Turn “busy but broke” jobs into predictable profit.
I work with owners of $1–10M construction and service companies who are booked out, paying everyone else, and still wondering why there’s never enough left over. We fix job costing, pricing, and cash flow so every job actually funds the business.
If your crews are busy but your bank balance never seems to match the effort, this is the right next conversation.
Who I Work With
I work with small to mid-sized construction and service businesses who:
- Are great at doing the work, but don’t feel in control of the numbers.
- Have a bookkeeper or CPA, but still don’t really know if jobs are profitable.
- Are busy and booked out, yet constantly stressed about cash.
- Suspect some services are underpriced, but don’t have the data to prove it.
If that sounds like you, you don’t need more spreadsheets — you need a simple financial system built for contractors.
Who You’re Working With
I’m Eric Hempler, a fractional CFO who spends his time in the weeds with contractors — cleaning up messy books, rebuilding job costing, and helping owners finally pay themselves like they own the place.
I’m not a traditional CPA firm. I sit on your side of the table, translate the numbers into plain language, and help you make decisions about pricing, hiring, and growth that actually show up in your cash balance.
What This Looks Like in Real Life
Every business is different, but the patterns are the same. Here’s what this work has looked like for contractors like you:
- Turned a “busy but broke” specialty contractor from 6% net to 16% in under 12 months.
- Repriced a core service line so the owner could add a lead carpenter without killing cash flow.
- Rebuilt job costing so the owner finally knew which crews and jobs were actually making money.
The goal isn’t more reports — it’s more predictable profit and fewer “how are we going to make payroll?” conversations.
How I Help
Everything I do fits into three core areas:
Financial Cleanup & Setup
Clean up your P&L, fix your chart of accounts, and get job costs separated from overhead so your numbers finally make sense and can be trusted.
Job Costing & Pricing System
Build a job costing model, calculate true labor and overhead burden, and reset your pricing so every job is designed to hit your target margins.
Monthly CFO Advisory
Monthly reviews of jobs, margins, and cash flow, plus guidance on pricing, hiring, and equipment decisions — always in plain English.
The Construction Financial Clarity Method
I don’t guess. I use a 5-phase system with every contractor I work with. It’s designed to clean up your numbers, fix your pricing, stabilize cash flow, and give you clear monthly guidance.
Phase 1 — Discovery & Diagnostic
We dig into cash flow, job costing, pricing, and your current reports to find where money is leaking — the jobs, crews, or services that look fine on paper but are quietly draining profit.
Phase 2 — Cleanup & Setup
We clean the P&L, fix the chart of accounts, and move job costs into COGS so you can actually trust your reports when making decisions about pricing, hiring, and growth.
Phase 3 — Job Costing & Pricing
We build a job costing model, calculate labor and overhead burden, and rebuild your pricing so each job is designed to hit the margins you need — not just “what the market seems to pay.”
Phase 4 — Cash Flow Control
We create a 12-week cash forecast, fix payment timing, and set up reserves so you always know what’s coming — including whether payroll, taxes, and major purchases are covered.
Phase 5 — Monthly CFO Advisory
Each month, we review results, adjust forecasts, and talk through decisions like “Can we afford this hire?” or “Is it time to raise prices?” — using your numbers, not gut feel.
Ready to Get Control of Your Numbers?
If you’re done guessing and want a clear plan for your cash flow, pricing, and profit, the next step is a short, no-pressure call to review where the money is going now and what it would take to fix it.
Prefer email? Reach me at eric@mainstreetledger.net.