Controller Services

Built for contractors with active jobs who need governance, review, and discipline across their accounting and job costing.

Built for construction companies that want clean closes, reliable job margins, and financial control across every active project. We review job costing, WIP, retainage, reconciliations, and reporting structures to ensure your financial data is accurate, consistent, and aligned with how your construction business actually operates.

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Construction only focus

Lender and CPA friendly financials

Job costing and WIP ready

What we do

We provide controller level oversight for construction businesses that need accuracy, consistency, and control beyond day to day bookkeeping.

Our work focuses on reviewing and validating the accounting function to ensure job costing, WIP, and monthly financial reporting are reliable. We oversee reconciliations, review ledger activity, and check job level margins so the numbers make sense before reports are finalized.

We also establish discipline around the close process, reporting standards, and internal controls. This ensures issues are identified early, corrections are made on time, and financials remain consistent month after month.

Controller services sit between bookkeeping and CFO level strategy. The goal is not to replace your bookkeeper, but to add an experienced layer of review, governance, and accountability so financial information can be trusted as the business grows.

Problems a Construction Controller Solves

As construction businesses grow, accounting problems are rarely caused by missing data. They are caused by lack of review, oversight, and discipline.

Controller services are designed to solve issues such as:

Job costs not landing on the correct jobs or cost codes
Reconciliations that exist but are not reviewed or trusted
WIP schedules that do not tie back to the general ledger
Costs coded inconsistently across jobs and periods
Financial statements that raise more questions than answers
Issues only being discovered at tax time or during lender reviews
Lack of accountability around the monthly close process

This layer of oversight helps prevent small issues from turning into larger financial problems.

What Is Included in Our Controller Services

Financial Oversight

Monthly close governance and sign off
Ledger integrity and accuracy reviews
Reconciliation review and approval
Close calendar management and enforcement

Job Cost Control

Cost code accuracy validation
Job margin and cost integrity checks
General ledger maintenance
WIP schedule review and approval

Reporting

Monthly management financial statements
Job cost and margin reports
Budget vs actual variance analysis
Exception identification and escalation

Internal Controls

Expense policies and approval workflows
Financial process documentation

Compliance Support

Audit and CPA coordination
Bonding and lender reporting support

Team Oversight

Review of internal accounting team work
Process standardization and improvements

Our Process

Our controller services follow a structured, repeatable process designed to create consistency and accountability.

Review

We assess existing books, job costing, WIP, and close procedures to identify gaps and risks.

Set Standards

We establish clear close timelines, review checkpoints, and reporting expectations.

Validate

Each month, we review reconciliations, job margins, WIP, and financial statements before reports are finalized.

Escalate and Correct

Issues are flagged, discussed, and corrected in real time to prevent problems from carrying forward.

This process ensures financials remain accurate, reliable, and ready for decision making.

What Clients Say

Testimonials from construction businesses we support with ongoing accounting and bookkeeping.

What Changed After We Fixed Their Books

• Job costs finally lined up
• Cash flow stopped jumping around
• WIP and retainage handled correctly
• Problems caught before they turned into losses

Review

“Firstuction is the only bookkeeping team we’ve found that truly understands construction accounting and WIP reporting. They took six months of messy data, cleaned our financials, and showed us exactly where we were profitable and where we were leaking money. Their attention to detail and responsiveness is unmatched. They are a true partner.”

What Other clients say

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

“We were running multiple jobs, and the numbers never lined up. FinTruction went back, cleaned everything, fixed our job costing…” Read More

Michael Turner
General Contractor

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

“What stood out was that they already understood construction. Job costing, retainage, payroll, nothing needed explaining…” Read More

Jason Miller
Construction CFO

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

“Before this, we were mostly reacting. Now we know what’s coming in, what’s still owed, and which jobs are doing well…” Read More

Ryan Walker
Roofing Contractor

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Designed for Serious Construction
Operators

✓ Who This Service Is For

Construction businesses with existing bookkeeping in place
General contractors managing multiple active projects
Subcontractors and trades with growing financial complexity
Multi job operators who need reviewed and validated job costing
Teams preparing for audits, lender reviews, or bonding requirements

✕ Who This Service is Not For

Non construction businesses
Companies without consistent bookkeeping in place
Businesses looking only for basic bookkeeping without oversight or governance

How Controller Services Work With Your Bookkeeping

Controller services do not replace bookkeeping. They work alongside it. Bookkeeping focuses on day to day execution such as transaction posting, reconciliations, and data entry. Controller services sit above that work, providing review, validation, and accountability.

We review the books after they are prepared, validate job costing and balances, and ensure the close is completed accurately and on time. Issues are identified, corrected, and documented before reports are finalized.

This layered approach creates structure. Bookkeeping handles the work. Controller services ensure the work is accurate, consistent, and reliable as the business grows.

How Pricing Typically Works

Controller services are structured as a monthly add on layered on top of ongoing bookkeeping.

Pricing is driven by factors such as number of active jobs, transaction volume, reporting complexity, and the level of review and oversight required. Businesses with WIP reporting, multiple entities, or lender and bonding requirements typically require a broader scope

One time onboarding or assessment fees may apply if existing books or processes need review before ongoing controller oversight begins.

Frequently Asked Questions

Common questions from construction businesses considering ongoing accounting and bookkeeping support

Bookkeeping records the numbers. Controller services review, validate, and ensure those numbers are accurate, consistent, and reliable. Bookkeepers do the work. Controllers make sure the work can be trusted

Controller services and bookkeeping serve different purposes. Bookkeeping focuses on accurate transaction entry and reconciliations, while controller services provide oversight, review, and financial management.

If you already have a bookkeeper, we supervise and strengthen their work. If you do not, we can either support your internal team or provide bookkeeping as part of a structured finance solution. The controller role ensures the numbers are accurate, complete, and decision-ready.

We take an active role in the monthly close. This includes reviewing reconciliations, analyzing job cost reports, validating WIP schedules, reviewing revenue recognition, and ensuring all major accounts are properly adjusted.

The goal is to deliver financial statements that accurately reflect project performance, not just accounting entries.

Yes. Job margins and WIP are reviewed monthly as part of the close process. We compare actual costs to budgets, evaluate percentage of completion, monitor overbillings and underbillings, and assess projected profitability. This allows contractors to identify margin compression early and make informed operational decisions.

Yes. We prepare financial statements, WIP schedules, and supporting documentation that lenders and bonding companies require. Controller oversight improves reporting consistency and strengthens financial credibility. This supports stronger relationships with banks, bonding agents, and external stakeholders.

We perform structured financial reviews, including account reconciliations, job cost validation, revenue recognition checks, and balance sheet analysis.

When issues are identified, we document the root cause, implement corrective entries, and improve internal processes to prevent recurrence. The focus is both correction and system improvement.

Yes. We frequently work alongside internal accounting teams. Our role is to provide higher-level oversight, process guidance, and financial analysis while supporting your existing staff. This creates a structured financial environment without disrupting your internal operations.

Implementation typically begins with a financial assessment of your current systems, reporting structure, and job costing setup.

Depending on complexity, controller services can begin within a few weeks. The transition is structured to avoid disrupting active projects or ongoing reporting cycles.

Your team provides operational data, project updates, and access to financial systems. We handle oversight, reporting structure, and financial review. Collaboration is structured and efficient, allowing your internal staff to focus on operations while we manage financial control.

Yes. Controller services are designed to scale with revenue growth, increasing project volume, and expanding reporting requirements.

As your business grows, we adapt reporting structures, refine internal controls, and support more complex financial needs such as multi-entity structures, advanced WIP reporting, and strategic cash flow planning.

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