A commercial inspection CFO keeps the books, cash and pricing in order for a firm that sends inspectors across state lines to write property condition reports. The CFO tracks profit on each project, collects from lenders, brokers and companies, and handles payroll in many states, travel costs, subconsultant bills and liability insurance.
By the HireBus team · Updated · Pay data: BLS, May 2025
Median pay, engineering and inspection firms · BLS, May 2025
Annual pay: 10th percentile $99,990, middle half $149,480 to $342,870, 90th percentile $450,100. Source: BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025.
Reports to
Chief Executive Officer
Department
Executive Leadership
Schedule
Office hours, longer at month-end · Longer hours at month-end, year-end and insurance renewal, plus occasional trips to banks, insurers, clients and offices
Also called
VP of finance · Director of finance · Head of finance
You'll manage the finances of our commercial inspection firm. You track profit by project, client and service line, manage cash through lender and corporate payment terms, help price large proposals, and keep travel and subconsultant costs under control. You report to the CEO and supervise the Bookkeeper.
2. Essential Duties and Responsibilities
Close the books monthly and report revenue, gross margin and cash by market and service line.
Track project profit: inspector hours, travel, subconsultant fees and revisions against the proposal price.
Set billing terms and manage receivables from lenders, brokers and corporate clients, including retainers where agreed.
Build pricing models with the Business Development Manager for portfolio and repeat-client work.
Manage cash flow, banking and the annual budget with the CEO.
Manage insurance renewals, including professional liability (errors and omissions) and general liability.
Oversee multi-state payroll taxes, company tax filings and the travel expense policy.
3. Key Tasks / Daily Activities
Review cash, the receivables aging report and invoices due out.
Approve large travel and subconsultant expenses.
Answer pricing questions on large or unusual proposals.
Work with the Bookkeeper on payables, collections and project coding.
4. Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)
Days sales outstanding: [your target].
Gross margin by service line: [your target].
Project profit against proposal price: [your target].
Budget variance: [your target].
Days to close the month: [your target].
5. Required Qualifications and Skills
[8+] years in accounting or finance, including [3+] years as a controller or CFO at a professional services firm.
Experience with project costing and multi-state payroll and tax.
Experience working with lenders, insurance brokers and outside CPAs.
Advanced Excel skills and experience with [your accounting software].
6. Preferred Experience
CPA license.
Experience at an engineering, inspection or consulting firm.
Experience with professional liability insurance and claims.
7. Physical Requirements
Long periods at a computer and in meetings.
Occasional travel to regional offices.
With or without reasonable accommodation.
8. Work Environment and Schedule
Office-based at [main office location][, with hybrid options].
Longer hours at month-end, year-end and during insurance renewals.
Occasional travel to bank, insurance and client meetings.
9. Compensation and Benefits
Pay: [range and hourly or salary basis].
Additional pay: [overtime, bonus or incentive terms, or none].
Benefits: [health, dental, vision, retirement, paid time off, and when they start].
10. Company Culture and Overview
[Two or three sentences on what your company does, the area you serve, and the support a new chief financial officer gets in the first 90 days.]
11. How to Apply
[Apply link or email]. Our process: [phone interview, in-person interview, and next steps]. Contact [hiring contact] if you need an accommodation during the application process.
Need help filling this role? HireBus posts the ad, Iris interviews every applicant by phone before you do, and you decide who to hire. Start hiring now
Inspectors who cross a state line to walk a building may owe tax where they worked. Montana, for example, excludes pay for a nonresident who works there 30 days or fewer in a tax year, with conditions and exceptions. Any part of a day counts as a day. Past that, the firm may have to withhold Montana tax from that pay. Rules vary by state, so log work days by state in your time system. Source: Montana Code Annotated 2025, 15-30-2106: Nonresident compensation exclusion.
Travel pay belongs in an accountable plan
Hotels, meals and mileage on out-of-market jobs add up fast. Under the IRS rule, payments under an accountable plan stay off the W-2 and out of payroll tax. The plan has to meet three tests: the cost has a business purpose, the inspector backs it up with records, and any extra advance comes back within a reasonable time. Payments that miss them count as wages. Source: eCFR: 26 CFR 1.62-2, Reimbursements and other expense allowance arrangements.
Subconsultant tax forms changed after 2025
MEP engineers, roof consultants and elevator inspectors paid as contractors may need a Form 1099-NEC. For tax years beginning after 2025, the payment amount that triggers many of these forms went up. The IRS says that amount may rise with inflation from 2027 on. Get a W-9 before the first payment, and check the current instructions each January. Source: IRS: Instructions for Forms 1099-MISC and 1099-NEC.
Lenders keep your insurance on file
On Freddie Mac multifamily loans, the consultant must give the lender an original certificate showing insurance the consultant pays for, and the lender keeps it in its files. Have a current certificate ready for every lender client. Log reports by service line and state for the renewal application. Have your broker read any client agreement that strays from your standard liability terms before anyone signs it. Source: Freddie Mac Multifamily Seller/Servicer Guide, Chapter 62: Property Condition Report Requirements.
