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search for solutions by category, industries, insights, and people.
search for solutions by category, industries, insights, and people.
search for solutions by category, industries, insights, and people.
A locally owned construction company, led by its founder, experienced steady growth over nearly a decade. As a younger owner planning to operate the business long term, he pursued expansion opportunities beyond the company’s original market to capture new growth.
As the company expanded, profitability declined. Despite strong demand and increased activity, the owner struggled to understand why cash was tightening and bills were becoming harder to pay. With financials prepared on a cash basis, the owner lacked visibility into true profitability, job-level margins, and the timing of revenues and costs.
The company was not appropriately tracking accounts payable, accounts receivable, or accrued and deferred expenses, including interest. Job costing relied on manual processes, forcing the team to sort through receipts and allocate expenses after the fact, leading to administrative overwhelm and delayed commission payments. Without reliable accrual-based financials, the company was unable to clearly tell its financial story to its bank, restricting access to capital.
Concerned by declining results, leadership scaled back operations and simplified the business to stabilize performance. While this downsizing reduced risk, it also made future growth decisions more difficult without reliable financial insight.
Cash-basis reporting failed to reflect when work was performed, costs were incurred, and revenue was earned, making it difficult to assess job-level profitability and monthly performance trends. Elliott Davis worked with the company to transition its financial reporting and operational systems to an accrual-based, job-focused model that aligned revenue and costs in the period work was performed.
The goal was to replace fragmented, manual processes with integrated systems that supported accurate reporting, real-time insight, and informed decision-making. Key components of the solution included:
The team converted the company from cash-basis to accrual accounting, enabling accurate monthly reporting of revenues, costs, and margins. Leadership could now see completed jobs, associated costs, and margins within the same reporting period, allowing performance issues to be identified and addressed earlier.
Elliott Davis supported the implementation and integration of several tools to replace spreadsheet-driven workflows, including:
With these tools, foremen and job-site personnel could upload receipts immediately and assign costs to specific jobs, eliminating delays, manual reconciliation, and data gaps.
By automating receipt capture and expense allocation, the company gained timely, accurate job cost data. Leadership could now evaluate all jobs completed in a month alongside related revenues, costs, and margins, and calculate commissions using reliable financial information rather than estimates or delayed reporting.
Elliott Davis assumed the CFO and controller functions, establishing a structured communication cadence with consistent check-ins throughout the close process and ad hoc touchpoints as needed. The firm also provided strategic guidance informed by construction industry best practices, supporting both day-to-day decisions and longer-term planning.
The company completed system onboarding within approximately 60 days, eliminating manual workflows and introducing integrated, automated processes. As the engagement progressed, those systems laid the groundwork for a successful transition to accrual accounting over the next year, providing leadership with more reliable financial insight and operational control. Measurable outcomes included:
Leadership now has clear, accrual-based insight into profitability by job and by month, enabling faster, better-informed decisions and allowing management to identify margin pressure early and take corrective action before issues escalate.
The improved quality and consistency of reporting supported clearer lender discussions and more efficient access to financing. The company could now present well-organized financial statements and pursue a line of credit to support future growth.
Automation eliminated manual job-costing tasks previously handled in spreadsheets. One internal accounting role was transitioned into higher-value accounts payable and strategic accounting responsibilities, effectively adding capacity without increasing headcount.
With accurate financial reporting and aligned systems, the company has regained confidence in evaluating expansion opportunities. The owner can now assess new markets with a clear understanding of profitability and risk.
Elliott Davis helped establish a scalable finance function while positioning the internal team to be self-reliant in day-to-day operations. The relationship has evolved toward strategic forecasting and planning, with opportunities to expand into tax, transaction advisory, and other services over time.
By moving from cash-basis reporting to accrual accounting and implementing integrated, construction-focused technology, the company replaced uncertainty with reliable financial insight. With real-time visibility, stronger controls, and a trusted advisory relationship, leadership is now positioned to pursue growth with confidence.
The information provided in this communication is of a general nature and should not be considered professional advice. You should not act upon the information provided without obtaining specific professional advice. The information above is subject to change.
