client has a new commercial electrical business partnership in formation and an industrial services division carved out of the core general contracting business. That work started as a CFO engagement. It evolved into something closer to a strategic business partnership.
What It Returns
The numbers tell the story.
One client came in at $8.4M with a $130,000 loss, a broken Procore implementation, and a controller problem that had been cycling for years. Three years later the business is projecting $25–30M in revenue with a 6.5% net margin, no debt, and cash in the bank.
The hardest stretch was a cash crisis in early 2024. He was close to walking away from the business entirely. We built a 13-week cash flow forecast, found the path through, and stayed in it together until the business came out the other side.
That’s the engagement. Not a monthly report. Not a dashboard. Being in there when it matters.
How I Work
One engagement. Full accountability.
I work with up to five GC clients at a time. Every engagement is structured around the specific needs of the business. If you have a short-term or one-off need, we scope and price it. If you need open-ended support, it’s a flat monthly retainer.
The Foundation
Every engagement starts here. Financial structure built correctly — everything else follows from it.
WIP schedule — built, maintained, and defensible
13-week cash flow forecasting and cash management
Monthly financial close and reporting package
Job cost analysis and margin visibility by project
Banking relationship management and covenant compliance
Surety and bonding support — financials, narratives, meetings
AP oversight and final payment approvals
Annual budget and multi-year financial planning
Controller oversight and finance team accountability
CPA coordination for tax and assurance
Operational Reach
When the financial work surfaces an operational problem, the engagement goes there.
Procore configuration and financial integration
Operational structure and SOP development
Division-level P&L visibility and accountability
Executive team development and role clarity
Organizational planning tied to revenue forecasts and backlog
Hiring strategy and timing based on projected growth
Strategic Advisory
What the engagement becomes at the ownership level — when the foundation is in place and the owner is ready to build.
Bid strategy, pricing, and selective project pursuit
Go/no-go decision framework
Acquisition analysis and deal structuring
New entity formation and operating platform strategy
Capital allocation and investment advisory
Succession planning and ownership transition
Long-term incentive planning and executive benefits advisory
Property management and land development advisory
Engagement Model
Two ways to engage.
Most clients come in on a retainer. Some start with a defined project. Both are structured around clear scope, clear deliverables, and no ambiguity about what you’re getting.
Option 01
Flat Monthly Retainer
An ongoing engagement built around full CFO and operator accountability. I’m inside your business on a continuous basis — managing the finance function, supporting operations, and owning the outcomes.
Scope and retainer scale with the complexity of the business. A $30M GC and a $90M GC have different needs — the engagement reflects that.
StructureFlat Monthly Retainer
InvestmentDiscussed during the initial assessment
BillingBilled monthly in advance
CFO of RecordAvailable. Included.
Client Limit5 Active Engagements
Option 02
Project / Diagnostic Engagement
A defined-scope engagement built around a specific need — WIP setup or overhaul, Procore implementation, financial systems buildout, acquisition analysis, or a diagnostic assessment of your finance function.
StructureFixed Scope
PricingPer Custom Scope
BillingFixed, lump-sum
DeliverablesAgreed Upfront
Path ForwardOften leads to retainer
Principles
How I operate inside a client’s business.
Accountability first
I take ownership of the finance function — not advisory responsibility for it. If a number is wrong, it’s my problem.
Scope follows the business
The engagement goes where the business needs to go. Financial structure first — then operations, strategy, and ownership-level decisions. One engagement. No artificial boundaries.
The owner gets out of finance
You built this business to grow it. The engagement is working when nothing in the back office is slowing you down.
CFO of Record
Named. Accountable. On paper.
I serve as CFO of record — listed on your company documents, legally accountable. It matters to your surety underwriter. It matters to your commercial lender. It’s included in the retainer. An owner who isn’t ready for that level of financial transparency isn’t the right fit. An owner who is — that’s exactly who this is built for.
References
Client references are available upon request.
I’ll connect you directly with a client who can speak to the work.
