Before you sign a six-figure ERP
Should a $20M contractor leave QuickBooks for an ERP? Sometimes, but less often than the sales pitch says. Here are the questions to ask before you sign, and what you can add on top of QuickBooks first.
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Why contractors start looking
At $15M or $20M, QuickBooks starts to feel small. The WIP takes too long, job cost lives in three spreadsheets, and the surety asks for more each year. Someone says you've outgrown it, and a sales rep offers a system built for construction.
Sometimes that's right. More often the problem is the routine and the reports, not the accounting system. QuickBooks Online can keep the books for a company at this size. What it doesn't do alone is job cost against the estimate, a PM forecast, a WIP that ties and a cash forecast, and those can be added on top without replacing anything.
Questions to ask any ERP seller
Ask these in writing and get the answers in the contract. A good seller will answer plainly. A seller who goes vague on the first three is telling you something.
Then ask your own team the last two. If your controller can't say what's needed on day one, the project will pick the list for you. That list will be long, and you'll pay for it.
- How long does implementation take, from signing to your first close in the new system?
- Who does the migration, the seller, a partner or your staff, and who pays when it takes longer than quoted?
- What happens to your history? Do you get every job, every year, or a summary?
- What does year one cost in total, including licenses, implementation, training, the partner's hours and your staff's time?
- What do you actually need on day one, and what can wait until after the first full close?
- What happens to your month end close during the switch, and who covers the surety reporting?
When an ERP is the right call
Some contractors need one. Several legal entities that need one consolidated report across them call for an ERP built for that. A bank, surety or large owner that requires SOC 2 or single sign on makes it a requirement and not a preference. And a company with payroll, fleet, inventory and fabrication in one set of books and dozens of users may fit a full system better.
CFOS for QuickBooks doesn't have SOC 2, single sign on or one login that rolls up several companies into one report yet. If you need those on day one, we're not the answer today, and we'd rather say so. If you don't need them, you may not need to leave QuickBooks.
What you can add on top of QuickBooks
CFOS for QuickBooks works on top of QuickBooks Online. It reads jobs, cost codes, vendors, bills, POs and invoices from QuickBooks and writes invoices back, so QuickBooks keeps the books and you keep your history. There's no migration. Job cost by cost code against the budget is updated every hour.
On top of that you get month end cost to complete entered by the PM and approved by the controller, a WIP schedule with over and under billing, a master WIP, a 13 week cash forecast and a CEO Report graded against the industry average and the CFOS target. Billing with G702 and G703 pay apps, dailies, T&M tickets, time entry and bill capture are included too, and every module is in the price. You add none of it by switching accounting systems.
It works with QuickBooks Online only, not QuickBooks Desktop. If you're on Desktop, that's a separate conversation about moving to Online first. Pricing at your size is on the pricing page, and from $15M it's quoted for the company.
| Revenue | Overhead | Gross margin | Net profit, before taxes |
|---|---|---|---|
| $10M to $25M | 13.1% average 12.1% CFOS target | 24.6% average 27.1% CFOS target | 11.5% average 15% CFOS target |
| $25M to $50M | 12.1% average | 25.7% average | 13.7% average |
Gross margin and overhead come from figures CFMA, Jones Maresca and other sources publish by trade and size. Net profit is computed, not surveyed: net profit = gross margin minus overhead. Nothing comes out for taxes, interest or other income and expense, so it is a before tax figure, on the same basis as CFMA's net income before taxes.
CFMA's 2025 medians are 7.1 percent before interest and taxes and 6.7 percent net income before taxes. Gross margin minus overhead leaves out interest and other income and expense, so a figure here can come in a little above or below a reported net income on the same business.
Above the $10M to $25M band the gross margin and overhead rows are a modeled extension of the same curves. They have not been reconciled against the licensed CFMA Benchmarker, so read those bands as a model and not as a survey result.
Why the numbers should decide
The table above shows published all-trade averages for the $10M to $25M and $25M to $50M bands, with net profit before taxes. Overhead is one of the columns, and an ERP adds to overhead through licenses, partner hours and staff time. A system that costs more than the improvement it brings isn't an upgrade.
Compare what a switch costs in year one against what a better WIP, a PM forecast and a cash forecast would be worth. If you can't say how the ERP changes margin, have another conversation before you sign. Write the number down first.
At $20M, a year of lost focus on an implementation costs more than the license. Make sure the problem you're solving needs a new accounting system. Often it needs a better routine.
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We email you when CFOS for QuickBooks opens, plus a few updates before then. Your address stays with Run On CFOS. One click unsubscribes.
30 days free, a 90-day money-back guarantee, and cancel anytime. It opens January 2027. We email you the day it opens.
What people ask
Should a $20M contractor leave QuickBooks for an ERP?
Not by default. If your problems are a slow WIP, no PM forecasts and no cash forecast, those can be added on top of QuickBooks Online. If you need multi-entity consolidation, SOC 2 or single sign on, an ERP may be the right call.
What should the controller ask an ERP seller first?
Ask how long implementation takes, who does the data migration, what happens to your history and what year one costs in total. Get the answers in the contract. Then ask what the owner and the PMs will do differently on day one.
What happens to our history if we switch?
It depends on the seller and the contract. Some bring over every job and every year, and some bring a summary and leave the detail in the old system. Your surety and your tax preparer may need the detail, so ask before you sign.
Does CFOS have SOC 2 or single sign on?
Not yet. CFOS also doesn't roll several companies up into one report with one login. If a bank, surety or owner requires those from you today, plan around that.
Can the owner stay on QuickBooks and still get a WIP the surety accepts?
Yes, as long as the WIP ties to the financials and the PMs' cost to complete is approved. CFOS reads job cost from QuickBooks Online and builds the WIP from it. Your surety cares about the tie, not the system.
- Job costing and WIP for contractors doing $10M to $50M
- For the controller who owns the WIP
- Job costing software that runs on QuickBooks
- Know your costs
- One price. Every module. Priced by your revenue.
- You haven't outgrown QuickBooks. You've outgrown QuickBooks alone.
- Use all of it, or just the part you need
QuickBooks is a trademark of Intuit Inc. Run On CFOS isn't affiliated with Intuit.