Build Your Own CFO is our way to help answer the questions every contractor has concerning the financial health of their business and how to manage it.
How It All Began
Build Your Own CFO started way back in 2012 as a way to solve a problem involving time and space. Two clients at opposite ends of the state asked the same question. “Can you come and train me on the rules for construction sales tax for a full day?” Based on our schedule and their location, we couldn’t get to them both in the time they needed. Now what?!
I like to help people and don’t want clients to get stuck because of our schedule. As necessity is the mother of invention, I decided technology was the way to tackle this problem. Those of you who know me well know what a commitment anything involving technology is but after some deliberation I remembered there was such a thing as screencasting. So, I had an idea but I didn’t know how or where to look to create a screencast. Ultimately, I persevered and ended up creating a short screencast to answer both of their questions. The next problem was how to get it to them……
Long story short, with Shane’s help both clients got the sales tax video that very day! After watching the video one client said she knew what to do next and the second client had just 1 follow up question. Pretty good for the first try!
And that started our brains working on a series of questions…..
- What if we can help people that we can’t physically reach?
- What if we can condense the answers into small, easy to follow instructions that gave them the steps they needed and cut out all the fluff?
- Can we create a video so they can watch, pause and replay to make sure they understand the topic?
- What if we make it affordable so every contractor who wants help with the finance side of the business can get it?
And The Result Is…
Shane and I have been making videos on construction finance and business operations topics. Our kids are in some. The funny/embarrassing parts that most people would edit out are in others. We are CPAs for heaven’s sake! We just want to deliver the answer to the question in the fastest, most concise, most COST-EFFECTIVE way possible.
Now six years into the journey, many screencasts, examples, spreadsheets and videos have been made. These resources are now on the membership site and we’re constantly adding more content each month as way to help business owners work on their business, not just in it.
We found that the old adage is true; if you teach a person to fish (or teach a person to convert their construction business to percent complete accounting using a work-in-progress schedule (an even older adage)), the business starts to increase profits, the owners feel in control and the business runs more effectively.
After spending nearly all our lives in and around the construction industry, we’ve developed a niche of experience and knowledge that allows us to help contractors understand the financial side of their business. Now we have a way to deliver that help to more of you and we’re calling it Build Your Own CFO. Our goal is to use our experience as contractor business owners, CFOs and CPAs to help owners and their teams improve the quality of their information, streamline their processes and gain better visibility into their day-to-day operations. The results are increased profit, better control and less stress for everyone.
If you’re interested in learning more, here you go.
Have a great day!
Melissa