You closed a $400K job. Materials and subs ran $280K. That leaves $120K — looks like profit. But when you add the real labor burden (wages, payroll taxes, workers comp, benefits) and allocate your monthly overhead, that number can collapse fast. Most contractors don’t find out until their CPA shows them the year-end P&L.

That’s not a cash flow problem. That’s a job costing problem.

The average California contractor nets 3–7%. The top 25% hit 12–22%. Same market. Same competition. The difference is they track every job down to the phase level — real burdened labor, allocated overhead, change orders as separate line items. They run weekly variance reports. They know which jobs made money before the next bid goes out.

If you’re running jobs over $500K and you don’t know your real margin per project, the new Concrete Numbers episode breaks down the exact six-step framework. It’s in the description.

Book a strategy call: https://accountingsolutionsllp.com/appointment/

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PHOTOROOM IMAGE PROMPTS (Low Poly 3D — Photoroom.com only)
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Image 1 (The Disappearing Profit):
A construction contractor sitting at a desk surrounded by job cost reports and invoices with a stressed expression, faceted crystalline polygons, clean professional low poly 3D style, warm amber and charcoal tones.

Image 2 (Job Site vs. The Numbers):
A split view of a construction job site on one side and a financial spreadsheet with job cost columns on the other side, faceted crystalline polygons, clean professional low poly 3D style, cool blue-grey and earth tone accents.

Image 3 (Labor Burden Reality):
A construction foreman reviewing a payroll breakdown on a clipboard next to workers framing a building, faceted crystalline polygons, clean professional low poly 3D style, muted green and grey tones.

Image 4 (The Change Order Leak):
A construction project manager holding a change order document on a job site with an uncompleted structure in the background, faceted crystalline polygons, clean professional low poly 3D style, warm orange and steel blue accents.

NOTE: Browser access to Photoroom is not available in this session. George — please generate the four images above at https://app.photoroom.com (Create any image → Style → Low Poly 3D) and insert them into this document or the episode folder. Image filenames: E169_LI_Image_1.png through E169_LI_Image_4.png.

Disclaimer: This content is provided for educational purposes only and is not legal, tax, accounting, or financial advice. Every situation is unique, so consult your own attorney, CPA, or financial advisor before making decisions based on this information.