BUSY, BOOKED, AND BROKE
Why growing construction companies stay cash strapped, and the financial system that fixes it.
By Luke Boyenger, CEO of Cruzumi
Construction companies optimized for revenue create pressure. Construction companies optimized for cash flow create stability.
Revenue is the highest it has ever been. So why is Friday still about payroll?
From the outside, the business looks solid. Strong backlog, crews working, bigger jobs than last year. Inside, every decision runs through the same filter: can we afford it? If any of this sounds like your week, this book was written for you.
01
You are moving money between accounts just to stay ahead.
02
You check receivables daily, hoping something clears.
03
Every increase in your line of credit gets maxed out again.
04
Payroll is not routine. It is the thing you think about all week.
You don’t have four problems. You have one.
Most contractors feel it in four places: job costing nobody trusts, a WIP report nobody uses, no real cash forecast, and no plan for funding growth.
So they fix whatever hurts most. New software. Better reports. Another bookkeeper. It feels like progress. Two months later, nothing has changed.
That’s because it’s one problem showing up four ways: there’s no financial system connecting the pieces. It’s like a pipe broken in four places. Patch one leak, and the water still doesn’t get where it needs to go.
Cash isn’t the problem. Cash is the scorecard. This book shows you how to build the system behind it.
One Client, after 18 months of working with us
$35M to
$50M
in revenue
$400K to
$4.5M
net profit after building the system
Sixteen chapters, three parts, one system
Part one
The Problem You Feel
Why growth makes cash tighter instead of easier, and why the pressure is structural rather than bad luck.
Part two
The System You Need
The financial operating system itself: job costing, WIP, forecasting and capital strategy, connected rather than patched one at a time.
Part three
The Stability You Build
What a Friday looks like when the system is running, and how to tell whether you have the right person in the financial seat.
“By the time you finish this book, you’ll be able to look at your own business and name specifically what’s missing.”
LUKE BOYENGER
The author
Luke Boyenger
Founder and CEO, Cruzumi CFO & Advisory
Luke grew up working in his grandpa’s excavation company, running heavy equipment, greasing machines, and gluing miles of pipeline. He studied accounting, started his career as an auditor at Ernst & Young, and spent years in financial leadership roles before founding Cruzumi CFO & Advisory, where his team of CFOs works exclusively with construction companies.
He wrote this book because he kept having the same conversation: an owner doing better than ever, who can’t figure out why it feels like falling behind.
Get the book
Ordering for your team or a trade association? Email luke.boyenger@cruzumi.com about bulk copies.