The gift that isn't another tool
He already has a jacket, a cooler and a gift card he won't use. What he doesn't have is a straight answer on whether the business is actually working. Pick how you know him and get the page written for that.
Who are you buying for?
Buying for more than a few people? Orders of 10 or more copies run $14.99 to $19.99 each, depending on quantity. See bulk pricing
The gift a contractor can't ask for
Ask an owner how business is and he'll say busy. Busy and profitable aren't the same answer, and most owners have only ever gotten the tools to measure the first one. CONTROL: C.F.O.S. Construction Financial Operating System is 8 steps and six working templates that answer the second question instead, written by a master electrician who ran the jobs before he ran the numbers, not a CPA explaining accounting to a room that already knows it.
Read what's actually in it on the book page, or see the full case for buying it for somebody else on who it's for, and who it isn't.
What a contractor said about it
Contracting isn't easy, and in my early days I made it much harder than it needed to be. But Josh's practical approach—and his proven track record—put simple but powerful concepts in the hands of construction owners. Concepts that, if put in place, will dramatically change the arc of your enterprise—and your life. As I read this book, I thought out loud (and also asked Josh): where were you in the mid-90s when I was struggling to get off the ground and gain altitude?!?! Reading this book and following its concepts is almost guaranteed to make you a more capable contractor.
Most contractors don't have a money problem. They have a visibility problem. Josh has built the rare book that fixes it the right way: not with a pep talk, but with a system. Eight steps, one monthly cadence, and a set of numbers you can actually hold your business to. Every chapter earns its place with a real contractor and a real result. If you want control and clarity over where your money goes, read this and then do what it says. The process works. Whether you show up for it is the only variable left.
What gift-buyers ask
Is a book about construction accounting actually a good gift?
For the right person, yes, and it isn't close. Most gifts for somebody who owns a construction company are for the part of him that swings a hammer: a jacket, a cooler, a gift card to the tool store. Those are fine and they miss the part of the job that's actually keeping him up, which is the money. He can't tell you he wants help with that, because most owners can't say what's wrong, only that something is. This book says what's wrong, in 8 steps, and gives him the templates to fix it.
Will he think I’m saying his business is struggling?
No, and the book itself says so on the back cover: it's for an owner who's already busy, not one who's failing. Being busy and being profitable are two different questions, and most owners have only ever answered the first one. Giving this says you noticed he works hard, not that you think he's bad at his job.
Does it work for Christmas, a birthday, or Father’s Day?
All three, and for the same reason each time: it's useful the day it's opened, not just symbolic. CONTROL: C.F.O.S. Construction Financial Operating System is out now, so a Christmas order this year is the first holiday it's been available for.
What if I don’t know which page is for me?
Pick the relationship, not the profession. Family gets the dad or husband page, or the successor page if they're taking the company over. If you own a company yourself, there's one for your team, one for your estimator or project manager, and one for another owner. If you work with an owner, whether that's the books, the loan, the bond or the office, the last four say which seat is yours.
$9.99 ebook, $24.99 paperback
Paperback if it's a present. Six chapters include a QR code meant to be scanned off the page, and a wrapped book beats a download link every time.