Franklin, Tennessee, Franklin, TN | Contract / Fractional | Initial 3–6 Month Engagement
The Situation
We are 3 related, founder-owned construction and specialty-trade companies in Middle Tennessee covering general construction, HVAC, electrical, and plumbing.
Combined annual revenue is currently approximately $8M–$9M . The businesses have more than 20 years of operating history, were built without outside capital, and actively perform both project and service work.
The operating companies grew faster than the financial infrastructure behind them.
We recently hired our first full-time internal accountant. We are now looking for an experienced construction Controller to work directly with her, the founder, and the EVP/COO to stabilize the accounting, finish building the financial function, and transfer the knowledge internally.
This is not a conventional monthly bookkeeping engagement.
There is real cleanup and reconstruction involved.
Current Condition
Before 2026, the companies did not operate through QuickBooks or another complete accounting platform.
Historical accounting and job-cost information exists across Excel files, bank activity, payroll records, contracts, invoices, emails, paper records, and other disconnected sources.
Some historical job-cost files combine activity from multiple entities. Some records may be incomplete or incorrectly classified. Historical budgets may need to be reconstructed from available project information.
We implemented Premier Construction Software by Jonas in 2026, but the implementation remains incomplete.
Current issues include:
Bank and credit-card reconciliations behind
Historical data not fully loaded or validated
Incomplete GL and journal-entry processes
Intercompany accounting not properly established
No dependable monthly close
Incomplete job-cost and budget structure
No reliable WIP / percentage-of-completion process
Limited cash forecasting and management reporting
Payroll and labor allocation requiring review
No established accounting policies or documented procedures
Related-party, equipment, and entity-allocation questions requiring proper treatment
Historical information that must be separated between 3 legal entities
Our surety has already supported $7M+ of bonded work and has requested stronger construction financial reporting and coordination with a construction-experienced CPA.
What We Need You To Do
The initial objective is to diagnose, stabilize, build, and transfer .
1. Assess and Triage
Review all 3 entities and determine:
What is accurate
What is incomplete
What is incorrectly structured
What can reasonably be reconstructed
What should be corrected historically
What should instead be handled through verified beginning balances
What needs immediate attention versus what can wait
Whether the existing Premier implementation should be completed, partially rebuilt, or restarted
We want an evidence-based plan, not cleanup for the sake of cleanup.
2. Stabilize Current Accounting
Establish a reliable accounting cycle including:
General ledger structure
Journal entries
Bank and credit-card reconciliations
AP / AR and billing
Cash receipts
Intercompany accounting and eliminations
Payroll integration and labor allocation
Balance-sheet reconciliations
Month-end close
Stand-alone financials by entity
Combined management reporting
3. Build the Construction Accounting
Establish the construction-specific financial discipline we currently lack:
Job costing
Cost-code structure
Budget-to-actual reporting
WIP schedules
Percentage-of-completion accounting
Over / under billing
Retainage
Pay applications
Change-order tracking
Job-level margin reporting
Margin fade / gain visibility
Labor burden and equipment-cost allocation
Backlog and project financial reporting
4. Stabilize Premier
Assess and drive Premier Construction Software by Jonas toward becoming the actual accounting and job-cost system of record.
This includes working with our internal accountant and Premier support where appropriate to determine what should be repaired, rebuilt, uploaded, or redesigned.
Direct Premier experience is highly desirable but strong construction accounting and ERP implementation experience is more important than knowing one software package .
5. Build Financial Visibility
Help establish:
Reliable monthly financial statements
13-week cash forecasting
AP / AR aging visibility
Job profitability reporting
WIP reporting
Budget versus actual
Cash requirements
Basic accounting and financial KPIs
Reporting useful to ownership, banks, bonding companies, and outside CPAs
6. Develop Our Internal Accountant
This is critical.
We have already hired a full-time internal accountant.
We want the fractional Controller to:
Work directly with her
Assign and review accounting work
Teach construction accounting using our actual projects
Review and correct her work
Turn recurring corrections into documented procedures
Help her develop judgment, not merely follow checklists
Gradually transfer the recurring accounting function internally
Help determine what she should own as her capabilities grow
The objective is not permanent dependency on a fractional Controller .
We want heavier involvement initially, followed by decreasing involvement as the accounting function becomes reliable and our internal accountant becomes capable of maintaining it.
Expected Engagement Structure
We are open to the right structure, but envision something generally like:
First 30 Days: Heavy assessment, triage, cleanup, accounting design, and training.
Months 2–3: Implementation, reconstruction, Premier work, construction accounting, close development, reporting, and significant supervision of the internal accountant.
Months 4–6: Reduced involvement focused increasingly on review, technical accounting, WIP, close oversight, training, forecasting, and exceptions.
Thereafter: Potential narrow monthly Controller oversight if warranted.
We are open to fixed-fee, hourly, or phased pricing, but proposals should clearly identify expected hours, onsite commitment, deliverables, exclusions, and any not-to-exceed amount.
On-Site Expectations
This is not intended to be completely remote , particularly during the initial phases.
Our records, people, projects, and operating knowledge are in Franklin. We believe meaningful onsite time will be necessary early in the engagement to understand the companies properly.
Once the foundation is established, we are open to a larger portion of the work being performed remotely. Required experience:
• Significant hands-on construction accounting experience at Controller level • US GAAP and accrual accounting • Multi-entity accounting and intercompany transactions/eliminations • Month-end close and balance-sheet reconciliations • Job costing and cost-code structure • WIP schedules and percentage-of-completion accounting • Over/under billing, retainage, pay applications, and change orders • Budget-to-actual and job-margin reporting • Cash forecasting and management reporting • Construction ERP implementation, cleanup, or conversion experience • Ability to assess incomplete historical records and determine a practical reconstruction strategy • Ability to supervise, review, and train an internal Staff Accountant • Ability to communicate directly with ownership and identify issues requiring a CPA, attorney, payroll provider, insurance professional, or other specialist
Strong preference for experience with self-performing GC, HVAC, electrical, plumbing, mechanical, or specialty-trade contractors.
Premier Construction Software by Jonas experience is highly preferred, but strong construction Controller and ERP experience is more important than familiarity with one software package.
CCIFP, CPA, CMA, or similar credentials are preferred but not required.
Applicants should be prepared to provide examples of comparable engagements, 1-2 professional references, proposed availability, onsite capacity, and pricing structure. Hourly, fixed-fee, phased, and not-to-exceed proposals will be considered. Please include expected weekly hours, onsite commitment, initial project duration, total estimated cost, and ongoing monthly cost if continued oversight is recommended.