Industries

Real estate and construction require operators who understand complexity.

We embed senior leaders backed by experience across construction, real estate, and project-based businesses. Our team understands property- and project-level economics, working capital cycles, lender and investor reporting, and the operational realities that shape growth, consolidation, and transactions.

Who we work with

From owner-operator contractors to portfolio-scale real estate operators.

Typical client ARR ranges from $5M to $100M+.

Commercial and residential contractors
Specialty trades and field service providers
Real estate development firms
Multifamily and portfolio operators
Owner-operators and family offices
PE-backed real estate and construction groups

When founders call us

Construction and real estate businesses run on project-level reality. The financial and operational reporting has to reflect that.

These are the moments where the systems built for a smaller operation run into what bonding companies, lenders, owners, and buyers actually need to see.

01

Revenue recognition is supposed to follow percentage-of-completion, but the cost-to-complete estimates are loose and the resulting financials would not survive an audit.

02

Bonding capacity is the constraint on the next stage of growth, and the financial position isn't being modeled against bonding requirements until renewal arrives.

03

The WIP schedule is loose, or it's not being run at all. Over/under billings are masking margin compression and creating surprises at year-end.

04

PE has been rolling up trades and specialty contractors for years, and your business is starting to attract calls. Quality of Earnings, working capital normalization, and clean financial presentation need to be ready before the first letter of intent arrives.

05

Compensation, multi-state employment compliance, and prevailing wage requirements haven't kept pace with the workforce as it has scaled across trades, project management, and corporate teams.

The metrics we model and report on

The metrics that matter for construction  and real estate operations.

When a lender, surety, or PE buyer asks for a WIP schedule, job margin trends, or a bonding capacity analysis, your team should be able to produce it the same afternoon. These are a few of the metrics our team builds, defends, and reports on. Every engagement gets calibrated to the metrics your business needs to grow.

Financial Metrics

Percentage-of-Completion
and Development Accounting

Construction and real estate development require accurate cost-to-complete estimates, earned revenue calculations, capitalization tracking, and project-level reporting. Weak project accounting creates reporting risk, cash flow surprises, and audit exposure.

Job Costing and  Project Profitability

Project-based businesses run on visibility into labor, materials, subcontractors, equipment, overhead, and vendor costs. We build reporting structures that show profitability at the project, property, and portfolio level.

WIP and Over/Under Billings Schedule

The WIP schedule is the construction industry's clearest signal of financial trouble before it shows up in P&L. Chronically over-billed projects have cash flow propped up by unearned deposits; chronically under-billed projects hide margin compression. We build WIP schedules that present project economics in the way sureties, lenders, and acquirers all expect to see them.

Bonding, Lending, and Investor Reporting

Growing contractors and real estate operators are increasingly expected to provide lender-ready, surety-ready, and investor-grade reporting. We help businesses build reporting structures that support financing, refinancing, expansion, and transaction readiness.

People and Organizational Metrics

Field, Property,
and Corporate Workforce Structure

Construction and real estate organizations balance field operations, property management, development teams, and corporate functions under different operating models. Organizational structure directly impacts execution capacity, overhead, and profitability.

Workforce Compliance
and Operational Risk

Multi-state operations, prevailing wage requirements, safety standards, and employment compliance create operational complexity as businesses scale. We help organizations improve visibility into workforce compliance and risk exposure.

Compensation and Organizational Planning

Construction trades, development teams, property operations, and corporate leadership all operate under different labor market dynamics. We support compensation benchmarking, organizational planning, and workforce scalability aligned with operational growth.

Time-to-Fill for Field and Trade Roles

Skilled trades and project management talent operate under tight labor markets. Recruiting velocity directly impacts project pipeline execution and bonding capacity utilization.

How engagements evolve

Construction and real estate operations evolve project by project. The financial reporting has to evolve with them.

Most clients start at one engagement scope and expand as project complexity, bonding requirements, and workforce scale grow. The services below reflect what's typically most critical at each stage, not a fixed package.

Foundation

Project-based accounting built for the work that's actually happening.

Smaller construction and real estate operations often run on accounting systems built for a simpler business. Getting percentage-of-completion accounting, job costing, and basic compliance right early avoids expensive rework when bonding capacity needs to expand or a lender starts asking harder questions.

