A weatherproofing chief financial officer costs every sealing, insulation and membrane job and plans cash for the slow months. The CFO also sets the warranty reserve, handles sales tax and insurance audits, and gives the CEO and lenders their monthly numbers.
By the HireBus team · Updated · Pay data: BLS, May 2025
Median pay, specialty trade contractors · BLS, May 2025
You'll run the finances of a weatherproofing company whose work rises and falls with the weather. You'll own job costing on every sealing, membrane and insulation job, cash flow through the slow and rainy months, material pricing, the warranty reserve, and the numbers the owners and lenders use to make decisions.
2. Essential Duties and Responsibilities
Build job costing that captures crew hours, sealants, membranes, insulation, equipment and drive time on every job, and report margin by job type.
Forecast cash through the seasons: build reserves in busy months and plan the credit line and payroll for slow and rainy stretches.
Set and review the warranty reserve from your callback and claim history, and track warranty costs by crew and by product.
Track material prices and supplier terms, and update the price book with the Sales Manager when costs move.
Set deposit and payment terms, and review consumer financing fees, so cash comes in before material goes out.
Manage sales and use tax on materials as your state applies it to contractors, and prepare for workers' compensation and liability insurance audits.
Supervise the Bookkeeper, approve payroll and sales commissions, and deliver monthly financials to the CEO and lenders.
3. Key Tasks / Daily Activities
Review cash, deposits received and bills coming due.
Check job cost reports on finished jobs and ask about any that missed their margin.
Approve large material buys and equipment purchases, such as spray equipment or trucks.
Meet with the General Manager and Sales Manager about pricing, discounts and the sales pipeline.
Update the [13]-week cash forecast with the latest sales and weather delays.
4. Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)
Gross margin by job type: [your target].
Estimated versus actual job cost: [your target].
Warranty cost as a share of revenue: [your target].
Cash on hand entering the slow season: [your target].
Days to close the month: [your target].
5. Required Qualifications and Skills
Bachelor's degree in accounting or finance.
[7+] years of finance leadership, including [3+] years in construction, home services or another job-based business.
Hands-on job costing experience, including labor burden and material tracking by job.
Experience managing seasonal cash flow, credit lines and lender reporting.
Strong skills in [your accounting software] and spreadsheets.
6. Preferred Experience
CPA license.
Experience setting warranty reserves for a contractor or manufacturer.
Experience with consumer financing programs and the dealer fees they charge.
Experience with utility or state energy-efficiency rebate programs, if your company takes part in them.
7. Physical Requirements
Office work with long periods at a computer.
Occasional visits to job sites and the warehouse.
With or without reasonable accommodation.
8. Work Environment and Schedule
Office-based at [location], with [remote or hybrid options].
Longer hours at month-end, year-end and while planning for the busy season.
Occasional meetings with lenders, insurers and outside accountants.
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
Every CFO closes the books and plans cash. Here, state tax and contract laws shape how jobs are priced and paid. Each job type also costs out in its own way.
Utah taxes the materials, not the finished job
Sales tax on installed materials depends on the state. Take Utah. Its Tax Commission says a contractor who supplies and installs materials is their last owner as personal property. So the contractor pays sales tax when it buys them, and the sale to the homeowner isn't taxed. If the homeowner buys the materials, the homeowner pays the tax. Rules vary by state, so set this up with your tax adviser for each market. Source: Utah State Tax Commission: Publication 42, sales tax for property attached to real property (Rev. 7/26).
Vermont caps the down payment
Deposits are a cash choice, and in some states a legal one. Vermont's contractor law covers it. If a contract sets a maximum price, the down payment can be up to half the labor cost or half the materials price, whichever is more. On a time-and-materials contract with no maximum price, the deposit is up to the two parties. Write deposit rules into the contract by state, not by salesperson. Source: Vermont Statutes: 26 V.S.A. chapter 106, Residential Contractors.
Each job type needs its own cost line
An attic air seal with blown insulation, a crawl space membrane and an exterior sealant job each use different materials, crews and drive time. Cost them apart. For blown insulation, the FTC's R-value Rule has makers print a chart on each bag showing how many bags cover 1,000 square feet at each R-value. Compare bags used with that chart for the R-value sold. A gap points to waste, thin coverage or a bad measure. Source: eCFR: 16 CFR Part 460, Labeling and Advertising of Home Insulation (FTC R-value Rule).
Program money comes in late
Some utility or state programs pay the contractor, not the homeowner. That money is a receivable, and it can wait on paperwork or an inspection. Track it by program and by job, and chase missing forms weekly. Leave it out of the cash forecast until the program approves it.
