Hands-On Finance Support for Construction & Trade Businesses

Clarity, control, and fewer financial surprises — without hiring in-house

I work primarily with builders, trades, and design & build businesses who want their finances properly under control, not just filed once a year and forgotten about.

While construction is the core focus, I also support owner-managed service businesses facing similar pressures around cashflow, VAT, payroll, and compliance.

This isn’t cheap bookkeeping or reactive compliance.

It’s ongoing finance support designed to help you:

• Understand where the money is actually going

• See which jobs make you money (and which quietly don’t)

• Stay ahead of VAT, payroll weeks, and cashflow pressure

• Make decisions with confidence, not guesswork

Most clients come to me because:

• They don’t really know which jobs are profitable

• VAT keeps catching them out

• Cashflow feels tighter than it should, despite steady work

• Their accountant tells them what happened, not what to do next

How My Support Is Structured

My support is structured in two clear layers, so expectations stay clean and fees stay proportionate.

Ongoing Monthly Support

This covers the day-to-day financial running of your business and is how most clients work with me long-term.

It’s designed to keep your numbers:

• accurate

• compliant

• visible

• and useful month to month

Project-Based & One-Off Work

Some work sits outside normal monthly support and is scoped and priced separately before starting — so there are no surprises.

This includes things like:

• project accounting or detailed job cost reviews

• business restructures or inter-company planning

• new entity or system setups (Xero, QuickBooks, integrations)

• historical clean-ups or reconciliations

• director’s loan reviews or specific planning exercises

• training or implementation work

Most clients like this approach because it:

• avoids scope creep

• keeps monthly fees sensible

• ensures senior-level input when it’s actually needed
  

Typical Retainer Bands

Packages are flexible and tailored to your business size, sector, and complexity.
The ranges below are for guidance only.

Construction Operations Support

Guidance range: £1,250–£2,500 per month

For smaller construction and trade businesses that need solid financial foundations and day-to-day compliance handled properly.

This is about getting control of the basics so the business runs cleanly and predictably.

Who this is for:

• Early stage or growing trade businesses

• Sole traders or small limited companies

• Builders and subcontractors

• Turnover typically up to £150k–£300k

• Owner-managed, hands-on operations

What’s included:

• Bookkeeping oversight and reconciliations

• VAT and CIS processing and compliance

• Payroll support for directors and small teams

• Monthly management accounts

• Core cashflow visibility

• Practical financial guidance to support day-to-day operational decisions

What this gives you:

• Clean, reliable financial records

• Fewer VAT and tax surprises

• Less admin and financial uncertainty

• A proper baseline to build from
  
  

Construction Financial Insight & Control Support

Guidance range: £2,500–£4,000 per month

For growing businesses where knowing the numbers is no longer enough, you need to see problems early.

This level moves from reporting into financial awareness and early warning control.

What’s included:

• Everything in Operations Support

• Monthly performance insight highlighting cashflow pressure, margin shifts, and emerging financial risks

• Early warning of cashflow strain, margin erosion, and job-level underperformance before it becomes a problem

• Job and project performance visibility

• VAT, CIS, and payroll oversight

• Ongoing financial review focused on emerging risks, performance trends, and operational pressure points

What this changes:

• You see issues before they become problems

• You understand which jobs are profitable

• Cashflow pressure becomes more predictable

• Decisions are based on real financial insight, not instinct

Focus is on visibility and understanding, not decision implementation.

Construction Finance & Control Partner

Guidance range: £4,000–£7,000 per month

For established construction businesses where financial control directly impacts profitability and growth.

This is hands-on financial control support, shaping decisions, improving margins, and closing the gap between operational activity and financial outcome.

