About Salisbury Bookkeeping
Salisbury Bookkeeping provides fractional CFO services and advanced bookkeeping for construction contractors, custom home builders, remodelers, and specialty trades earning $500K–$10M annually. We handle everything from month-end close and job costing to cash flow forecasting, WIP reporting, and financial strategy. We become an extension of your team, giving you the visibility and insights needed to make better business decisions.
We serve construction contractors with annual revenue between $500K and $10M, including custom home builders, remodelers, commercial subs, spec builders, and specialty trades. If you're managing multiple jobs, struggling with cash flow visibility, or spending too much time on bookkeeping instead of growing your business, we're the right fit.
Salisbury Bookkeeping operates as a virtual CFO firm serving construction companies across the United States. We work remotely with clients nationwide, using cloud-based accounting systems like QuickBooks Online to collaborate seamlessly regardless of location.
A traditional bookkeeper records transactions and maintains ledgers. We go much further: we analyze profitability by job, forecast cash flow, optimize tax strategy, and provide strategic financial recommendations. We're a fractional CFO—think of us as a part-time financial executive who understands construction and actively helps you grow and scale.
While both services support construction contractors, Salisbury Bookkeeping offers hands-on, personalized fractional CFO services with deep integration into your specific business. We focus on custom analysis, job-level profitability insights, and strategic financial guidance tailored to your goals—not a templated platform.
Services & Process
A fractional CFO is a part-time, outsourced chief financial officer who handles strategic financial planning, bookkeeping, tax optimization, and cash flow management without the cost of a full-time executive. For contractors, this means expert analysis of job profitability, WIP tracking, forecast modeling, and actionable recommendations to improve margins and cash position.
We start with a free consultation to understand your business, current accounting setup, and goals. If we're a fit, onboarding includes a full review of your books, reconciliation of all accounts, setup of proper job-tracking structure, and training on the monthly reporting process. Most clients are fully onboarded and seeing their first comprehensive reports within 30–60 days.
You'll see immediate benefits: accurate, timely financial statements after your first close (typically within 30 days), visibility into job profitability shortly after, and actionable cash flow insights within 60 days. Long-term results—improved margins, better pricing, tax savings—compound over quarters as we refine processes and strategy.
Standard monthly deliverables include a balance sheet, profit & loss statement by job and company-wide, job costing summary, WIP aging report, cash flow forecast (13-week rolling), aged receivables and payables, and a one-page executive summary highlighting key metrics and action items. Custom reports can be built based on your priorities.
We strongly recommend QuickBooks Online (QBO) because it enables real-time collaboration, automatic bank feeds, and scalability. If you're on QuickBooks Desktop or another platform, we can work with what you have, but you'll lose some efficiency and visibility. Many clients switch as part of onboarding; we handle the migration and training.
Pricing & Investment
Pricing depends on the complexity of your business (number of jobs, revenue size, current bookkeeping state) and the level of service. For a $1M–$3M contractor, expect $1,500–$3,500 per month; for $3M–$10M, $3,500–$7,500 per month. This includes month-end close, job costing, reporting, and strategic guidance. We'll provide a custom quote after your initial consultation.
Yes, we typically charge a one-time setup fee ranging from $1,500 to $5,000 depending on the state of your current books and the complexity of migration or restructuring. This covers initial reconciliation, chart of accounts optimization, job setup, and team training. The fee is often offset by the financial insights gained in the first 30–60 days.
Construction contractors working with us typically see a 3–5x return on investment within the first year through improved margins (1–3% via better job costing), reduced cash flow surprises, optimized tax strategy, and eliminated wasted time on bookkeeping. A contractor earning $2M in revenue improving margins by 2% gains $40K in additional profit—quickly paying for the service.
We stand behind our work with a commitment to accuracy, timeliness, and transparency. While we can't guarantee profit increases (that depends on your operations), we guarantee accurate month-end reporting, on-time delivery of all agreed reports, and strategic recommendations backed by data. If you're unhappy in the first 60 days, we'll reassess the engagement.
Technical & Industry
Job costing is the process of tracking all costs (labor, materials, subcontractors, equipment) directly to individual projects. Contractors need it because it reveals which jobs are profitable and which are losing money—critical for pricing future jobs, estimating accurately, and improving overall margins. Without job costing, you're flying blind; you might think your business is profitable when specific jobs are hemorrhaging cash.
WIP (Work in Progress) is a financial report that shows the status of incomplete projects: revenue earned to date, costs incurred, and profit/loss on each job. A WIP schedule is essential for contractors because it ties directly to your balance sheet, impacts tax calculations, and gives you real-time visibility into project health. Lenders and accountants require accurate WIP reporting.
Profitability on paper doesn't equal cash in the bank. Construction has timing mismatches: you pay for materials and labor upfront but bill customers later (or after project completion). Large jobs amplify this gap. Without cash flow forecasting and proper timing of receivables/payables, a contractor showing $500K profit can be out of cash and unable to pay employees or fund the next job. This is why cash flow management is as critical as profitability tracking.
We primarily work with QuickBooks Online, which integrates with most construction software ecosystems. We also connect with project management tools, payment processors, banking platforms, and CRM systems. If you use specialized construction software (Buildr, Foundation, Touchplan), we can work alongside it; the key is clean, accurate data flowing into your accounting system.
The NAHB (National Association of Home Builders) chart of accounts is a standardized accounting structure designed specifically for construction contractors. It organizes accounts by category (materials, labor, subcontractors, overhead) in a way that supports job costing and industry-standard financial analysis. Using it makes your numbers comparable to industry benchmarks and simplifies financial planning.
Getting Started
If you answer yes to any of these, you likely need fractional CFO support: You're uncertain which jobs are actually profitable. You run out of cash despite showing profit. You spend hours on bookkeeping each month. You don't have timely financial statements. You're planning to scale but worried about financial systems. Or you want a financial partner to help you optimize taxes and strategy. Schedule a free consultation to explore whether we're the right fit.
On your free initial consultation, we'll discuss your business structure, current revenue and profitability, main financial pain points, and long-term goals. We'll review your existing bookkeeping setup, ask about your accounting software, and explain how our fractional CFO approach works. By the end, you'll have a clear sense of whether we're aligned—no pressure, no pitch.
Absolutely. We're happy to show you anonymized examples of our monthly dashboards, reporting templates, job profitability analyses, and cash flow forecasts during your consultation. This gives you a concrete picture of what you'll receive each month and the level of insight we provide to help you manage your business.
Still Have Questions?
Can't find the answer you're looking for? We're here to help. Reach out directly via email or phone, or schedule a free consultation to discuss your specific situation with Cory.
Email: cory@salisburybookkeeping.com
Phone: (385) 374-9295
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