Michael King

I help fractional CFOs and accountants build multiple 6 and 7-figure advisory firms through coaching and community.

If you run a construction company, growth was supposed to make money stress go away.

Instead, revenue is up, profit is flat, and it still feels like you are one bad month away from a big problem.

Most contractors we work with are:
• Bidding 20 to 25 percent and banking a fraction of that
• Losing sleep over payroll and upcoming draws
• Unsure which jobs are actually making money
• Looking at financials that feel like a foreign language
• Making big decisions based on gut, not clear numbers

At Civil CFO, we provide Fractional CFO services for $10M to $70M contractors.

Our job is simple to say and hard to do - we bridge the gap between bid and bank so you can consistently hit 10 percent plus net profit, with clear cash flow and confidence in every major decision.

What we do for construction companies:
• Build clear forecasts and cash flow plans so you know what is coming before it hits
• Install practical job cost and WIP reporting so you can see which projects are winning or bleeding
• Help you set realistic, data backed profit targets and hold the team accountable to them
• Prepare bank, bonding, and lender ready financial packages
• Sit at the leadership table as your finance partner for growth, exits, or succession

We are not your bookkeeper or tax accountant.

We work alongside them and give you the forward looking financial strategy they cannot provide.

Why this matters:
• More cash in the bank and less time worrying about it
• Cleaner, more profitable jobs
• Reduced debt and stronger balance sheet
• A company that is ready for whatever you want next - growth, sale, or hand off

I founded Civil CFO so construction CEOs did not have to figure this out alone. Our team has worked with contractors across the country to turn financial confusion into a clear plan and disciplined execution.

If you are a contractor between $10M and $70M and you are tired of bidding 25 percent and banking 3, let's talk.

Founder

I help fractional CFOs and accountants start, scale, and optimize their advisory services.

Nic Parish crushed it on stage today at CONEXPO-CON/AGG! 

He talked about how to build a people-first company, particularly about the importance of systematizing that process. 

The thing that stood out the most to me was when Nic asked “if you have a people problem in your company, what are you going to doc about it?” 

Great job Nic.

Founder, Civil CFO | Fractional CFO Firm for $10M–$70M Contractors | We bridge the gap between bid and bank so you can hit 10%+ net profit

No alternative text description for this image

This week in Vegas is a who’s who for the dirt world. 

Just got to hang out with Jason Richmond and Luke Eggebraaten and talk dirt!  

Who else do I need to meet this week before I leave?

I heard a savage quote this morning from Denzel Washington: 


Commitment gets you in the game. 
Consistency gets you across the finish line. 

I've been frustrated by the lack of results I've seen in a couple areas of business lately. 

This quote immediately reminded me why I haven't seen those results. 

Let's go.

I'm so grateful for the chance to sit with these folks last night and talk about the construction industry. 

We talked about: 
• Where the industry is
• Where the industry is going
• What the biggest risks are right now
• And the biggest opportunities that are ahead

Thanks for the time and perspective Mrs. Sargent, Herb Sargent, and Zack Estes. 

(We also had some world-class guac as well!)

A contractor posted a huge year-over-year revenue jump…
…but the increase was eaten up by the overhead required to produce it.

So yeah, more revenue.
But also…

More payroll.
More trucks.
More subs.
More admin.
More complexity.

Same profit on the P&L.

Womp womp.

That is NOT scaling.

It’s just building a bigger version of the same machine that produces the same amount of profit dollars.

And it’s one of the fastest ways owners end up trapped.

As the company gets more complex, the risk gets higher and the margin for error gets thinner… while the financial reward stays flat.

If revenue grows but net profit doesn’t grow at the same rate or faster, you didn’t get healthier. You got heavier.

The crazy part is that this type of growth feels like success.

Meanwhile, the firm is becoming harder to run, harder to cash flow, and harder to exit.

Healthy growth should do at least one of these:
1. Increase profit faster than revenue
2. Reduce owner dependence
3. Improve cash flow stability
4. Create repeatable systems
5. Expand capacity without proportional headcount

If it doesn’t?

It’s not growth.
It’s just expensive motion.

If you’re a contractor and you’re expecting a big top-line jump this year, this is a metric to watch.

We had a client come to us through a referral from a former client. They were hanging on by a thread. 


They weren’t just “using” their line of credit.
They had fully maxed it out.
They were borrowing just to cover payroll and keep the doors open.

Most owners assume the solution at that point is to “go sell more.”

But that wasn’t the real problem.

The real problem was cash trapped inside the business.

