An industrial cleaning CFO plans cash, budgets and pricing for a company whose crews clean tanks, lines and machines inside factories, food plants and warehouses. The CFO prices shutdown bids, tracks what trucks, travel and waste really cost, and keeps payroll and insurance right when crews cross state lines.
By the HireBus team · Updated · Pay data: BLS, May 2025
Median pay, building services companies · BLS, May 2025
The Chief Financial Officer (CFO) will lead the financial strategy and operations for our industrial cleaning and degreasing business, ensuring robust budget management, cost efficiency, and a healthy cash flow that supports company growth and operational excellence.
2. Essential Duties and Responsibilities
Oversee and manage the company’s financial planning, budgeting, and forecasting processes.
Analyze operational costs and develop strategies to optimize cash flow and profitability.
Provide precise financial reporting and strategic insights to guide executive decision-making.
Implement compliance measures with financial regulations and internal policies.
3. Key Tasks / Daily Activities
Monitor daily cash flow and manage expense budgets.
Analyze cost efficiency metrics related to industrial cleaning and degreasing operations.
Collaborate with department heads to align financial strategies with operational needs.
Prepare and review monthly, quarterly, and annual financial reports.
Engage with financial partners, vendors, and auditors to support operational financial stability.
4. Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)
Budget variance maintained at ≤3%.
Cash flow liquidity ratio of ≥1.2.
Return on Investment (ROI) of ≥15%.
Achieve a minimum of 10% reduction in operational expenses through cost-saving initiatives.
5. Required Qualifications and Skills
Bachelor’s degree in Finance, Accounting, or a related field.
Minimum of 8 years of financial management experience, preferably within the home services or industrial sector.
Exceptional analytical skills, attention to detail, and strategic problem-solving capabilities.
Proficiency with financial software systems and advanced Microsoft Excel skills.
6. Preferred Experience
Hands-on experience in the industrial cleaning, degreasing, or similar industries.
Prior leadership experience with full P&L responsibility.
Proven track record in implementing effective cost-reduction measures.
Experience with ERP systems and advanced financial modeling techniques.
7. Physical Requirements
Ability to operate standard office equipment and computer systems.
Extended periods of sitting while working in an office environment.
Occasional lifting of light materials or files (up to 15 lbs).
Travel to operational sites may be required.
8. Work Environment and Schedule
Standard business hours (Monday to Friday, 8:00 am - 5:00 pm).
Occasional travel to industrial cleaning and degreasing sites.
On-call responsibilities during critical financial reporting periods.
Fast-paced, collaborative office environment.
9. Compensation and Benefits
Salary range: $150,000 - $200,000 USD per year.
Annual performance bonus based on company profitability and individual performance.
Comprehensive Health, Dental, and Vision insurance.
401(k) plan with company match.
Paid time off and opportunities for professional development.
10. Company Culture and Overview
Our company is dedicated to fostering a collaborative environment that rewards innovation, mutual respect, and a commitment to excellence.
We promote a culture of continuous improvement, open communication, and career growth.
Our supportive and inclusive workplace values work-life integration and employee success.
We strive to inspire our teams to achieve personal and professional excellence in a dynamic industry environment.
11. How to Apply
If you meet the above criteria and want to be part of a growth-oriented company focused on customer satisfaction, please send your resume to [INSERT EMAIL HERE] or apply online at [INSERT WEBSITE LINK HERE].
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
What makes the CFO job different in industrial cleaning
Shutdown work pays in big, late blocks, crews travel to plants in other states, and the heaviest trucks carry their own federal tax. The CFO's numbers have to follow all of it.
North Dakota coverage comes only from the state
North Dakota doesn't let private insurers write workers' compensation. Workforce Safety and Insurance, the state agency, is the only source. An out-of-state company must get coverage there once its work creates significant contacts, such as a worker earning a quarter or more of their yearly pay from jobs in North Dakota. Check the account before you send a crew to a plant shutdown there. Source: North Dakota Workforce Safety and Insurance: out-of-state employers working in North Dakota.
The drive to a distant plant can be paid time
For hourly crews, federal wage rules count time on an overnight trip as work when it falls in the worker's normal working hours, on days off too. A day crew that heads to a plant two states away on a Sunday is on the clock for the hours that match its usual weekday shift. Build that time into shutdown bids and payroll, and pay meals and lodging under written travel rules. Source: eCFR: 29 CFR 785.39, travel away from home community.
Heavy trucks owe a yearly federal tax
A loaded vacuum truck or combination vacuum and jetting truck can be heavy enough to owe the federal heavy highway vehicle use tax. The IRS uses Form 2290 when a vehicle's taxable gross weight reaches 55,000 pounds. Put the filing on the finance calendar and the tax in each truck's yearly budget, beside registration, fuel and repairs. Source: IRS: About Form 2290, Heavy Highway Vehicle Use Tax Return.
Shutdown work is billed by the signed ticket
A lot of shutdown work bills as time and materials against the plant's purchase order, backed by daily tickets the plant's representative signs. A missing signature or a wrong PO line can stall the invoice in the customer's portal. Make it a rule that tickets are signed before the crew leaves, and check each portal weekly for rejected invoices.