If you’re a surety broker, construction lender, or CPA who works with commercial GCs in the $20M–$100M+ range — this is built for the clients you’re concerned about. The ones where the WIP isn’t trusted, the financials aren’t telling the right story, and the owner is still running the finance function himself. I work with a small number of GCs at a time. Reach out directly at ford@consultfw.com.
Procore
Procore should connect your field to your financials in real time. Most GCs never get there.
I’m a Procore Certified Consultant. Most GCs run Procore as a project management tool — disconnected from accounting. Your PMs see one set of numbers, your CFO and accounting team see another. It’s fixable.
01
Accounting Integration
Procore connected to your accounting system of record. Job costs flowing in real time. No double entry, no reconciliation lag between the field and the books.
02
WIP Driven by Project Data
Procore has no native WIP functionality. We build a custom WIP schedule that pulls actuals directly from Procore and aligns them with your accounting ERP — so the WIP reflects what’s actually happening on every job.
03
Job-Level Visibility
PMs see their numbers. Your CFO and accounting team see the full picture. You see margin by job without having to ask anyone for a report.
04
Budget vs. Actual
Original estimate against actual costs, updated in real time. Know where you’re trending on every job while there’s still time to act on it.
05
AP & Subcontract Management
Subcontract commitments tracked against budget. AP flowing from Procore into your accounting system without manual entry. Liabilities don’t hide in a properly configured system.
06
Team Training & Adoption
Configuration is only half the work. I build the SOPs and train your team so the system is used correctly after I’m done building it.
About
Ford Wyatt
CFO to $20M–$100M+ Commercial General Contractors
Operator first. CFO second.
Most CFOs understand construction from the outside — from financial statements, WIP schedules, and bonding applications. I understand it from inside a GC business. I’ve read drawings, priced work, and operated in the field. That background isn’t incidental — it’s what makes the financial work fit the way a GC actually operates, and it’s what earns the right to sit at the ownership level.
The practice is built on a simple belief: the financial function is the foundation, not the ceiling. A GC owner who has the right financial structure in place — clean numbers, defensible WIP, a banker and surety broker who trust what they’re seeing — can use that foundation to do something bigger. Better project selection. Smarter capital allocation. Organizational depth that outlasts the owner. That’s the work I find most meaningful and most consequential.
FW Consulting serves commercial general contractors exclusively — not subcontractors, not trades, not civil. Commercial GCs in the $20M–$100M+ range where the problems are specific, the stakes are real, and the impact is measurable.
Five clients at a time, maximum. Every client gets the attention the engagement requires — not a report delivered once a month by someone who hasn’t looked at the books in two weeks.
Deep fluency in WIP accounting, job costing, overbilling/underbilling, and construction-specific financial reporting
Active relationships with surety brokers and construction lenders
Operational background in estimating, preconstruction, project management, and field operations
Willing to serve as CFO of record — named on your paperwork, legally accountable, included in the retainer
Practice Philosophy
I work for the business.
Flat retainer. Clear scope. I’m either your CFO or I’m not — and if I am, I’m accountable for the outcome.
The right client is a GC owner who is ready to hand off the finance function to someone who will own it. I’ve learned what the wrong client looks like, and the engagement model is built to filter for it on the front end.
The engagement scales with the business. Owners don’t outgrow the model — the scope grows with them.
What I Don’t Do
Work with subcontractors, trades, or civil contractors
Take on clients below $20M in revenue
Hourly billing
Advisory without accountability — I own the function
More than five active clients at once
Frequently Asked Questions
Straight answers.
Most fractional CFOs operate as advisors — they review your financials, offer guidance, and leave execution to your team. I take ownership of the finance function. I’m building it, running it, and accountable for what comes out of it. When the problem moves from finance to operations, I follow it there. The other key difference is construction specificity. GCs are all I do, and an operational background in the field means I understand how the business actually works — not just how the financials are supposed to look. That’s not something a generalist fractional CFO practice, or a fractional CFO with a team of analysts working behind them, can replicate inside a GC company.