They were sitting on $2.2M in inventory.
And $700K of it hadn’t moved in five years.

So they were literally burning cash to build inventory… to keep people busy.

The intention was good! 
They wanted to take care of their team.
But financially, it was killing the company.
Pretty soon, no one was going to have a job.

So we did an inventory analysis and made the hard calls.
➜ We helped them sell what could be sold
➜ We reworked the schedule to reduce labor costs

Within 6 months, the entire $250K LOC was paid down.
The client had $500K sitting in the bank.
And hours for employees were increased.

That’s a $750K swing.

“Sell more” isn’t always the answer. 
First, you’ve got to stop the bleeding.

Most contractors don’t have a profitability problem.
You have a Work In Progress problem. 

And in a $10M-$70M construction company, it’s one of the only reports that shows what's actually happening inside your projects. 

WIP shows you, job by job: 
➜ How far along the project really is 
➜ How much you’ve billed 
➜ How much cost you’ve burned 
➜ Whether you’re overbilled or underbilled
➜ Your projected margin based on percent complete

We’ve had clients say, “But the P&L looks fine.” 

To which we say, “Then why are you still cash broke?”

Things we see (on the regular): 

• You’re 60% complete, but only billed 40% of the job 
• Approved change orders that were never recorded
• Labor being applied inconsistently across projects

The estimate says 10%.
Reality says 3%. 

A properly maintained WIP catches these issues early.

When WIP is accurate (and reviewed every month!), you stop discovering that a job lost money after it’s already finished.
 
You see it while there is still time to do something about it.

A few years ago, one of my largest clients was doing everything "right.”

Revenue was climbing.
The team was busy.
Backlog was full.

It looked like momentum.
(“looked like”)

But underneath it, the business was in a dangerous place.

They were saying yes to almost every job.
The focus was on revenue and not gross profit.

If we had done nothing, it would have cost them real money.
Maybe not all at once, but over time.

Because margins were getting tighter.
Labor costs weren’t predictable.
And risk kept piling up in the backlog.

So we made a hard call together.
We took a reset year.

Instead of chasing total revenue, we refocused the entire business around highly profitable work.

That meant saying no to a lot of “good” jobs.

The result?

Revenue was lower for a season.

But profit had improved.
Cash flow stabilized.
And the team got breathing room.

And when growth came back, it came back to a lot more structure.

Sometimes the most expensive move is doing nothing.

And sometimes the smartest decision is stepping back to rebuild the engine before you hit the gas again.

“Can we afford to take this job?”

That’s a loaded question!

It’s about timing.
It’s about cash flow.
It’s about current backlog strain.
Field supervision bandwidth.
Equipment, bonding, and overhead factor in too.

Most contractors look at a new opportunity and ask, “Is it profitable?”

That’s the wrong first question.

A job can look profitable on paper and still create a cash crunch.

Without cash flow forecasting and backlog planning, you’re guessing.

When you can’t confidently say, “Yes, we can take this and here’s why,” or “No, this isn’t the right move right now,” that’s when you’ve outgrown basic bookkeeping.

At $5M, you can (usually) still muscle through.
But at $20M+, that stops working.
            
The clear sign you’re ready for CFO-level planning?
 
When opportunity feels stressful instead of exciting.
 
Growth should feel controlled.

If every new job feels like a gamble, the financial system behind the business hasn’t caught up to the growth yet.

“We already have a great CPA.”
Here’s why that doesn’t matter:


A CPA is trained to look backward. 
A CFO in construction has to live 12-24 months ahead.

And those are completely different jobs.

Don’t get me wrong.
You need a good CPA.

But when you’re running a $10M–$70M construction company, the real risk isn’t last year’s tax return.

A brand new client recently told me, “Our CPA reviews everything monthly. We’re good.”

When we stepped in, here’s what we found:
1. No cash projections
2. No overhead allocation strategy
3. Backlog reported, but not stress-tested
4. No job cost forecasting beyond historical averages
5. Bonding capacity discussed once a year instead of managed proactively

These aren’t accounting problems.
These are operating system problems.

Their CPA wasn’t bad at their job.
They just weren’t built for that role.

Most CPAs haven’t worked in construction.

They haven’t sat in OAC meetings.
They haven’t worked through pay app timing.
They haven’t navigated bonding conversations.

They’re historians.
At $10M–$70M, you need more than a historian.

There’s nothing wrong with having a CPA.
We work alongside them all the time.

But if your “CFO” is only showing you what already happened, you don’t have a CFO.

