Fractional CFO for Plumbing Companies: The Money Questions One Answers

Last updated November 12, 2026

What does a fractional CFO do for a plumbing company?

The work faces forward. It deals with money decisions you have not made yet.

A bookkeeper keeps the record straight, and an accountant handles the tax return. Neither is hired to tell you whether you can carry a second on-call plumber. That question, and a few like it, is where CFO work sits in a plumbing business.

The right-hand column describes fractional CFO work in general, not a list of deliverables from one firm. Debbie's own description of hers comes further down the page.

Why is a busy plumbing company short on cash?

There are two places to look first: work that is finished and not yet paid for, and cash that has turned into parts.

Profit and cash are counted at different moments. On accrual books, a job counts as revenue when the work is done, whether or not the invoice has gone out or been paid. The bank balance only moves when the customer pays. A homeowner with a failed water heater may pay before the truck leaves. A builder or a property manager gets an invoice and pays on their own schedule.

Take one month in round numbers. These are not a client's figures.

The statement shows a $20,000 profit, and the bank account fell by $20,000 in the same month. Both are true. When that gap is visible a few weeks ahead, you can choose what to do about it: ask for a deposit, bill at stages, or hold more in reserve.

Parts are the other place to look. Stock riding on a truck has been bought, with cash or on a supplier account, and has not been billed to a customer. That stock is cash in another form. The page on being profitable on paper and broke in the bank goes through the wider list of causes.

Do emergency calls pay for themselves?

You only know once after-hours work has its own line in the numbers.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics says plumbers "are often on call for emergencies, so evening and weekend work is common". For an owner, being on call has a cost on the nights when no one rings. If overtime or an on-call rate applies, the hours that are worked cost more as well.

Pick a set period and compare two things:

• Money in: the amount billed for after-hours calls.
• Money out: labor, including on-call pay for the quiet nights, plus materials and vehicle costs.

Whatever is left over is what after-hours work puts toward overhead. That is not the same as profit, because rent, insurance and office wages still have to come out of it.

Repeat business is a separate question. Count how many after-hours customers came back for daytime work, and weigh that on its own.

If the calls do not cover their direct costs, there are choices. You can change the after-hours price, change the on-call schedule, or keep the service on purpose because of the customers it brings in. That call belongs to the owner. The CFO's part is to put the numbers next to each other.

Which plumbing work makes money?

The answer is in the split between lines of work. A single blended statement cannot show it.

• Service and repair. Sold one visit at a time. Labor is the main cost, and drive time is part of it.
• Replacements, such as water heaters and repipes. Bigger tickets, with equipment or materials taking a large share of the price.
• Builder and remodel work. Priced by bid, often billed in stages or on completion, and paid on the builder's timing.

A bid job that runs over on hours can lose money in a month where the total still looks fine, because the service side covered for it. Tracking each job's hours and materials against its price is called job costing. The books have to capture that detail before anyone can read it, which is one reason a monthly close comes before CFO work.

What does another plumber cost?

More than the wage, and the cost starts before the new person brings in work.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that most plumbers learn the trade through a 4- or 5-year apprenticeship, and that most states and some localities require plumbers to be licensed. It also notes that apprentices earn less than fully trained plumbers, and that plumbers who have reached the higher levels of the trade frequently direct apprentices and helpers.

So the choice has two sides. A licensed plumber costs more per hour. An apprentice costs less per hour and takes up part of an experienced plumber's day. Either way there may be a truck, tools and insurance to add.

Testing a hire in the plan means writing those costs down, month by month, against the work you expect the hire to bring in. You do it before the offer goes out. Debbie names this in her own description of CFO work: answers on pricing, hiring and big purchases before you commit.

When is a plumbing company ready for a fractional CFO?

When the books can be trusted and the decisions have outgrown the bank balance.

If the right side sounds like you, a CFO is the wrong first step. With books that are behind, begin with bookkeeping. Below $1M, look at Profit First for contractors. For a tax return, see your accountant.

What does Right Way Profits offer a plumbing company?

The same fractional CFO support it publishes for every service and trade business, at the level that matches your revenue. The site lists no separate plumbing package.

Debbie describes the work as a forward view of cash, a plan updated as you grow, answers on pricing, hiring and big purchases before you commit, and problems caught early. It comes in three levels:

• Foundation: yearly revenue of roughly $1M to $3M. There is a page on fractional CFO support at $1M to $3M.
• Growth: roughly $3M to $15M.
• Scale: roughly $15M to $50M.

What each level adds is set out on the fractional CFO page. What plumbing shares with other home service work is on the page about a fractional CFO for home service businesses. How the Profit First accounts apply in a plumbing shop is on the page about Profit First for HVAC and plumbing companies.

Has Right Way Profits worked with a plumbing company?

Yes, on bookkeeping and Profit First coaching. No plumbing result from the fractional CFO service is published.

Emily Simpson is COO of Pine N' Dandy Plumbing. She left a written review for Right Way Profits through a testimonial form that offered a discount for taking part. In it she says of Debbie:

"She has provided outstanding support with our bookkeeping needs while also serving as our Profit First Coach. Under Debbie's guidance, I've gained invaluable knowledge about our financial records and numbers."

Those are her words about her own company, and they concern bookkeeping and Profit First, not CFO work. Her full review is on the testimonials page.

What should a plumbing owner ask a fractional CFO before signing?

Ask about your trade's problems first and the reports second.

1. How would you show me cash for the next few months, with unpaid builder invoices in it?
2. How would you work out whether our on-call work covers its cost?
3. Can you report by line of work and by job, and what do my books need for that?
4. Who keeps the books, and who checks them each month?
5. How is the price set?

Right Way Profits has public answers to the last two. Its team can keep the books in QuickBooks Online, Debbie reviews and signs off every monthly close, and pricing is set on the discovery call. The first three are questions to bring to that call. For a longer list, see the guide to choosing a fractional CFO.

What does it cost?

No price for fractional CFO work is published on the Right Way Profits site. Pricing is set on the call, once you both know it is a fit.

The revenue bands above sort businesses into levels. They are not fees.

How does it start?

The first step is a 45-minute discovery call, held by web conference. Her booking page says the call is not a sales pitch.

On the call you talk through where the business is and where you want it to go. From there, Debbie builds a diagnostic baseline from your real numbers. After that you meet on a rhythm and adjust the plan as things change. When the first call ends, you will know whether Right Way Profits can help.

Who does the work?

Debbie DeKnight leads Right Way Profits. She has more than 30 years in accounting and is a Master Certified Profit First Professional. Her LinkedIn headline reads "Helping HVAC & Plumbing Businesses Thrive".

If you run heating and cooling as well, the page on a fractional CFO for HVAC companies covers seasonal cash and prepaid maintenance agreements.