Utah ยท Fractional CFO for Contractors

Fractional CFO for contractors in Utah.

You run the trucks. You bid the work. You hire the crews. You shouldn't also have to figure out which jobs are actually making money. We run finance for trades businesses from Salt Lake City to Provo so you stop guessing and start deciding.

§ 01What it's costing you to keep guessing

Your bank balance looks fine. Your books say otherwise.

You finished a quarter that felt strong. The phone keeps ringing. Crews are billing hours. Then you sit down with your bookkeeper and the numbers don't line up with what you're feeling. You can't tell which jobs made you money and which ones bled you dry. You paid material invoices before the customer paid you. Payroll ran whether the receivables came in or not. You bought a truck six months ago and you still can't say if it's earning its keep. This is what happens when your books are built for tax filing instead of decision-making.

01

You can't tell which jobs are profitable

Your P&L shows a number for revenue and a number for costs. It doesn't tell you which crews, which service lines, or which customers are actually making you money.

02

Cash is always tight, even in good quarters

You bid the work, you bought the materials, you ran payroll. The customer pays in 45 days. The math works on paper but the bank account doesn't reflect it. Growth is starving you.

03

You're growing but not sure you're earning more

Revenue is up. The team is bigger. You feel like you're working harder. You don't have a confident answer to whether the business is actually more profitable than last year.

04

Your bookkeeper hands you reports you don't read

You get a P&L every month. It sits in your inbox. You don't read it because nobody walks you through what it means or what to do about it.

§ 02What a fractional CFO actually does

A fractional CFO does what a bookkeeper can't.

A bookkeeper records what happened last month. A fractional CFO tells you what to do about it next month. You get the strategic insight of a full-time finance leader without paying $200k a year for one. For a contractor doing $500k to $10M in revenue, that's the difference between flying blind and running a business that compounds.

01

Real job costing

Labor with burden, materials, sub costs, equipment allocation. You'll finally know which jobs make money, which crews are pulling their weight, and which service lines deserve your focus.

02

Cash flow you can see 90 days out

A forward-looking forecast that shows you when cash gets tight before it gets tight. So you make decisions on staffing, equipment, and bidding from a position of clarity instead of panic.

03

Pricing that wins profitable work

Your bids should reflect what the work actually costs you, including overhead and a margin you can live on. We help you stop competing on price and start competing on value.

04

Crew and truck profitability

Per-crew gross margin. Utilization rates. Equipment cost per job. The numbers that tell you whether to add a crew, fire one, or buy another truck.

05

Decisions before you commit

Hiring, financing, location, expansion, an offer to buy out a partner. We model the financial impact before you sign anything. So you stop making seven-figure decisions on gut feel.

06

Books that hold up

Clean, GAAP-quality books that a lender, an auditor, or a buyer will accept without rework. The financial foundation that lets you fund growth, survive an audit, or exit on your terms.

§ 03How working with us looks

White-glove finance. You hand it off, we run it.

We don't sell you software and walk away. We don't hand you a dashboard and call it done. We embed in your business and do the work, so you can stop spending your nights and weekends trying to be a finance person.

01

Discovery call

30 minutes. You talk. We listen. By the end we'll tell you straight whether we can help you, what it would look like to work together, and roughly what it would cost. No pressure to decide on the call.

02

Onboarding (30 to 60 days)

We clean up the books. We build your job costing structure. We set up cash forecasting. We learn your business inside out so the work feels seamless from month one of the partnership.

03

Monthly partnership

You get closed books in five business days. You get a CFO call where we walk through what the numbers mean and what to do next. You get an outsider's read on every major financial decision before you commit.

§ 04Trades we work with

If you run trucks and crews, we probably know your business.

Different trades have different financial mechanics. We've sat with most of them. The list below isn't exhaustive. If your business runs on trucks, crews, and jobs, the math we do for you will look similar.

Electricians

Residential service, commercial install, low-voltage. Project-billing complexity and material cost volatility.

Plumbers

Service plus install. Recurring maintenance contracts. Multi-truck dispatch and labor utilization.

HVAC

Install plus service. Seasonal cash flow. Equipment financing and bonus depreciation planning.

Roofers

Insurance work, project WIP accounting, supplier relationships, weather-driven scheduling.

Landscapers

Routes, seasonality, equipment cycles, snow removal cross-over. Recurring maintenance vs. install mix.

Framers

Sub work on tract builds, custom builds, labor margin and crew profitability. Lien waiver workflow.

General contractor subs

Painting, drywall, flooring, concrete, masonry. Bid-based work with thin margins that need to be defended.

Other trades

Pest control, cleaning, septic, fencing, fire and security. If you run trucks and crews, talk to us.