You have a report card.

One thing that makes me nervous the second I see it?


Backlog and revenue are way up. 
…but cash is way down.

That combo is a flashing red light in a $10M–$70M construction company.

Because it usually means you “grew” by winning big jobs that came with
:➜ Slow payers
➜ Thin margins
➜ Bad billing terms
➜ Big upfront labor and material costs

So yes, the backlog looks great.

But what you actually won is a cash crunch with a demanding schedule.

This is how contractors end up saying things like, “We’re busier than we’ve ever been… but I feel broke.”

That’s what happens when you scale revenue faster than you scale cash discipline.

In our world, backlog isn’t a trophy.

Backlog is a liability until you know two things:

1. What it does to cash over the next 13 weeks
2. Whether you’re actually billing and collecting at the pace you’re building

If you’re running a $10M+ construction company and you’re feeling that “we’re growing, but I’m freaking out” tension…

You’re not crazy.
You’re seeing the right problem.

It’s fixable.
And we can help.

“If I already have a controller, why do I need a fCFO?”


Here’s the simplest way I can explain it.

Think about a hospital.

A hospital can have great nurses.
A great anesthesiologist.
A great support staff.

And all of those people are critical.

But if you need surgery…
You still need a surgeon.
Because it’s a different skill set.

That’s what happens inside a $10M–$70M construction company.

Most of the businesses we work with already have a bookkeeper.

They often have a controller.

Sometimes they even have a small finance team.

But they don’t have the CFO-level skill set required to do financial surgery.

And that CFO skill set isn’t something you learn in a weekend.

It’s built over years, on the job, in the industry.

So no, we’re not coming in to replace your team.

We’re coming in to do the part of the job your team was never trained to do so you can get the profit lift you’ve been looking for.

Michael King speaking on stage with the quote: If I already have a finance team, why do I need a fractional CFO? Founder, Civil CFO — Fractional CFO Firm for $10M–$70M Contractors.

Last day at ConExpo! 

Had a chance to have a coffee and a great convo with Cody Epp this morning. 

Anyone else I need to see before I leave this afternoon?

In the last 30 days, I’ve watched multiple $10M+ construction company owners make the same mistake. Almost all of them thought it was normal.

You’ve got 1 or 2 big clients sitting 60–90 days past due, and you’re not treating it like an emergency.

Because you tell yourself:
“They always pay.”
“It’s just part of construction.”

So your follow-up is light.
[Or non-existent.]

And at the exact same time…
You’re paying subs and vendors like clockwork.Because you’re “a good partner.”

So here’s what’s actually happening.

You’re running AP like you’re the premium client… while your AR is treated like it’s optional.

And it gets worse.

On more than one job, I saw projects that were 55% complete, but had only billed 45%.

Because the pay app didn’t go in on time.
Because approved change orders didn’t make it into the billing.
Because nobody wanted to “rock the boat” with the GC or the owner.

That 10% gap doesn’t sound like a big deal until you do the math.

On a $5M job, that’s $500,000 of cash you already earned… just sitting there twiddling it's thumbs.

While you live under the constant pressure of making payroll. 

If that’s you? 
You don’t have a profitability problem.
You have a billing + collections discipline problem.

If you’re running a $10M–$70M construction company and this feels familiar, DM me.

Most construction companies don’t lose money because of bad jobs.
They lose money because they wait too long to fix financial blind spots.


They just keep limping along with the same setup.

And they keep telling themselves it’s fine… until there’s a crisis.

Until bonding tightens up.
Until the line of credit is maxed.
Until payroll catches up with cash reserves.

That’s the part that drives us nuts.

Because most of this is fixable way earlier than people think.

There’s a point where you can’t scale further on your own.

If this post sounds familiar, you’re already there.


>> How can you tell when it’s time to delegate part of your business?

FIRED UP to attend the CONEXPO-CON/AGG conference next week. 

Who do I need to meet while I'm there?

A lot of civil contractors still think the housing market is “someone else’s problem.”

They assume it only impacts residential builders.
It doesn’t.

Housing is a massive economic engine. When it slows down, it hits everything downstream.

Less housing starts doesn’t just mean fewer homes.
 
It means fewer developments.
 
Fewer roads.
Fewer utilities.
Fewer site packages.
Fewer infrastructure projects tied to new development.
 
More competition for the same backlog.

And the bigger issue is that mortgage rates may stay in this range for years.

We may not see 3% mortgage rates again for a very long time.

