Builders · Residential and commercial
Fractional CFO for builders
A builder can be profitable on every job and still run short of cash, because the money arrives on the claim cycle and leaves every payday. We help you see the gap before it opens.
What builders are deciding
Rules and rates are stated in general terms. Your legal adviser or tax adviser can confirm how they apply to your business.
How much the next contract ties up
Work in progress, retentions and the claim cycle decide how much cash a new job needs before it pays you back.
Whether a bigger job fits the QBCC tests
Your licence needs the net tangible assets for its category and a current ratio of at least 1 to 1 at all times, and the annual report, due by 31 December or the date on your QBCC notice, puts both on record.
Pricing variations and holding margin
Levies, the waste levy, award rises and late variations eat a quoted margin unless they are priced in.
When to sell or hand over
What a buyer pays for a building business, and how the capital gains rules that change on 1 July 2027 affect your timing. Your tax adviser can confirm how they apply to you.
Illustrative example · Builder · Queensland
The Christmas gap, in one builder’s numbers
A builder gives a progress claim on Monday 21 December. Under the BIF Act’s default terms it falls due 10 business days later, and no days count from 22 December to 10 January, so the money is due on Friday 22 January. The weekly payroll, with super, is $48,000, and it runs every Thursday through the break: 24 and 31 December, then 7, 14 and 21 January. That is five pay runs, or $240,000, before the claim is due.
$48,000
Weekly payroll, with super
5
Pay runs before the claim falls due
$240,000
Paid out before the claim is paid
32 days
From the claim to its due date
Give the same claim two weeks earlier, on Monday 7 December, and on the same default terms it falls due on Monday 21 December, before the break begins. Your legal adviser can confirm how your own contract sets these dates.
Illustrative, built from the BIF Act’s default timeframes as published by the QBCC and a typical payroll. Your contract’s terms may differ.
Sources: QBCC, business days and the holiday period under the BIF Act; Building Industry Fairness (Security of Payment) Act 2017, sections 73 and 76 and schedule 2; Queensland public holidays for 2026 and 2027. Checked 20 October 2026.
How an engagement runs
Every engagement starts with discovery and a diagnostic in the first two weeks. We get under your numbers, from the claim schedule and work in progress to payroll and aged debtors, and surface the issues and opportunities that matter most to a building business.
In weeks three and four we set up clean reporting, a cash flow forecast and the rhythm of reviews. The first decisions land in the second month, in pricing, cash or cost, and from the third month we are part of how the business runs, alongside your accountant and bookkeeper. The fractional CFO service page sets out the full scope.
Tools to start with
Free tools for the questions builders ask most, each with its result on screen straight away.
Reading for builders
Common questions
Do you replace our accountant?
No. Your accountant keeps the tax returns, BAS and year end accounts, and your bookkeeper keeps the books. We add the forward looking work: cash forecasts across the claim cycle, margins by job and the numbers behind decisions on tendering, crews and growth. We share what we find with your accountant, so everyone works from the same figures.
What does it cost?
The fractional CFO partnership starts from $3,750 a month, billed month to month with no long term lock in. When you need a figure for the business, before a sale or a handover, an indicative valuation starts from $4,500 and a comprehensive valuation from $13,500. Each of these is a starting price.
How is the fee sized?
Engagements usually stay at the starting price. Some need closer oversight or a deeper assessment, and the scope and fee rise to match. Find your fit confirms your price based on the characteristics of your business, and the pricing page explains how everything is sized.
Do you work with builders outside Brisbane?
Yes. We work with builders across Brisbane, the Gold Coast and the Sunshine Coast, and further afield across Australia. Most of the monthly work happens over video calls and shared reports, with visits to your office or site as each engagement needs, so distance changes little. The locations we serve page has the detail.
What do you need from us to start?
Read only access to your accounting software, the last two years of financial statements, your current claim schedule and work in progress report, aged debtors and creditors, and your payroll summary. A first meeting with you covers how jobs are won, run and paid. Nothing needs to change in your systems before we start.
Talk it through with us
A 45 minute discovery call is complimentary. Bring your last claim schedule and your aged debtors.