How we work together

It starts with a free read of one project.

Start free, go deeper on one project, then every project, every week. Prices are flat and never billed by the hour. This is for firms where the data exists but the answers don't. Not sure that is you? See nine places firms lose money.

Start
Where it starts · Free · Two business days · Know where you're heading

Two-Day Trajectory

Eight numbers, two business days. You answer eight questions about one project on a twenty minute call. Two business days later you get a short recorded read, and we walk through it together. If it is not worth doing on your other projects, we part as friends. Free.

The eight numbers

Contract fee, cost budget, cost to date, percent complete, fee billed, fee left to bill, any forecast to complete, and pending changes. Rounded figures are fine. No export, no prep, nothing to install.

What you walk away with

  • That project's margin today against the margin it was sold at
  • Where the margin lands at the current pace of spending
  • Whether you are billed ahead of or behind the work done
  • One thing about how your firm sees its projects that you probably had not noticed
Where it stopsEight rounded numbers cannot show the money sitting outside the contract. The Project Profit Plan does.
To startEmail me the project you want read first and two times that work for you.
01
01 · $2,500 flat · Five business days · Know what to change

Project Profit Plan

The project we started with, or your largest, read from your real numbers. It shows every dollar sitting outside the contract, where the margin is heading, and the first thing to do about it. $2,500, flat.

What you send

Whatever your systems already hold on that one project, exported as it is, plus the one thing about its money you most want answered. An ERP, a spreadsheet, QuickBooks or Xero, anything. I adapt to your data.

What you get back within five business days

A written read and a recorded walkthrough, with a live slot offered if you want to talk it through.

Inside the read

  • Your question, answered first, with the numbers behind it
  • Margin today against the margin it was sold at, and where it lands at the current burn
  • Billed against earned against spent, and what that means for cash
  • Every unapproved change and piece of unbilled scope, with the dollars attached
  • The first decision to make, in plain words
TermsPaid up front. The read answers the one question you put to me, with the numbers behind it, or you do not pay. If anything in it does not hold up, I rework it until it does.
Not insidePower BI or dashboard work of any kind, and anything outside this one project.
What it is notThe read repeated as the numbers move, fixes tracked to closure, and someone accountable for the forecast. That is Clarity & Control.
02
02 · Monthly · Three month initial term · Know it every week

Clarity & Control

Project controls on retainer, which means one person makes the numbers simple to read for you. A weekly read on every active project, fixes tracked to closure, and one person accountable for the forecast. You keep your accountant. I don't touch the books. From $5,000 a month. Founding rate for the first five firms.

Every week

You export what you already have, in whatever shape it is in. I adapt the analysis to your data. One named liaison on your side, one consolidated read on mine.

What you walk away with

  • Week one: a direct answer to the concern you raise at kickoff, plus every project's margin today against what it was sold at
  • A written read of every active project: what changed, what is heading the wrong way, and the decisions I would make
  • A recorded walkthrough of each week's read
  • Every leak and recommendation logged with an owner and tracked until it closes
Every month, and every quarter
  • Monthly: billed against earned across the whole book, and a leadership memo fit for forwarding to a board or a bank contact
  • Quarterly: closed projects backtested against what was forecast, and help setting your own margin target
  • When a lender, bonding, a valuation, or a sale needs one: a signed, dated, independent report
TermsThree months to start, then month to month. Ninety days minimum. If something specific isn't working, name it and I spend the next month fixing exactly that. If it's still not fixed at the end of that month, you don't pay for that month, whether you stay or go.
Not insidePower BI work of any kind, by name. Building the dashboard is the thing the weekly read replaces.
Not forFirms wanting a single one-off answer rather than a standing second opinion.
The software

Slyngstone, the software side of the same idea.

Slyngstone is project tracking and forecasting software for engineering and construction firms. The work is captured once and feeds the forecast, the invoice, and the proposal. It is a separate product with its own pricing and runs with or without a retainer. Ask me about it on the call.

Data security and AI posture

Your private company information stays yours. Always.

Your private company information and project specifics are never uploaded to AI tools. The system holds your data, with your controls, in your environment.

I use AI to design the system: report structure, schema, and pattern checks. That is where the AI usage stops. If a deliverable needs hosted infrastructure, I will tell you upfront where the data sits, who can see it, and how it is secured before a single byte moves.

  • Your environment, your boundary. You stay in control.
  • Confidentiality and engagement scope agreed in writing before any data is shared.

Start with the free read.

Twenty minutes, eight questions you already know the answers to, and a recorded read two business days later. No prep, no pressure. To start, send the name of one project and two times that work. If I can't help, I'll say so and point you toward who can.

Get a free read of one project See the framework

Not ready for a call? Send a message and you will hear back within 2 business days.