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Profit Recovery · General Contractor

10% of every contract you complete is locked in retainage. Another 6% was authorized verbally and never billed.

On $3M in revenue, that's of earned money sitting outside your account. The fix is contract language and process, not more revenue.

Where completed revenue actually goes

Collected on Completion
Locked in Retainage
Disputed / Written Off

Your Cash Locked Up Right Now

This money is already earned. It's just sitting in your clients' accounts.

Locked in Retainage (10%)

$300,000

Earned. Completed. Not in your account.

Unbilled Change Orders (avg 6%)

$180,000

Authorized verbally. Never billed.

The Change Order Billing Funnel

For every 100 verbal scope changes on your jobs, fewer than 30 actually get billed. Each step in the process that's missing is a collection point that's open and draining.

"72% of authorized scope changes are done as free work. The fix is one page and a foreman script, not a difficult conversation."

Of every 100 verbal scope changes made on your jobs:

0%25%50%75%100%Verbal RequestWritten toClientSignedAuthorizationActually Billed

GC Industry Benchmarks

MetricMost GC BusinessesStrong PerformersWhere We Help
Net Profit Margin3 to 8%10 to 18%Retainage velocity and change order capture
Change Orders Actually Billed25 to 35%90 to 95%One-page CO form + foreman protocol
Retainage Release Timeline90 to 180 days30 to 45 daysPunch list protocol and release follow-up sequence
Bonding CapacityLimited by financials2x via job costingPer-project P&L documentation for bonding agents

What We Find Inside GC Businesses

Project & Sub Management

Managing 5 to 10 subs with no unified communication
Blamed for sub failures even when not at fault
Scope creep absorbed silently on every project
Bid bonds and insurance renewals create cash gaps
Bonding capacity limits ability to bid larger jobs
Retainage held 60 to 90 days after completion

Estimating & Contracts

Change orders verbal, clients deny them later
Fixed-bid jobs with no escalation clause for materials
Pre-construction scope not locked before breaking ground
Blueprint errors discovered mid-build, dispute over who pays
No RFI process, verbal approvals don't hold up
Value engineering requests reduce scope without reducing cost

Cash Flow & Growth

Cannot bond larger jobs without reviewed financials
Line of credit maxed to float payroll between draws
No financial reporting to show lenders or bonding agents
Owner is the only estimator, growth bottlenecked
Overhead not allocated per project, true job cost unknown
Retainage disputes drag for months after completion

Three Things We Install in Every GC Engagement

01

Change Order Documentation System

One-page change order template, a field protocol for the foreman to capture scope changes in real time, and a client communication script that makes authorization feel routine. Goal: 95%+ of scope changes documented and signed before work begins.

↗ Every change order captured and billed
02

Retainage Release Process

We define project completion criteria in the contract, build a punch list protocol, and create a retainage release follow-up sequence starting 30 days after completion. Most businesses cut retainage collection time by 30 to 45 days and unlock 6 figures in cash within the first 90 days.

↗ Retainage collected sooner
03

Job Costing for Bonding Capacity

We build a job costing framework that produces per-project profitability data, exactly what bonding companies need to increase limits. Documented job-level profitability for 24 months can typically double bonding capacity without adding revenue.

↗ Clean job cost data is what bonding agents want to see

Request a Diagnostic Call

30 minutes. We'll tell you exactly where your retainage and change order leaks are.

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