A lot of growth over the last decade was built on cheap money.
It made expansion feel easy.
It made risk feel manageable.

Cheap money made “we’ll figure it out later” work longer than it probably should have.

If this higher-rate environment is the new normal, contractors are going to need a different strategy.

The ones who win won’t be the ones chasing volume.
 
They’ll be the ones who can operate profitably and predictably in a tighter market.
 
Because the market has changed.

So your strategy and systems have to change.

Can’t work when the ground is frozen?
Here’s the real issue with seasonal labor.

Payroll keeps running.
But cash isn’t coming in.

Most owners try to power through it.

“We’ll figure it out. We always do.”

I respect the heart behind that.
But that’s not a system.

The real problem usually shows up in the bid.
A lot of contractors price labor as if it’s a flexible cost.

“I need 10 guys for this job, so I’ll hire 10 guys.”
But that’s not how it works.

You’re carrying that labor year-round, which means a big portion of labor behaves like a fixed cost.

When you price it like it’s variable, margins get squeezed.

You think you’ll make 10%.
You end up with 3%.

Seasonality doesn’t just affect your schedule.
It affects your profit model.

If you don’t price it correctly, it will eat you alive.

Still bidding jobs like it’s 2005?


We started working with a roofing contractor on the east coast.

And they were still bidding jobs using the same spreadsheet the owner got from his dad.

…20 years ago.

That spreadsheet wasn’t just old.

It was built on assumptions that were true in 2005.

And to make it worse?

There were formula errors inside it.

So they weren’t just using outdated assumptions.
They were using math that didn’t math!

This is one of the most dangerous places a contractor can be.

Because you can’t “execute your way out” of a bad bid.

During onboarding, our team rebuilt the model.

We corrected assumptions.
We corrected the formulas.
         
Just fixing the model moved their projected net margin from about 4% to nearly 7%.   

That’s roughly $1.2M a year in profit.

If you’re a $10M–$70M contractor and you’re still bidding off an old spreadsheet that “worked for years”…

That’s a risk, not a strategy.

Accountant to the wine industry | Podcast host | NBBJ 40 under 40

THE Accountant to the Wine Industry!

With over 19 years of experience in accounting, I have spent the last 11+ years specializing in helping wineries and wine businesses optimize their financial operations to make better business decisions! As the founder of Protea Financial, an accounting business founded in March 2014, my mission is to provide better accounting for everyone. And we strive to do that every single day for each of our clients!

I achieve this by sharing easily digestible advice to help you understand accounting and its fundamental principles. As a small business owner, I know firsthand how many hats you must wear. Bookkeeping and accounting shouldn't be one of them. Let's get you the reliable and consistent help you need!

Professional Background

I hold a Post Graduate Degree in Accounting and am a Chartered Accountant (South Africa). My career includes roles at large private companies and 4 years at a Big 4 accounting firm, KPMG, where I gained extensive experience across various sectors including manufacturing and food and beverage.

Discover Protea Financial

If you haven't heard of Protea Financial, check us out! We're unique and on a mission to revolutionize the outsourced accounting environment. We focus on delivering high-quality, timely information. We believe great accounting should be affordable and that you should have access to the best talent, no matter where they are in the world. We've been working remotely since 2014, bringing our expertise to clients wherever they are.

Beyond Accounting

I'm also a passionate advocate for knowledge sharing, hosting two podcasts, Protea Weekly and Protea Conversations. In 2024, I was honored as a North Bay Business Journal 40 under 40 recipient. Beyond my professional life, I am a husband and father to two amazing boys. I have a passion for soccer and volunteer as a board member and coach at our city soccer club. Additionally, I serve as an Assistance Group Leader at Provisors.

Always, Be kind!

Check out my other Social media:
X - https://x.com/zane_stevens_
Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/the_operational_accountant/

Check out my podcast:
https://rss.com/podcasts/proteaconversations/

Follow Protea Financial on Social media:
Learn more by visiting us on these platforms:
Website - https://proteafinancial.com/blog/
LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/company/1083...
YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCwo27_BLQESQand0WjBEiig

Zane Stevens CA (SA)

I’m tired!

But I still have a smile on my face!

I landed in Heathrow from SFO as I completed my first leg of three for my trip to see our South African team.

I am excited for a few days of connecting with all the amazing people who help Protea Financial thrive on a daily basis! With all their hardworking and insight we are able to add value to our clients and ensure they receive the service and information they need to be successful!

Now to try find some decent coffee before my flight to Johannesburg.

Have a great Friday!