Flat monthly retainer, structured around the scope and complexity of the engagement. The investment reflects what the business actually needs — we cover that in the assessment conversation. No hourly billing, no supplemental charges. If you have a specific project or diagnostic need rather than an ongoing engagement, that’s scoped and priced separately at a fixed, lump-sum cost.
I’m in your systems daily, on calls with your banker and surety broker, and available when decisions need to be made. For remote clients, I visit at minimum quarterly — often every two months or more if the work requires it. If something comes up that needs me in the room, I’m there.
CFO of record means I’m named as your CFO on company documents — state filings, banking agreements, bonding applications — with the full legal accountability that title carries. Whether you need it depends on your lender, your surety, and the formality of your financial reporting. It’s included in the retainer.
No. My practice is limited to commercial general contractors. The financial structure, WIP methodology, bonding requirements, and operational complexity of a GC are distinct enough that I’ve chosen to work exclusively in that lane.
Probably. A bookkeeper handles the transactional work — AP, AR, data entry, basic reconciliation, keeping the accounts current. A controller manages the accounting function — month-end close, financial reporting, compliance, and making sure the books are accurate.
A CFO builds financial and operating strategy, owns the banking and bonding relationships, manages cash flow, and makes sure the financial structure supports the decisions you’re making at the ownership level.
The gap between a controller and a CFO is where margin goes unnoticed, bonding capacity gets left on the table, and the owner stays in the middle of decisions he shouldn’t be making.
Five active engagements, max. That ceiling is intentional — it’s sized around delivering the work properly, not maximizing the client count. I’m the person doing the work on every engagement.
The engagement scales with the business. A $90M GC has a more complex finance function than a $40M GC — more divisions, more banking relationships, more bonding complexity, more moving parts. The scope reflects that and so does the retainer. The model doesn’t have a ceiling. The $20M–$100M range describes where most clients start, not where they’re limited to.
Both — and the line between them is less distinct than most people assume.
The financial function is always the starting point. Clean numbers, defensible WIP, a close process that works, banking and bonding relationships that are being managed correctly. That foundation has to be in place before anything else is useful.
What it enables is the more interesting question. A GC owner with the right financial structure can see his business clearly enough to make better decisions — which projects to pursue, where the margin is actually coming from, when to add capacity, how to allocate capital. That’s where the engagement tends to go.
I’ve worked on bid strategy and project pursuit, go/no-go frameworks, organizational development and succession planning, capital allocation, new entity formation, and deal architecture. That work isn’t a separate offering — it’s what the engagement becomes when the foundation is in place and the owner is ready to use it differently.
Yes — and it’s one of the more valuable places the engagement goes.
Most GCs at this revenue level are bidding everything that comes across the desk. The issue isn’t volume — it’s selectivity. Which clients are worth the relationship. Which project types actually move the margin. Which bids are worth the estimating cost and which ones to walk away from.
I work with owners on go/no-go discipline, selective pursuit, and pricing strategy. That framework is one of the most direct levers on profitability a GC owner has — and most never build a real one.
This work lands best once the financial visibility is in place. You can’t make good pursuit decisions without knowing where you’re actually making money.
A one-hour conversation — though if we cover everything we need to before the hour is up, we don’t run it out. We go through your business: revenue, structure, current financial situation, what’s working and what isn’t. I’ll give you a direct read on whether there’s a fit and what the engagement would look like. No proposal until we both think it makes sense to move forward.
Initial Assessment
Let’s find out if there’s a fit.
One hour. We talk through your business — where you are, what’s working, what’s not, and whether there’s a reason to go further. Complete the form below and I’ll follow up within one business day.
What to Expect
Straightforward. Direct. No pressure.
The assessment is a focused conversation about your business. I’ll tell you honestly whether I think there’s a fit — and if there is, what the engagement would look like and what it costs.
One-hour conversation — we end early if we cover it
We cover what’s working and what isn’t
Honest fit assessment — I’ll tell you directly if it’s not right
No proposal until we both think it makes sense
Response within one business day
Limited availability — 5 clients maximum
Assessment Questionnaire
The more detail you provide, the more productive our first conversation will be.
