Most construction fractional CFO engagements cost between $6,000 and $12,000 a month at The Contractor's Bookkeeper. Where a company lands in that range depends on revenue, the number of active jobs, how many legal entities it runs, whether weekly bookkeeping is included, and how much time the CFO spends with lenders, sureties or buyers. A full-time construction CFO typically costs $150,000 or more a year in salary alone.
| Cost driver | Lower in the range when… | Higher in the range when… |
|---|---|---|
| Revenue and job count | One division, a few dozen jobs a year | Several divisions, hundreds of active jobs |
| Entities | One company | Multiple companies or a parent with outside owners |
| Books | A capable bookkeeper or controller is in place | Books need cleanup or weekly bookkeeping is included |
| Reporting load | Monthly owner reporting only | Bank covenants, surety WIP reviews, investor or parent-company reporting |
| Special projects | Steady-state operations | Turnaround, acquisition, refinancing or sale preparation |
A full-time CFO brings the same skills every day, but most contractors between $5 million and $50 million in revenue don't need a CFO forty hours a week. They need one for the decisions that move cash and margin: pricing, the budget, the WIP schedule, the bank and the surety. A controller runs the monthly close and the accounting team; a CFO decides what the numbers mean and what to do next. Many companies pair an in-house bookkeeper or controller with a fractional CFO.
The test is simple: will better pricing, faster billing, collected retainage or a bigger bonding line produce more than the fee within a year? For a contractor doing $10 million at a 25% gross margin, one point of margin is $100,000 a year. In one bookkeeping engagement, Will found $70,000 a year in a single meeting for an HVAC company selling at last year's prices with this year's costs.
Price ranges reflect The Contractor's Bookkeeper's own engagements as of October 2026. Other firms price differently.
In a free Bottom Line Blueprint Session, Will reviews your numbers and tells you whether you need a fractional CFO, a better bookkeeper, or neither yet.
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