Industries

Working capital cycles, project accounting, and capital-heavy operations require operators who've been inside them.

We embed senior leaders who've built finance and people functions inside industrial and energy companies. We arrive knowing your project margin structure, your field-to-corporate workforce dynamics, and the financing requirements your operating model demands.

Who we work with

From family-owned operators to PE-backed industrial and energy businesses.

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

Metals, steel, and structural fabrication
Specialty chemicals and materials manufacturing
Energy services and infrastructure businesses
Building products and industrial distribution
Recycling, waste management, and circular economy operators
ESOP, PE-backed, and family-owned industrial companies

When founders call us

Industrial businesses live or die on working capital. The infrastructure has to keep up.

These are the moments where the financial infrastructure built for a smaller operation or a family-owned business runs into the operational realities of a larger, more complex business.

01

Working capital is the constraint on growth, and the model to manage it across days inventory, receivable, and payable doesn't exist in a form anyone can act on.

02

Project margin varies materially by contract, customer, and structure. The aggregate P&L hides which work is profitable and which isn't.

03

A PE process or recapitalization is on the horizon. Quality of Earnings will demand normalization work that the current accounting wasn't built to support.

04

The workforce balances field, plant, and corporate teams under different operating models. Compensation, safety compliance, and multi-state employment all need to move together.

The metrics we model and report on

The metrics that matter for industrial
and energy operations.

When a board, owner, or lender asks for project margin by contract or a working capital bridge, 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

Project Margin by Contract

For project-based industrial businesses, gross margin at the project or contract level is the operating metric that matters most. Aggregate margin hides which projects, customers, or contract structures are profitable and which aren't.

Cash Conversion Cycle

Industrial businesses live or die on working capital. We track days inventory, days receivable, and days payable separately so the working capital story reflects operational reality rather than headline net cash flow.

Return on Capital Employed

For asset-heavy industrial businesses, ROCE measures whether the capital tied up in equipment, inventory, and facilities is generating returns that justify the investment. Critical for PE-backed operations.

Contracted Backlog

Forward-looking revenue visibility for industrial businesses comes from contracted backlog. We track backlog by contract type, customer concentration, and timing.

People and Organizational Metrics

Field to Corporate Headcount Ratio

Industrial operations balance field, plant, and corporate workforces under fundamentally different operating models. The ratio between them drives both margin and operational capacity.

Workforce Safety and Training Compliance

For field and plant operations, OSHA compliance, training currency, and incident rates carry both regulatory and insurance implications.

Comp Benchmarks for Field and Trade Roles

Field and skilled trade compensation operates under different market dynamics than corporate compensation. We benchmark by region, trade, and certification.

Employment Compliance Across Jurisdictions

Industrial operations that span states or operate under prevailing wage rules carry employment compliance complexity.

How engagements evolve

Industrial operations evolve with the business. The financial infrastructure has to evolve with them.

Most industrial clients start at one engagement scope and expand as operational complexity grows. The services below reflect what's typically most critical at each stage, not a fixed package.

Foundation

Foundation accounting built for project-based reality.

Smaller industrial operations often run on accounting systems built for a simpler business. Getting project costing, working capital tracking, and basic compliance right early avoids expensive rework when a transaction or capital event approaches.

What we focus on:

Clean books with project-level revenue and cost tracking from day one
Working capital model: days inventory, receivable, and payable tracked separately
Field and corporate payroll, classification, and compliance basics
Equipment, capex, and depreciation accounting
Safety and training compliance documentation

Build

Operating-grade reporting and the infrastructure to scale through it.

This is where complexity multiplies. Project margin needs to be reported by contract, working capital tightens with growth, and the workforce picture expands across states and trades.

What we focus on:

Project margin analysis by contract, customer, and structure
Cash conversion cycle modeling with scenario analysis
First-time audit preparation or PE-grade financial reporting
Multi-state payroll, prevailing wage compliance, and HR systems
Organizational design as field and corporate workforces grow in parallel

Scale

PE-grade infrastructure and transaction readiness built in parallel.

PE recapitalizations, strategic processes, and capital-heavy expansion plans demand financial infrastructure most industrial businesses haven't built. Transaction readiness needs to be built before the process starts.

What we focus on:

Advanced FP&A: project margin modeling, working capital scenario planning, ROCE analysis
Quality of Earnings preparation for PE or strategic processes
Debt covenant compliance and lender reporting
C-suite retained search and permanent executive placement
Strategic Talent Planning™ across field, plant, and corporate leadership

From founders

What it sounds like when the infrastructure works.

"

"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

"

"Working with Velveth and the 512Financial team has been one of the most impactful partnerships in Walworth's recent history. They didn't just help us find talent, they helped us find the right leaders. Beyond recruiting, they facilitated a Strategic Talent Planning session that was a true turning point: they helped place each of our leaders in the right seat, pointed in the right direction, focused on what truly matters. And since then, she has remained a trusted sounding board, guiding us, challenging us, and showing up as a genuine partner in our growth. We are deeply grateful for this relationship."

Marcel Caldera

Walworth

"

"We engaged 512Financial 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."

Tina Nocera

Executive Vice President, Extech Building Materials

Six service lines, one integrated partner

Industrial operations rarely run on a single discipline.

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

financial leadership

Finance

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

ARR/MRR waterfall modeling, SaaS unit economics (CAC payback, LTV by cohort), subscription revenue forecasting, and board packages built to VC standards.

Accounting

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

Deferred revenue management, multi-element arrangement allocation, SaaS COGS classification, and a close process designed to survive first-time audit.

Transaction Advisory

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

ARR quality analysis, churn-adjusted revenue normalization, multi-year contract waterfall, and SaaS-specific diligence support for acquirers.

organizational leadership

People Operations

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

Engineering and product comp benchmarking against SaaS market data, equity administration, remote-first multi-state compliance.

Executive Retained Search

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

Placement of first permanent finance hires, Head of People, and VP Engineering. A mis-hire in any of these roles at Series B costs 12 to 18 months of momentum.

Strategic Talent Planning™

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

Product-engineering org design, GTM team structuring as ACV and deal complexity increase, and leadership alignment for SaaS companies.

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

Real Estate & Construction

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