I help wineries make better decisions in pursuit of their dreams.

What a great day!

After starting the week talking to the management team it was great to spend time with the whole team in office today!

It was great to see those who have been around for a very long time as well as get to meet some of the newer team members for the first time.

Though these trips can be exhausting i always walk away from them with excitement, energy, and happiness that our clients are in great hands.

Two days down, one and a half to go!

#accountingandaccountants

We are back!!!

And with a massive bang!

I am so excited to share my conversation with Randy Crabtree with all of you!

Randy is incredible! And I am so thankful to have him as a part of my community!

And honestly, the whole accounting community should be thankful to incredible people like Randy! He is making a difference each day!

And some of the best advice he shared during our conversation 👇 
Passion changes everything.

Randy shared a simple but powerful idea: find the intersection of your passions and your skills, and lean into it. 

That is where fulfillment lives. That is where impact happens. 

Too often in accounting, and in business more broadly, we follow paths because they feel safe, expected, or logical. It is what we should do. But Randy’s journey reminds us that the most meaningful careers are built intentionally, not accidentally.

When you do work that aligns with who you are, everything changes. You bring more energy. You create more value. And you enjoy the process along the way.

This short clip captures one of the most important messages from our full conversation.

If you are in the accounting profession or leading a team, this conversation is worth listening to.

#accountingandaccountants #leadership #proteaconversations

Is your firm future-ready?

That was the question for a webinar I was a part of yesterday.

And the short answer is possibly.

Especially if you have a well-defined vision, understand what you do and whom you do it for, have great people around you who are aligned with your vision, and have great tech partners.

I could talk about these topics for a very long time, and probably will at some time, but I wanted to share some of our key tech partners for Protea.

Internally, we use:
Practice management - Karbon
GL - QuickBooks Online
Billing - Ignition
Payroll - Gusto
Performance Management - 15Five
File Management - Dropbox
Knowledge Management - Guru
Productivity and communication - Microsoft 365 and Teams
AI - ChatGPT and Microsoft Copilot
Meeting Intelligence - Ping Assistant
Password Management - RoboForm Password Manager

We love this stack!

We have a lot of great partners and work with them to ensure we are productive and effective, and, most importantly, add value to our clients.

We continue to strive to be future-ready each and every day!

Is your firm future-ready?

#accountingandaccountants

Accounting tip of the day.

Good tech makes a difference.

Join me, Geni Whitehouse, Seth Fineberg, and the team of Ace Cloud Hosting as we discuss how to Future Ready your accounting practice by selecting a tech stack that matters.

#accountingandaccountants #accounting #smallbusiness #smallbusinessowner 

PS - If you're a winery looking to build an accounting team, Protea Financial can cover all aspects! We will provide you with rockstar bookkeeping and all the fancy extras!

Accounting tip of the day. 

One for/to help my tax friends.

Tax season is a major grind. I wish this were not true, but even for the most progressive of firms, it is still a difficult time of the year.

Here's what you can do to help your tax pro: 
- Be organized and send all documents at once
- Send documents early, and review and sign ASAP
- Complete their tax questionnaire/organizer if they have one (and I hope they do)
- Pay quickly (everyone loves this!)
- Don't bombard them with check-ins; they will get to you
- Remember, extensions are okay
- Be nice to them, kindness goes a long way

#accountingandaccountants #accounting #smallbusiness #smallbusinessowner 

This advice was adjusted from a Tweet on X by @patrickdichter 

PS - If you're a winery looking to build an accounting team, Protea Financial can cover all aspects! We will provide you with rockstar bookkeeping and all the fancy extras!

Hey accounting friends

Quick question for all of you.

What payroll companies are we all loving at the moment?

#accountingandaccountants #accounting

taplio

The Battle

Michael King

Zane Stevens CA (SA)

Followers

Posts

Engagements

Likes

Performance ScoreMichael King's LinkedIn Performance

Performance ScoreZane Stevens CA (SA)'s LinkedIn Performance

Ready to grow your LinkedIn presence?

taplio

The Battle

Michael King

Zane Stevens CA (SA)

Followers

Posts

Engagements

Likes

Performance Score.css-goub6s{font-size:var(--chakra-fontSizes-md);font-weight:500;color:var(--chakra-colors-gray-600);display:block;margin-top:var(--chakra-space-1);}Michael King's LinkedIn Performance

Performance ScoreZane Stevens CA (SA)'s LinkedIn Performance

Ready to grow your LinkedIn presence?

Performance ScoreMichael King's LinkedIn Performance