How much industrial cleaning & degreasing chief financial officers make
The closest BLS group for industrial cleaning & degreasing chief financial officers is chief executives. Chief executives who work for building and home services companies earned a median of $130,000 a year ($62.50 an hour) in May 2025, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. That’s below the $213,990 median for chief executives in all industries. About 430 of the 204,350 chief executives in that survey work for building services companies.
Building services companies
$130,000$130,000 median Middle half $102,340–$208,630 10th–90th $93,610–$275,020
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
Building services companies
$93,610
$102,340
$130,000
$208,630
$275,020
All industries
$75,700
$129,540
$213,990
$356,200
$507,730
BLS doesn’t publish pay for industrial cleaning companies on their own. These figures cover services to buildings and dwellings, which include them. Post a real range for your market in the ad.
The pay line in the template above is an example from our Role Blueprint. Set yours from these figures and what local companies pay.
Skills to hire for, and what you can teach
Hire for these
Has built job costing for an industrial or field service contractor
Prices time-and-materials and fixed-bid work and knows when each loses money
Forecasts cash week by week through slow-paying stretches
Manages insurance renewals, claims and certificates for crews in several states
Has led the company through an outside audit or a lender's review
Teach these on the job
Your shutdown calendar and which customers drive it
Each plant's billing rules and supplier portal
Truck and equipment costs by unit
Payroll and comp rules in the states your crews visit
Disposal pricing from your waste haulers
Day to day, this CFO uses the ERP or accounting software, the job costing tool fed by crew tickets, and the billing portals large manufacturers run, for example SAP Ariba. Name your systems in the ad, since experience with plant billing portals saves months.
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 · Long payment terms
Big manufacturing clients pay in sixty to ninety days. How do you manage cash?
A strong answer: Forecasts cash weekly, negotiates terms or progress billing, prices in the cost of waiting, keeps a credit line and invoices perfectly to avoid delays.
Behavioral · Influence
Tell me about a time your analysis changed a pricing or job-mix decision, such as raising time-and-materials rates or dropping a type of work.
A strong answer: Names the decision, the numbers they pulled (margin by job type, utilization, rental spend), how they presented it, and the result in margin or cash.
Think of the template's targets as an opening bid. Pick yours after a year of clean job costing, and expect shutdown season to swing them.
Budget variance maintained at ≤3%
Compare actual revenue and costs with the budget each month, by branch and service line. Explain each large gap in a sentence, such as a shutdown that moved or a disposal bill nobody priced.
Cash flow liquidity ratio of ≥1.2
Settle the formula with the CEO up front; a common one is current assets divided by current liabilities from the month-end balance sheet. Check it again before any large truck purchase or new loan.
Return on Investment (ROI) of ≥15%
Measure each large purchase, such as a vacuum truck or a high-pressure water unit, by the profit from jobs it worked against its ownership and running costs. Compare that with the case you made when you bought it.
Achieve a minimum of 10% reduction in operational expenses through cost-saving initiatives
List each saving with its owner and start month, then confirm it in the books a quarter later. Count only savings that didn't move cost elsewhere, such as cutting training and paying for it in claims.
Career path
BookkeeperLearns crew tickets, plant purchase orders and portal billing.
ControllerCloses the month and owns job costing for each service line.
Chief financial officerPlans cash and prices risk for the whole company.
What do the CFO template's lifting and site travel lines mean?
The lifting line covers things like carrying a file box or a laptop bag to a meeting. Site travel means visiting a plant during a shutdown to see how crew tickets get filled out and signed, and joining the year-end count of trucks and equipment at the yard. Naming those tasks in the posting helps applicants picture the work.
How much does an industrial cleaning & degreasing chief financial officer make?
Chief executives who work for building and home services companies earned a median of $130,000 a year ($62.50 an hour) in May 2025, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The middle half earned between $102,340 and $208,630 a year. Pay also depends on your local market, experience and bonus terms.
What insurance do plant customers ask an industrial cleaning contractor to carry?
Expect certificates for general liability, auto, workers' compensation and an umbrella, with the plant named as an additional insured. Many plants also ask about pollution coverage because crews handle caustic cleaners, oily water and sludge. Ask your broker whether your general liability policy excludes pollution, and if it does, price a contractor's pollution policy before you bid that work.
How should waste disposal be priced on a tank cleaning job?
Decide it in the contract, not on the job. Price testing, hauling and disposal as their own lines, say who signs the waste paperwork as the generator, and add a clause for material that turns out different from what the plant described. Sludge that tests hazardous can cost far more to dispose of than the quote assumed.
How should an industrial cleaning CFO plan cash around big shutdowns?
Payroll, travel and rentals go out during the shutdown, but the plant may pay weeks after the final invoice clears its portal. Size a credit line to your largest shutdown month, ask for progress billing on long jobs, and invoice weekly instead of at the end. Track each customer's real payment days, not the contract terms.
