Virtual CFO for Construction in Sydney

Your numbers in 90 days. Fixed scope, fixed price, then it stops.

Construction businesses look healthy on the P&L and run tight in the bank, because cash sits in WIP, progress claims, and retentions long after the work is done.

The 90-Day Number builds the forward view that tracks cash through the job, not just at the end, and hands it over on day 90.
See if you're a fitBook a 30-min intro
Senior finance for $2m-$15m Sydney businesses. The work is led by Chartered Accountants, with experience across public, private, and owner-led businesses.

Every virtual CFO sells a retainer. We sell a deliverable.

$17,850

+ GST
That is $5,950 a month for three months, then it stops. Fixed. No retainer pressure after day 90.
what's included

Four deliverables. Two modules. One fixed price.

Everything that lands in your hands by day 90, built around how a construction business actually runs. No more, no less. Scope-creep proof.
1
A simple 13-week cashflow model
Tied to progress claims, retentions, and subcontractor runs, where cash hides on a job. Five minutes every Monday and you know what is in the bank across the quarter.
2
Three KPIs that drive the week
Usually WIP, gross margin per job, and cash against progress, set to your business. The three numbers your operating week runs on, reviewed every Friday.
3
A 12-month budget
The plan you run the year by, with the next project and crew costed against the run rate and the pipeline. Assumptions you can defend to a bank or surety. Updated monthly.
4
A one-page board readout you want to read
Revenue, margin, cash, WIP, retentions, on a single page. The page you would hand a bank, a surety, or yourself in twelve months. No eighty-slide pageantry.
5
Headcount & Capacity Planning
Maps your hiring plan to the project book, cash, and output. Whether the pipeline supports the next crew or site team. Trigger logic for when you commit.
6
Margin & Pricing
Gross margin by job and project type, after subcontractors, variations, and rework. Tender and pricing scenarios modelled. The numbers behind a real business, not a busy one.
who it's for

Built for $2M to $15M construction owners past instinct, short of a CFO.

Three profiles where the 90-Day Number consistently lands here.

The commercial builder.

You run a commercial or fit-out builder bidding and delivering across multiple sites.

Revenue past $10M at a 15% to 18% gross margin, with cash tied up in WIP, progress claims, and retentions, often $400K to $500K held at once.

The P&L looks healthy while the bank account tells another story.

The civil or specialist contractor.

You run a civil, earthworks, or specialist trade business with plant, crews, and milestone-based payments.

Revenue $8M to $12M, but cash swings hard between claims, and a single slow certifier or variation dispute can leave you funding a month of wages and subbies yourself.

The growing residential or fit-out builder.

You have scaled past $5M across several jobs at once, on a capable bookkeeper and instinct.

Margins are thin and cash is spread across projects, so you cannot easily say which job is making money and which is quietly bleeding. The forward view is missing.

why owners pick this

Why construction owners pick this over an indefinite retainer.

Four reasons the structure of the 90-Day Number works where the standard virtual CFO retainer does not.
A 90-day decision point
The standard offer is an open-ended retainer at $4K to $8K a month with no end date. You sign on in March, cannot tell if it is working by July, feel awkward cancelling by September. This ends on day 90 by design. You decide what is next: continue, project work, or wrap with the four deliverables.
One fixed price, on the page
$5,950 a month for three months. $17,850 total, fixed. Not "from $X", not "$300 an hour", not "scoped after a discovery call". You price your range to a margin and a landed cost. You should expect a CFO to price their own work.
One named CFO, every week
Same person on day one, day forty-five, day ninety. Not a roster, not an account manager between you and the senior. You meet your CFO on the intro call and they run the engagement. Founder-direct, no layers.
Four documents, not eighty slides
We hand over the cashflow model, the three KPIs, the budget, and the one-page board readout. If it does not fit in those four documents, it is not strategic finance. It is theatre.
If your virtual CFO can't tell you the deliverable on day 90, you don't have a virtual CFO. You have a retainer.
how to start

Four weeks to a finance function. Twelve more to operate it.

Book a 30-minute intro. We talk through your stage, your numbers, and what you are trying to work out.

We can meet in person around Sydney, or over a call.If the 90-Day Number is a fit, we send a scoping doc within 48 hours and start the following Monday.

The diagnostic lands at the end of week one. The model is working by week four. The board readout is in your hands on day 90.
Book a 30-min intro

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Frequently Asked Questions

The questions founders ask before signing. Plain-English answers.
Do you work with builders and construction businesses?
Yes, they are a core part of the work. The pattern repeats across Sydney builders between $2M and $15M: strong revenue, healthy margin on paper, and cash locked in WIP, progress claims, and retentions. The 90-Day Number builds the cashflow that tracks money through the job, not just at the end of it.
What KPIs make sense for a construction business?
Usually WIP, gross margin per job, and cash against progress, though we set them to your business in week one. The test is three numbers that move revenue, margin, or cash, reviewed every Friday, not a thirty-metric dashboard.
What does $17,850 +GST buy a construction business?
Three months of senior virtual CFO work and four named deliverables: a 13-week cashflow model, three KPIs, a 12-month budget, and a one-page board readout. Plus two modules, headcount and capacity, and margin and pricing. Fixed price, billed as three monthly payments of $5,950, then it stops.
How is this different from my accountant?
Your accountant handles the backward view: tax, structuring, compliance, year-end. We handle the forward view: cashflow, budget, KPIs, the decisions in front of you this quarter. Most builders need both. We work alongside your accountant, not instead of them.
Our cash is tied up in progress claims and retentions. Can a 13-week cashflow handle that?
That is the case it is built for. Cash sits in work completed but not yet claimed or collected, and in retentions held until practical completion. The 13-week model maps WIP, claims, retentions, and subcontractor runs against payroll, so you see the squeeze before it arrives.
How do you handle WIP and the gap between work done and work billed?
We make it visible, because that gap is where construction cash hides. We track work in progress against what has been claimed and paid, so you can see how much of your "profit" is still sitting on site as unbilled work, and when it will actually turn into cash.
We work across several jobs at once. Can you tell us which ones make money?
Yes. We build margin by job and project type, after subcontractors, variations, and rework, so you can see which jobs carry the business and which quietly erode it. That usually changes how you bid the next one.
We are tendering bigger projects. Can you tell us if we can fund them?
es, that is what the cashflow and headcount and capacity module do together. We model the project's claim and payment timing against your costs and crews, so you can see whether you can fund the gap before you commit to it.
Do you work with our bank or surety on cashflow and limits?
We build the numbers they want to see: a defensible cashflow, budget, and board readout. We do not replace your broker or banker, but we make sure the forward view you take to them holds up, which often matters when limits or guarantees are on the table.
What happens after day 90?
You have the four deliverables and a working operating rhythm. We have a short conversation about what is next, with three honest options: continue on an optional monthly retainer with no lock-in, take on a scoped project, or wrap with the deliverables and stay in touch.
We have outgrown the bookkeeper but cannot justify a finance hire. Is this the in-between step?
Yes, that is the exact gap. A full-time finance lead at this stage is a $200K to $300K commitment with super, leave, and recruitment on top. This builds the layer that hire would own, hands it over documented, and leaves you running it for a fixed $17,850.
Is there a lock-in or minimum term?
No. The 90-Day Number is fixed at $17,850 +GST and ends on day 90. It does not auto-renew. If you continue afterwards, that is month to month with no lock-in either. You decide what is next, not a contract.
Pitt Street, Sydney
Chartered Accountants Australia & New Zealand Member
hello@sydneyvirtualcfo.com
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