CEO Executive AssistantThe finance team is one of the most important delegated functions in a construction company. When the finance team is strong and the CEO-finance relationship is well-structured, the CEO has excellent financial visibility, the company’s financial health is well-managed, and executive bandwidth is preserved for strategic decisions. When the relationship is poorly structured, the CEO ends up doing financial management work rather than leading the company.
These tips help construction CEOs build and manage a finance team that provides genuine financial leadership.
Tip 1: Hire a Controller Before You Need One
Many construction CEOs wait too long to hire a Controller, continuing to rely on a bookkeeper or accounting manager well past the point where the company needs controller-level financial management. The result is inadequate financial reporting, weak internal controls, and a CEO who fills the financial management gaps personally.
Hire a Controller when the company’s complexity exceeds the current accounting function’s capacity. Signs that this threshold has been crossed: the CEO is personally explaining financial reports to the team, month-end close takes more than 15 business days, or the CEO does not trust the accuracy of the financial data.
Tip 2: Define the Financial Reporting Package You Need
Before asking the finance team to produce reports, define exactly what financial information you need and when. A typical construction CEO financial package includes:
- Monthly income statement (actual versus budget)
- Balance sheet
- Cash flow statement and forecast
- Work-in-Progress schedule
- Project margin summary
- Backlog report
When the finance team knows exactly what to produce and by when (typically the 10th to 15th business day after month-end), they can deliver it systematically without CEO prompting.
Tip 3: Review the Financial Package Consistently
Many CEOs request financial reports and then don’t review them consistently. This sends a mixed message: if the CEO doesn’t review the reports, the finance team infers they are not important, and quality degrades.
Schedule a regular monthly financial review meeting with the Controller or CFO. Review the financial package together, ask questions, and make decisions based on the data. Consistent review is what makes the reporting system valuable.
Tip 4: Ask “Why” Instead of “What”
When reviewing financial reports, the CEO’s role is not to understand every line item (that is the Controller’s job) but to understand the significant variances and trends. “Gross margin is down 2 points from last month. Why?” is the right CEO question.
When CEOs ask “why” questions, they focus the financial team on analysis and insight, not just number production. This builds financial intelligence in the organization.
Tip 5: Build the Internal Controls Before You Need Them
Internal controls (segregation of duties, approval workflows, bank reconciliations, expense policies) protect the company from fraud and error. They also enable delegation: when controls are in place, the CEO can trust financial data without personally verifying every transaction.
Invest in building proper internal controls when the company is small enough to do so without major disruption. Adding controls after a problem has occurred is much more painful.
Tip 6: Give the Finance Team Authority to Enforce Policies
Finance policies (expense limits, approval requirements, purchase order procedures) are only effective if they are enforced. Give the Controller authority to enforce financial policies, even when that creates friction with project teams or department heads.
If the finance team knows that policy enforcement will be reversed whenever someone complains to the CEO, they will stop enforcing policies. Back up your finance team’s legitimate policy enforcement.
Tip 7: Include Finance in Operational Meetings
The Controller or CFO should participate in the monthly project review meetings, not just prepare financial reports in isolation. When the finance team understands the operational context behind the numbers, their analysis is more useful and their forecasts are more accurate.
This integration also builds mutual respect between the finance and operations teams.
Tip 8: Invest in the Finance Team’s Construction Knowledge
General finance skills are necessary but not sufficient for construction financial management. Job cost accounting, the WIP schedule, percentage-of-completion revenue recognition, and retention management are construction-specific financial disciplines. Invest in training your finance team on construction-specific accounting.
Construction-specific continuing education programs, the CFMA (Construction Financial Management Association), and construction accounting software training all build this specialized knowledge.
Tip 9: Separate the Controller from the Check-Signer
A basic internal control principle: the person who records transactions should not be the same person who approves payments. If the Controller is both maintaining the books and signing checks, a critical segregation of duty is missing. Ensure the CEO or another authorized officer signs checks above a defined dollar amount.
Tip 10: Conduct an Annual Financial Review with Outside Perspective
Annually, bring in an outside perspective on the company’s financial management: an audit by a CPA firm, or at minimum a review engagement. The outside perspective identifies controls gaps, financial reporting improvements, and tax planning opportunities that the internal team may miss.
The audit relationship also gives the CEO a second opinion on the Controller’s work, without requiring the CEO to personally audit the books.
For more on construction CEO delegation, see construction CEO delegation and the construction delegation guide.
Conclusion
Finance team delegation requires hiring the right level of financial leadership for the company’s complexity, defining the financial information the CEO needs and when, reviewing it consistently, building internal controls, and backing up the finance team’s authority to enforce policies. When these elements are in place, the CEO has excellent financial visibility and the company’s finances are professionally managed, all without the CEO personally doing financial management work. This is the financial foundation of a scalable construction company.
Related Reading
For further context, explore Delegation Tips for AI Startup CEOs and Delegation Tips for Automotive CEO: Digital Teams.