§ 05Why Utah contractors specifically

We work in your market.

Most accounting firms either treat every business the same or they're national chains that don't know the difference between a Lehi framer and a Salt Lake commercial electrician. We're based in Utah. We work with contractors from Salt Lake City to Provo, and with clients in Heber City, American Fork, Lehi, Orem, Sandy, Draper, and across Utah County.

We know what a typical project margin looks like for a roofer in Sandy versus a remodeling contractor in Park City. We understand the labor pool, the cost of materials at Sutherland's and Stock Building Supply, the rhythm of how Utah trades businesses bid, build, and get paid. Local context matters. Generic accounting advice doesn't survive contact with your business.

See our full trades and services offering →

  • Salt Lake City and West Valley
  • Sandy, Draper, South Jordan, Riverton
  • Lehi, American Fork, Pleasant Grove
  • Orem, Provo, Spanish Fork
  • Heber City, Park City, Midway
  • St. George and southern Utah (remote)
  • Ogden and northern Utah (remote)
  • Anywhere in Utah we can serve well remotely
§ 06The partners you'll work with

You're making the kind of calls a bookkeeper can't help with.

Hiring. Pricing. When to expand. When to walk away. You want a partner who has run a real business and made those calls before. That's what we are.

Enoch Sng, Partner

Before Black Lotus, Enoch owned and operated a $32M self-storage facility. Earlier, he spent years in real estate private equity, closing over $500M in transactions and asset-managing 1,000+ multifamily units. He leads the Utah practice from Alpine and works directly with contractors across Salt Lake and Utah County.

Abel, Partner

Abel has personally invested high seven figures across multifamily, manufactured housing, self-storage, and senior assisted living. He's bought in every major commercial real estate asset class. He leads the Dallas-Fort Worth practice and brings investor-grade financial rigor to every engagement.

§ FAQ Utah contractor-specific questions

What Utah contractors ask before signing on.

What size contractor do you typically work with?
Contractors doing $500k to $10M in annual revenue. Below $500k, you usually don't need this level of finance support yet. Above $10M, you're often ready for a full-time CFO. Everywhere in between is our sweet spot.
We already have a bookkeeper. Do we still need you?
A bookkeeper records what happened. A fractional CFO tells you what to do about it. Most contractors have a bookkeeper who does the data entry and a tax CPA who files returns. Nobody in that setup is helping you make decisions. That's where we sit.
How is this different from hiring a full-time CFO?
A full-time CFO at this stage costs $180k to $250k a year fully loaded. Most contractors doing $1M to $5M don't have CFO-level work to fill a 40-hour week, so they end up paying for capacity they can't use. A fractional CFO gives you the same strategic insight on a part-time engagement that scales with your business.
Do you work with QuickBooks, ServiceTitan, Jobber, or Housecall Pro?
Yes. We work with all of them. We don't force you to switch platforms. Whatever you're using in the field, we pull job-level data into the books cleanly. If you're on something we haven't seen before, we'll figure it out.
Can you do job costing if our current books are a mess?
Yes. Cleaning up the books is part of onboarding. We're not surprised by messy data. Most contractors who come to us have years of mixed-up classifications, missing job tags, and uncategorized expenses. We sort it. Usually in 30 to 60 days.
What does engagement cost?
It depends on scope. The full-service engagement includes bookkeeping, monthly close, job costing, cash forecasting, and a CFO call. Smaller engagements that focus on advisory or cleanup are available. The right place to start is a 30-minute call where we scope what you actually need.
Do you handle our taxes?
We don't file your tax return. Your tax CPA does that. We make sure they have clean, accurate books and the supporting schedules they need. We also coordinate with them on planning items like Section 179, bonus depreciation, and entity structure decisions. The two roles work together; they don't replace each other.
We're in Salt Lake, Provo, or somewhere else in Utah. Do you work on-site or remote?
Both. We're based in Utah and we work with contractors from Salt Lake City through Utah County, Heber City, Park City, and across the state. Day-to-day work is remote. CFO calls happen by video. We meet in person when it makes sense.
How fast can you get our books cleaned up?
Most cleanups take 30 to 60 days from the start of onboarding. Heavily mixed-up books with multiple entities or years of catch-up may take longer. We tell you the timeline upfront after we look at your file.
What's the catch?
No catch. We're not the cheapest option. We're not trying to be. If you're looking for the lowest-priced bookkeeper in Utah, we're the wrong fit. If you want a finance partner who has built and operated businesses and can help you make better decisions, we're worth talking to.

Ready to talk to a CFO who actually understands contractors?

30-minute call. No pitch. We'll tell you straight whether we're the right fit, or who is.