General Contractors
You run a $10M+ operation. Your financial reporting should reflect that.
General contractors manage dozens of active jobs, sub schedules, bonding requirements, and retainage holds simultaneously. Northstar gives you real-time job-level visibility so you can bid smarter, protect margins, and keep your surety confident.
Running a GC means managing a portfolio of financial risk. Most never see it clearly.
My WIP schedule is always a month behind.
Your project managers update costs when they remember to, and your bookkeeper reconciles weeks later. By the time you see the WIP, the numbers are stale and your surety is asking questions you cannot answer quickly.
Bonding capacity is capped by my financials, not my work.
Your surety wants quarterly WIP schedules, backlog reports, and CPA-quality statements. Producing them is a scramble every time, and the gaps in reporting keep your bonding limits lower than your capabilities deserve.
Change orders erode margin and nobody catches it in time.
Jobs start at 15% margin and close at 5%. Without real-time tracking of approved, pending, and disputed change orders against the original estimate, margin erosion stays invisible until the job closes out.
Retainage and slow draws are strangling my cash flow.
You are financing 10% retainage on every active job while progress billings lag actual costs by 30 to 60 days. One slow-paying owner can put your entire sub payment schedule at risk.
What your finance team looks like with Northstar.
Your dedicated finance pod handles WIP schedules, percentage-of-completion accounting, AIA billing reconciliation, and bonding packages because that is all they do.
Monthly close with job-level P&L
Books closed by the 15th with revenue, costs, and margin broken out by job. You see which projects are making money while there is still time to course-correct.
WIP reporting and cost-to-complete analysis
A monthly WIP schedule showing costs to complete, billings to date, and over/under billing position on every active project, formatted to your surety's requirements.
AIA billing and draw management
We manage G702/G703 preparation, track retainage by contract, and reconcile draws against actual costs so nothing slips through.
Bonding-ready financial packages
Quarterly financial statements, WIP schedules, backlog reports, and aging summaries packaged to your surety's exact specifications.
Change order tracking and margin analysis
Every CO is captured, priced, and tracked against the original estimate with real-time visibility into approved, pending, and disputed amounts.
Cash flow forecasting with retainage modeling
Rolling 13-week forecasts that factor in retainage release dates, draw schedules, sub payment terms, and materials procurement timing.
Subcontractor cost management
Sub invoices tracked against committed costs and lien waivers, with automatic flags when a sub's billing exceeds their contract value.
Equipment and fleet cost allocation
Equipment costs tracked by asset and allocated to jobs, with buy/lease/rent analysis based on actual utilization rates.
Tax strategy for GCs
Construction-specific planning including accounting method elections, completed-contract vs. percentage-of-completion analysis, look-back calculations, and R&D credits.
Growth and capacity planning
Modeling the financial impact of taking on larger jobs, adding PMs, expanding your bonding program, or entering new project types.
What this looks like in practice.
The Situation
A $14M commercial GC was managing 16 active jobs with no real-time WIP visibility. Their surety had flagged reporting quality concerns and was considering a capacity reduction at the next renewal.
What We Did
We deployed a construction finance pod, rebuilt the chart of accounts around job-level tracking, and delivered the first clean WIP package within 60 days. We also uncovered a $520K over-billing adjustment across four jobs that would have surfaced as a major audit issue.
The Result
The surety renewed at full capacity and approved a 20% increase after the second quarterly package. Job-level reporting revealed two underperforming PMs, leading to process changes that improved portfolio margins by 3.5 points within two quarters.
We went from producing our bonding package in a panic every quarter to having it ready weeks early. Our surety increased our capacity for the first time in three years, and we finally know which jobs are actually making money.
Construction Company Owner
Commercial General Contractor
Resources for general contractors.
The GC's Guide to WIP Reporting
How to read a WIP schedule and why your bonding company evaluates it before anything else.
ReadIs Your GC Business Bonding-Ready?
The financial documents, metrics, and reporting cadence your surety expects before setting capacity.
ReadWhy Your Jobs Look Profitable But Your Bank Account Disagrees
Three common causes of the gap between job profitability and actual cash flow in contracting.
ReadConstruction Cash Flow Forecasting Tool
Model cash flow across active jobs with retainage, draw schedules, and sub payment timing.
Try ItTake the First Step
Let's talk about your GC operation.
Every engagement starts with a conversation about your project portfolio, bonding requirements, and biggest financial blind spots. If we are the right fit, we will show you exactly what your pod looks like.
Or call us directly: 888.999.0280
Schedule a Construction Finance Consultation
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