How much weatherproofing chief financial officers make
The closest BLS group for weatherproofing chief financial officers is chief executives. Chief executives who work for specialty trade contractors earned a median of $169,170 a year ($81.33 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 3,830 of the 204,350 chief executives in that survey work for specialty trade contractors.
The template leaves pay open. Most CFOs here earn a salary, often with a bonus. The pay shown is for the chief executives group, so also check local postings for finance leaders at contractors.
Specialty trade contractors
$169,170$169,170 median Middle half $100,570–$283,340 10th–90th $69,930–$386,670
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
Specialty trade contractors
$69,930
$100,570
$169,170
$283,340
$386,670
All industries
$75,700
$129,540
$213,990
$356,200
$507,730
BLS doesn’t publish pay for chief executives at building finishing contractors on their own, so these figures cover specialty trade contractors. Post a real range for your market in the ad.
Skills to hire for, and what you can teach
Hire for these
Job costing with labor burden, materials and drive time by job
A weekly cash forecast they have kept through a slow season
Sales and use tax for contractors in more than one state
Clear monthly reporting to owners and lenders
Managing a bookkeeper and a payroll that includes commissions
Teach these on the job
How weatherproofing jobs are scoped and sold
Your field service and accounting software
Your utility program paperwork
Material units: bags, foam sets, membrane rolls and sealant cases
Your warranty terms and callback process
Expect the CFO to work in your accounting system, such as QuickBooks or Sage, and pull job data from field service software. A sheet that ties sold scope, materials used and crew hours to each job often shows cost problems first.
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 · Planning slow-season cash
Your company has [4] rainy months each year when revenue drops. How do you plan cash and payroll for them?
A strong answer: Builds a rolling weekly forecast, sets reserve targets in busy months, arranges the credit line before it's needed, and plans interior work with operations to keep key crews busy.
Behavioral · Setting reserves
Tell me about a time you set a warranty reserve for sealing or waterproofing work and had to defend it.
A strong answer: Explains the data behind the estimate, how they presented it to owners or lenders, and how actual results compared.
The template leaves every target open. Base each one on your own closed jobs and bank history, and revisit it after each busy season.
Gross margin by job type
Group finished jobs by type: attic, crawl space and exterior. Each month, compare each group's revenue with its direct labor, materials and equipment.
Estimated versus actual job cost
For each closed job, compare the estimate's material units and crew hours with what was used, and list the jobs that missed by the most.
Warranty cost as a share of revenue
Each month, add up the labor, materials and drive time spent on warranty returns. Tag it by crew and product, and set it against that month's revenue.
Cash on hand entering the slow season
On the first day of the month your history marks as slow, read the bank balance and unused credit. Compare it with the plan set when the busy season began.
Days to close the month
Track the working days from month-end until reviewed financials, with job costs and accruals posted, reach the CEO.
Career path
BookkeeperLearns the job cost records and payroll.
ControllerRuns the close, taxes and insurance audits.
Chief financial officerPlans cash, sets the warranty reserve and reports to owners and lenders.
Chief executive officerLeads the whole company, often after steering a growth plan from the finance side.
Should a weatherproofing company buy a spray foam rig or hire out foam work?
Look at how often you'd use it. A rig, trailer and generator sit idle in slow months. They also need trained sprayers and raise insurance questions. A foam subcontractor costs more per job but nothing in a quiet week. Compare a year of foam jobs at your sub's price with the cost to own, finance and staff a rig. Buy only when the volume is steady.
How much does a weatherproofing chief financial officer make?
Chief executives who work for specialty trade contractors earned a median of $169,170 a year ($81.33 an hour) in May 2025, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The middle half earned between $100,570 and $283,340 a year. Pay also depends on your local market, experience and bonus terms.
What should a weatherproofing CFO bring to a workers' compensation audit?
Bring payroll split by the kind of work each person does, so office, sales and field staff aren't rated alike. Bring certificates of insurance for every subcontractor, too. Keep time records that show each person's tasks. Your insurance agent can tell you which job classes apply to your crews. Fix misclassified staff before the audit, not during it.
Should air sealing be sold by the hour or as a fixed scope?
Homeowners usually want one price, so a fixed scope is easier to sell. Base it on the test-in and attic photos. The risk is an attic that hides more holes than the estimate showed. Give estimators a short list of standard items with set prices. When crews find more, write a change order and get it signed before the extra work starts.
Which months are slow for a weatherproofing company?
It depends on your climate and mix. Attic and crawl space work can run much of the year. Exterior sealant and membrane jobs stop when it's too cold for the product. Pull three years of jobs by month and mark where cash dipped. Plan reserves and the credit line around those months.