What’s included:

• Everything in Financial Visibility Support

• 6-month rolling cashflow forecasting

• Job and project profitability analysis

• Margin and cost leakage identification

• Direct input into pricing, resourcing decisions, and commercial execution

• Process and efficiency improvements

• Regular financial decision reviews with directors to drive performance and accountability

What this delivers:

• Clear control over cashflow and margins

• Reduced financial leakage across jobs

• Better commercial decision-making

• Stronger operational discipline

• Financial clarity while scaling
  
  

Fractional Head of Finance

Guidance range: £6,000–£12,000+ per month

For larger or more complex construction businesses needing senior financial leadership embedded into the business.

This is not bookkeeping or reporting — it is finance leadership.

What’s included:

• Full finance function leadership

• Strategic planning, budgeting, and forecasting

• Board-level reporting and financial accountability

• Multi-entity or group structure oversight

• Governance, controls, and financial systems

• Leadership-level commercial decision support

• Oversight of finance processes and external providers

What this delivers:

• Finance becomes a controlled, strategic function

• Leadership has full visibility and accountability

• Decisions are made with financial clarity and structure

• The business is supported to scale sustainably

What This Looks Like in Practice

Client type: Design and build contractor
Turnover: £750k–£1m+
Structure: Limited company with multiple active projects and staff

The situation

The business was busy and growing, but financially reactive.

• Turnover was increasing, yet cashflow always felt tight

• Job profitability was unclear until long after projects finished

• VAT and CIS payments regularly caused pressure

• Decisions were being made on instinct rather than forward visibility

• Year-end accounts looked fine, but didn’t help during the year

The risk was not lack of work.
It was scaling without financial control.

How I supported them

I worked with the business on an ongoing basis as a Construction Finance & Control Partner, providing hands-on monthly support rather than year-end-only compliance.

This included:

• Building clear job and project profitability visibility

• Producing monthly management accounts the directors could actually use

• Implementing a 6-month rolling cashflow forecast

• Supporting pricing, resourcing, and timing decisions

• Acting as a consistent financial sounding board as the business grew

The outcome

Over time:

• Profitability became visible by project, not just in hindsight

• Cashflow improved through planning rather than firefighting

• VAT and tax payments became predictable

• Directors made decisions with confidence instead of guesswork

• Financial stress reduced even as turnover increased

The business did not slow down.
It grew with control.

Why this matters

For growing construction businesses, this level of support:

• Costs less than hiring in-house finance

• Reduces risk as turnover increases

• Improves decision-making before problems arise

It is the difference between being busy — and being sustainably profitable.

Project Work & Ad-Hoc Support

Not all businesses need a monthly retainer. I also provide project-based or ad-hoc support, particularly for smaller businesses or specific needs.

Typical projects include:

• Bookkeeping clean-ups and historical reconciliations

• VAT, CIS, or payroll adjustments

• Job costing reviews or project profitability analysis

• Business structure or inter-company planning

• Corporation tax planning or multi-year reconciliations

• Training or system setup (Xero, QuickBooks, integrations)

Hourly and project work is scoped based on complexity, responsibility, and industry.
Project work is scoped individually based on complexity and responsibility.

What This Is — and Isn’t

This is:

• ongoing, hands-on finance support

• proactive involvement, not reactive filing

• clear numbers with context

This is not:

• year-end-only compliance

• junior bookkeeping

• call centres or ticket systems

• “here’s the software, figure it out yourself” support
  

Why Work With LK Accounting

• Over 20 years’ experience, with deep construction industry knowledge

• Practical, hands-on support grounded in real operational understanding

• Flexible packages for businesses of all sizes and sectors

• Strategic input that grows with your business

• Continuity and reliability without the overhead of hiring in-house

Next step

If you’re unsure which level of support best matches your business, a short, no-pressure call is the easiest way to clarify.

During the call, we’ll:

• Review where your business is now and how it’s tracking financially

• Identify any friction points, inefficiencies, or hidden risks

• Determine whether working together would actually help you gain clarity and control

Book a short call

I work with a small number of construction and trade businesses so each client receives consistent, hands-on financial support.

If it looks like a good fit, we can discuss availability and the level of support that makes the most sense for your business.