What we focus on:

Clean books with project-level revenue and cost tracking
Percentage-of-completion accounting with cost-to-complete estimates
Job costing system tracking labor, materials, equipment, and overhead
Field and corporate payroll, prevailing wage classification, and compliance
Safety and training compliance documentation

Build

Bonding-ready financials and the operating systems to scale through it.

This is where bonding capacity becomes the operational constraint. Financial position needs to be modeled against bonding requirements, project margin needs to be reported by contract, and the workforce picture expands across states and trades.

What we focus on:

Bonding capacity modeling with surety-ready financial reporting
Job margin analysis by project, customer, and contract type
First-time audit preparation or lender-grade financial reporting
Multi-state payroll, prevailing wage compliance, and HR systems
Organizational design as field and corporate workforces scale

Scale

Enterprise-grade reporting and transaction readiness built in parallel.

PE has been actively rolling up specialty trades, residential services, and commercial contractors. The businesses getting the highest valuations are the ones with clean job costing, defensible margin trends, and audit-ready financials before the first call. Transaction readiness needs to be built before the process starts, not during it.

What we focus on:

Advanced FP&A: bonding capacity scenarios, working capital optimization, multi-project planning
Quality of Earnings preparation for PE or acquirer processes
Capital raise readiness and lender refinancing support
C-suite retained search and permanent executive placement
Strategic Talent Planning™ across field, project management, and corporate leadership

From founders

What it sounds like when the infrastructure works.

"

"We engaged the team to provide coaching support for one of our employees, and the results exceeded our expectations. What set them apart was their ability to go beyond the surface; they took the time to identify the underlying issues driving the behavior rather than simply addressing the symptoms. Their approach was thoughtful, professional, and genuinely effective. We witnessed a meaningful behavioral shift that has had a lasting, positive impact on both the individual and the surrounding team. I would highly recommend them. They delivered real change when it mattered most."

Tina Nocera

Executive Vice President, Extech Building Materials

"

"I've used recruiting firms in the past and viewed them as a necessary evil, not partners. I engaged 512Financial (formerly HireBetter) after two candidates from a different firm didn't survive past the probationary period. It was immediately apparent that their model is something entirely different. They put candidates through multiple behavioral interviews before I was even presented with a resume. We hired our Director of HR through them and got a candidate that fit our team, our culture, and our needs."

Linda Webb

CFO, Basden Steel

Six service lines, one integrated partner

Construction and real estate businesses rarely run on a single discipline.

The service lines below are available individually or as an integrated engagement. Clients most often engage across Finance, Accounting, and People Operations, with Transaction Advisory added as PE or acquirer processes approach.

financial leadership

Finance

Fractional CFO, ARR modeling, board reporting, capital planning, fundraising prep

Project-by-project margin analysis, bonding strategy, lender reporting, and surely-ready financial reporting.

Accounting

GAAP-compliant financials, audit-ready close process, controller services

Job costing systems, cost-to-complete estimates, retention accounting, and a close process that survives audit and surety review.

Transaction Advisory

Quality of Earnings, due diligence support, working capital assessment, M&A readiness

Construction and real estate QoE covering job margin normalization, work-in-progress adjustments, and revenue recognition validation.

organizational leadership

People Operations

Fractional People leadership, HR compliance, benefits, comp benchmarking, HR systems

Field and trade compensation, prevailing wage compliance, multi-state employment management, and safety program coordination.

Executive Retained Search

C-suite and VP placement, success profile development, candidate evaluation

Placement of VP Finance, VP Operations, Head of Safety, and Head of People.

Strategic Talent Planning™

Org design, hiring roadmaps, leadership alignment, team structure development

Org design for businesses balancing field crews, project management, and corporate functions, and hiring roadmaps tied to project pipeline.

Also serving

Other industries we work in

SaaS/Software

ARR modeling, cohort retention, burn multiple, audit-ready financials for VC-backed SaaS companies

Fintech & Financial
Services

Complex revenue recognition, regulatory reporting, banking partnership financials, SOC 2

Healthcare & Life Sciences

Reimbursement cycle accounting, multi-state compliance, clinical milestone cost modeling

Consumer

Inventory and COGS modeling, channel margin analysis, DTC and retail expansion readiness

Industrial & Energy

Project-based accounting, field-to-corporate workforce dynamics, capital-heavy operating models