How much commercial inspection CFOs make
The closest BLS group for commercial inspection CFOs is chief executives. Chief executives who work for architecture, engineering, and inspection firms earned a median of $219,190 a year ($105.38 an hour) in May 2025, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. That’s about the same as the $213,990 median for chief executives in all industries. About 3,180 of the 204,350 chief executives in that survey work for engineering and inspection firms.
Salaried, plus an annual bonus for cash collected, margin and a clean, on-time close. The template leaves pay blank, so compare offers from engineering and consulting firms near you.
Engineering and inspection firms
$219,190$219,190 median Middle half $149,480–$342,870 10th–90th $99,990–$450,100
All industries
$213,990$213,990 median Middle half $129,540–$356,200 10th–90th $75,700–$507,730
10th–90th percentileMiddle halfMedianAnnual pay, May 2025. Source: BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics.
Annual pay by percentile
Group
10th
25th
Median
75th
90th
Engineering and inspection firms
$99,990
$149,480
$219,190
$342,870
$450,100
All industries
$75,700
$129,540
$213,990
$356,200
$507,730
BLS doesn’t publish pay for property inspection firms on their own. These figures cover architectural, engineering and related services, which include them. Post a real range for your market in the ad.
Skills to hire for, and what you can teach
Hire for these
Project costing that ties inspector hours, travel and subconsultant fees to each proposal
Payroll tax for staff who work in many states
Collecting from banks and corporate payables teams that run on their own rules
Building a cash forecast when revenue follows deal closings
Explains margin for each service line to the CEO and inspection leaders without jargon
Teach these on the job
What a property condition report covers and what counts as an add-on
Each lender's billing portal and invoice rules
Your inspection software's project codes
How your liability policy wants claims reported
Which states the firm is registered in and when each renews
Expect an accounting system with project costing, a payroll service that files in many states, and expense software that captures receipts from the road. Name your systems in the ad. Ask how the candidate tied time entries to project profit at their last firm.
Commercial inspection CFO interview questions
Two of the 6 questions we'd ask, and what a strong answer sounds like. Ask every candidate the same questions, and rate each answer on your own before you compare notes.
Situational · Receivables
Days sales outstanding has climbed because lenders and brokers are paying slowly. What do you do?
A strong answer: Reviews aging by client, tightens terms or retainers for slow payers, improves invoice timing and accuracy, follows up systematically, and forecasts the cash effect.
Behavioral · Pricing large proposals
Tell me about a time your pricing analysis changed a sales or pricing decision.
A strong answer: Shows the analysis, such as the true cost of travel-heavy projects, the decision it changed, and the effect on margin.
The template leaves each target blank on purpose. Run a few closes and see where cash and margin really sit. Then agree on targets with the CEO, and revisit them when the client mix shifts.
Days sales outstanding
Average days from invoice to cash, split by lender, broker and corporate clients. Track invoices tied to a closing on their own, since a delayed deal can hold them.
Gross margin by service line
Revenue for each service, such as condition reports, environmental work and specialty reviews, less its direct labor, travel and subconsultant costs. Measure it monthly.
Project profit against proposal price
For each closed project, compare actual hours, travel and subconsultant fees with the cost built into the proposal. Note why each one ran over, for example an added building or a second trip.
Budget variance
Actual results against the annual budget, line by line, each month. Explain every large gap in a sentence the CEO can act on.
Days to close the month
How long after month-end the CEO gets final statements, in business days. Late expense reports and subconsultant invoices slow most closes, so set a cutoff date for both.
Career path
Project accountant at an engineering or consulting firmCodes time, travel and subconsultant bills to projects.
ControllerRuns the close, payroll and receivables for a firm that works in several states.
Chief financial officerOwns pricing models, cash, insurance and the numbers the CEO and the bank see.
Chief executive officerTakes over the whole firm, a path that suits CFOs who have led pricing and growth plans.
Other roles in a commercial property inspection business
What happens to the fee when a deal dies before the report is done?
That depends on the engagement agreement, so the CFO should help write it. Good terms bill for work done up to the cancellation, charge travel already booked, and set a due date that doesn't wait on the loan. Without them, a dead deal can leave the firm with inspector time and airfare it can't bill.
How much does a commercial inspection CFO make?
Chief executives who work for architecture, engineering, and inspection firms earned a median of $219,190 a year ($105.38 an hour) in May 2025, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The middle half earned between $149,480 and $342,870 a year. Pay also depends on your local market, experience and bonus terms.
Should a commercial inspection firm ask for a retainer?
For new buyers, far-off sites and large portfolios, a retainer protects cash before travel is booked. Long-standing lender and corporate clients may expect invoice terms instead, so set the rule by client type. Record a retainer as money owed back to the client until the work is done, then apply it to the final invoice.
Does a commercial inspection CFO need a CPA license?
No. The template lists it as preferred. A CPA helps most with tax in many states, the outside review or audit a bank may ask for, and insurance claims that turn on records. A controller without the license can do the job well if they've run project costing at a professional services firm.
Who should handle a professional liability claim, the CFO or the CEO?
Both, with clear lanes. The CFO gives the carrier notice the way the policy says, gathers the project file, and tracks the deductible and legal costs. The CEO handles the client. Managers should send any complaint that hints at a lawsuit or a big repair bill to the CFO the same day, so notice isn't late.
