Identical margins. One is comfortable. One is running on its operating line.
Two shapes we meet constantly. The figures are indexed and the pattern is not invented. Above the rule the accounts agree. Below it, nothing does.
| A DISTRIBUTOR | A CONTRACTOR | |
|---|---|---|
| WHAT THE ACCOUNTS SAY | ||
| Revenue, indexed | 100.0 | 100.0 |
| Gross margin | 24.1% | 24.3% |
| Overhead | 18.0% | 18.2% |
| Operating margin | 6.1% | 6.1% |
| Net margin | 4.4% | 4.5% |
| WHAT IS ACTUALLY HAPPENING | ||
| The measure that governs | Cash conversion cycle | Margin at final account, against bid |
| Reads | 96 days | 4.6 points below |
| Held where | Stock at 118 days of cover | Retention outstanding, 8 months average |
| Shows up as | An operating line drawn every month | A surety holding the bonding limit flat |
| Found by | Aging stock by SKU against real turns | Costing at job level against the winning estimate |
Twelve set out here. We lead finance in more than twice that many.
Pick one. Each carries a single measure that finds the problem before the accounts do — and someone who has run finance in your industry already knows which measure governs it.
The accounts are accurate at completion and meaningless before it.
Know a job’s real margin while there is still time to do something about it.
Has closed out final accounts and sat opposite a surety
THE FULL SECTOR PAGE →Most of the companies we work with are not in the twelve above.
Four questions place any business, in any industry. They are the same four we ask on the first call, and they decide how the finance function gets built.
Your CFO is chosen for your sector. Not assigned from whoever is free.
One person is yours for the whole engagement — the same one from the first conversation, named in the contract, with a named backup behind them.
The first two weeks run the same way in every sector.
What they find is what differs. We go in looking for the measure that governs your business, and we tell you what it reads — in writing, either way.