Guides & Resources

Construction finance,
in plain English.

The concepts that decide whether your business makes money — WIP, billing position, job costing, cash flow — explained the way we'd explain them across the table. No jargon, no fluff, real numbers.

WIP & Job Costing
What Is a WIP Schedule?
The single most important financial document in a contractor's business — what it shows, how to read it, why your bank keeps asking for one, and a worked example.
6 min readRead →
Billing & Cash Flow
Over-Billing vs. Under-Billing, Explained
One of them feels great and hides a trap. The other quietly drains your bank account. How to tell which one is hurting you — and what to do about each.
7 min readRead →
Billing & Cash Flow
Why Profitable Contractors Run Out of Cash
The six ways construction eats your bank account while the P&L says you're winning — with the real numbers on how much cash a "profitable" job demands.
8 min readRead →
WIP & Job Costing
Markup vs. Margin: Why 20% Markup Isn't 20% Profit
The most expensive percentage confusion in construction. The math, a conversion table, and what your markup actually has to cover before any of it is profit.
5 min readRead →
Billing & Cash Flow
Retainage: The Revenue You Can't Spend Yet
5–10% of every invoice, held until closeout — often your entire profit on the job. How to book it, track it, plan around it, and actually collect it.
6 min readRead →
Billing & Cash Flow
AIA Progress Billing, Explained
The G702, the G703, and the schedule of values in plain English — plus the six pay-app mistakes that delay your cash 30 days at a time.
7 min readRead →
Billing & Cash Flow
The 13-Week Cash Flow Forecast
Your bank balance tells you where you are; this tells you where you'll be. What goes in it, a worked example, and how to keep it honest week after week.
6 min readRead →
Banking & Bonding
Cash Basis vs. Percentage-of-Completion
Why cash-basis books lie to contractors, what POC accounting actually does, and when your bank, surety, or own sanity forces the switch.
7 min readRead →
Banking & Bonding
What Your Bonding Agent Sees in Your Financials
Bonding capacity is calculated, not negotiated — from working capital, equity, and WIP quality. How sureties read your statements, and how to grow capacity on purpose.
7 min readRead →
Media · Press
Quoted in Adaptive's Series B Announcement
Adaptive raised a $30M Series B led by Tidemark to bring agentic accounting to construction. Jared was quoted in the release on how its Project Accounting Agents free our team to focus on what the numbers mean for clients.
Sep 17, 2026Read →
Media · Podcast
Jared on Builders, Budgets & Beers
Our founder joins Adaptive's construction finance podcast (Ep. 94) to talk about how builders get control of their numbers — real overhead, cash flow vs. profit, and fixing one thing at a time.
Watch / ListenEpisode →
Media · Podcast
Jared on the Brad Leavitt Podcast
Jared joins Brad Leavitt of AFT Construction (Ep. 230) to break down understanding construction finances — cleaning up the accounting process, integrating your software stack, and what a fractional CFO does for a builder.
Watch / ListenEpisode →
Compliance & Audits
How to Survive a Workers' Comp Audit
What the premium auditor checks, why one missing sub certificate can cost thousands, and the records that turn the audit into a one-hour formality.
7 min readRead →

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