CONSTRUCTION BUSINESS DIAGNOSTIC

Contractor Profit & Accounting Diagnostic - done for you quote

A focused, fixed-fee audit of where the money is leaking in your construction business — pricing, labour burden, overhead, and job costing.

$2,400 · 2+ weeks · Written summary you keep

Book a Free 20-Minute Fit Call

What is a contractor profit diagnostic?

A contractor profit diagnostic is a focused, fixed-fee analytical engagement that audits the four levers driving net profit in a construction business: pricing and markup, burden-loaded labor cost, overhead structure, and job-level cost capture. The deliverable is a customized written 8–12-page summary with prioritized 90-day actions, plus two reusable tools populated with your numbers where feasible.

Industry context: the Construction Financial Management Association (CFMA) reports that 81% of contractors do not know their true labor burden, and only 19% set monthly overhead, profit, and sales targets. The diagnostic exists to close that gap with your own numbers — not a benchmark.

This diagnostic is not bookkeeping clean-up, tax preparation, QuickBooks setup, or business valuation. Those stay with your accountant. This is profit-and-pricing diagnostics, delivered by a team who has actually worked with construction businesses for 30+ years.

Who is this for?

The profit diagnostic is built for:

Construction businesses doing $500K to $20M in annual revenue. (GC's from $30M+ in revenue)
Solo operators through teams of about 5-50 staff.
Trades that bill by labor and materials — contractors, builders, electricians, plumbers, HVAC, restoration, custom homes, residential renovators, commercial fit-out. Commercial, residential GC's
Owners who suspect their pricing or burden is off but haven't quantified it
Businesses with revenue growing but profit flat or shrinking

This is the right starting engagement if you're saying any of these out loud:

“We did more revenue this year and somehow have less cash.”
“Some jobs print money and some lose money and I can't predict which.”
“I add 25% markup and I'm not sure that's enough.”
“I don't actually know what one of my crew costs me per hour.”
“My net margin should be higher than 3% — but I can't pinpoint why it isn't.”

If those are not your questions, see the Systems Diagnostic or the Sales Pipeline Diagnostic instead.

What you walk away with

This diagnostic deliverable is concrete. By the end of the engagement, you will have:

Your true gross margin and net margin computed and compared to construction industry benchmarks (CFMA reports industry average 3–5% net; top quartile 8–10%)

Your fully-burdened labor cost per crew member — wages plus workers’ compensation, employer payroll taxes, federal and state unemployment taxes, paid time off and holidays, employee benefits, and any 401(k) match or retirement contribution, truck and tool allocation, and non-billable time loading.

A markup formula audit — most contractors who say “cost plus 25%” are actually producing 20% gross margin (not 25%); the summary shows the math

A 3-job post-mortem comparing estimate vs. actual across three completed jobs, with root-cause analysis on the variance

A cash flow rhythm review — deposits, progress draws, holdback, payables timing

A top-three priority action plan for the next 90 days, sequenced and with owner accountability

Two populated reusable tools you keep and reuse on every quote — typically a burden calculator and a markup/breakeven calculator, where the data supports it.

The written summary is yours. Whether or not you continue working with Tumbleweed Consulting after the diagnostic, the summary and the tools are your property.

What's included

Intake review of your last 24 months Profit & Loss, Balance Sheet, sample estimates, and three completed jobs
Optional 15-minute call with your bookkeeper or accountant, by your invitation
Margin and overhead analysis
Burden-loaded labor cost calculation
Markup formula audit using real numbers where available
Cash-flow rhythm review
Job-costing post-mortem on three selected jobs where records are workable
One 60-minute findings call, recorded, with transcript provided
Written summary, approximately 8–12 pages, with a prioritized 90-day action plan
Two reusable tools populated with your numbers where feasible

What you need to provide

The intake takes most clients about 2 hours over 3–5 days. You upload to a private Google Drive folder we provide.

Last 24 months Profit & Loss (PDF or QuickBooks Online Accountant invitation)
Last 24 months Balance Sheet
Three completed jobs — original estimate, actual cost summary, your gut feel on whether each made or lost money
Your current pricing or markup formula (even if it's “I add 25%”)
One sample current estimate to a real customer
Crew list with pay rates, paid benefits, average billable hours, per-diem, truck allowance, tools allocation
Top five overhead line items you can't explain or aren't sure about
One paragraph from you on what worries you most about the money side of the business

If your bookkeeping is more than 3 months behind, the engagement pauses and we refer you to a bookkeeper. We do not run analysis on data that isn't workable.

How it works

STEP

WHAT HAPPENS

TIMING

Free 20-minute fit call to confirm this is the right next step

Day 0

Agreement signed; 50% deposit ($1,200)

Day 0 -2

Google Drive intake folder shared; you upload documents

Days 2 - 7

Analysis runs behind the scenes — burden calc, markup audit, 3-job post-mortem, cash flow review

Days 7 - 14

60-minute findings call, recorded, walks you through what was found

Days 14 - 17

Written summary delivered to your Drive folder; final 50% due on delivery

Within 10 business days of findings call

Pricing & Payment Terms

Fee: $2,400 US

Payment: 50% on signing the engagement letter ($1,200). 50% on delivery of the written summary ($1,200).

Refund policy: Full refund if the intake review reveals the engagement isn't a fit. Once analysis begins, no refunds — but we work in good faith to deliver the summary you contracted for.

Credit toward coaching: 50% of the diagnostic fee ($1,200) is credited toward a 12-week coaching package (Contractor Core or Contractor Fast Track) if you engage Shapcott Lauber for coaching within 30 days of receiving your written summary.

What this is not

This engagement is deliberately scoped. It is not:

Tax preparation — your accountant keeps that
Bookkeeping clean-up — referred to bookkeeping network if needed
Software setup or training — referred to specialists
A guarantee that more profit will be found or captured — most clients find significant gaps, but the outcome depends on what you do with the findings