Top 10 numbers to track in a building business

Plenty of builders turn over millions and can’t say where the money went. Turnover, build count and the bank balance all look healthy right up until they don’t. These ten numbers are the ones the sources keep coming back to, ranked with the most widely backed first. This is general information, not financial advice; talk to your accountant about your own figures.

The coaching benchmarks below come up again and again. Treat them as rules of thumb from coaches and builders, not an industry standard.

Number	Benchmark quoted
Gross margin	At least 20%1
Overheads, including a market rate owner salary	8 to 12% of revenue1
Net profit	At least 10%; 12 to 14% is the goal12
Cash forecast	At least 90 days ahead1
Leads board	2.5 times your revenue target3

1. Gross margin per job

Know the margin on every job, estimated against actual, while the job is still running. If you only learn the margin at the end, it’s too late to fix. One guide puts the floor at 20% gross for standard work, which has to cover overheads and still leave a profit.¹

2. Net profit

Gross profit and turnover make you feel busy. Net profit tells you if the business works. Charlie Mylne, a Brisbane builder, spent years turning over millions without knowing why money didn’t stay. He now says anything under 10% net is dangerous and 12 to 14% is excellent.²

3. Cash, forecast 90 days out

Cash in the bank is often your customers’ money for work you haven’t done yet. Forecast cash at least 90 days ahead and run it alongside your pipeline so sales, site and accounts are looking at the same picture.¹ An insolvency practitioner’s advice for tight times is blunter: run the business week by week on cash in against cash out.⁴

4. Overheads

Overheads should sit at 8 to 12% of revenue, and that includes paying yourself what you would pay a competent project manager.¹ Mylne checks his every month. His run at about 15% because he carries a bigger management team, and if they rise he wants to know why.²

5. Work in progress

Without work in progress reporting, your profit and loss swings with the timing of invoices and bills. The Good Builder notes a small to medium builder can see a $1 million swing on the P&L from one month to the next if they don’t adjust for it.⁵ Put WIP on the monthly dashboard next to margin and cash.¹

6. Qualified leads against target

Work backwards from the homes you want to sign. In a coaching example from the US, 12 projects a year at 50% conversion needs 24 quotes, which needs 48 qualified leads. Halfway through the year you should be at 24. If nobody in the team can tell you whether you’re on pace, that is your first fix.⁶

7. Quote to contract conversion

Conversion links the leads number to the revenue number. It also shows whether your sales process works or whether you’re just quoting more. Track it alongside leads, so you can see which one is short.⁶

8. Labour hours against budget

Foremen and project managers should know each week where labour hours and the key trades sit against budget. If cladding was allowed 100 hours and you’re at 65 halfway through, have the conversation now.¹ A Canadian coaching example shows the cost of not doing it: a member’s homes were taking around 45 weeks against a plan of about 28, and labour was the biggest driver of lost profit.³

9. Cost per lead, by source

Marketing is maths. Track what each lead costs and which sources turn into contracts, so you spend more on the ones that convert. The same Canadian example keeps the leads board on a wall, with a next step against every lead.³

10. How much revenue comes from one customer

If around 25% of your money comes from one source and it fails, it can take you with it. That rule of thumb comes from an insolvency practitioner speaking mainly to subcontractors after a New South Wales developer collapsed.⁴ It applies just as much to a builder doing most of its work for one developer or investor group.

Make someone own each number

A coach suggests keeping 12 to 18 key numbers on one dashboard, split across four areas: finance and pricing, pipeline, project management, and admin and legal. Each area gets a named owner.⁶ Build the one page, meet on it every month and stick to it.¹

If you can’t read your margin, net profit, cash and WIP off one page each month, fix the reporting before you chase more work.

Where to next

Most of these numbers need someone other than you to own them. Read How to stop being the bottleneck in your business, then WIP reporting explained.

Footnotes

1. “Margin Before Motion: How Understanding Your Numbers Builds Freedom”, The Good Builder (website), 2025. https://thegoodbuilder.com.au/margin-before-motion-how-understanding-your-numbers-builds-freedom/ ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷ ↩⁸ ↩⁹ ↩¹⁰

2. Charlie Mylne, “Brisbane Builder on Ambition, Fraud & Almost Losing It All”, Better Builder Podcast (podcast), 2025. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qoDe5jEJhO8 ↩ ↩² ↩³

3. Louis Nguyen, “This Is What Happens When Your Custom Build Wins A GEORGIE Award”, The Professional Builder (podcast), 2026. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nx6in96ia60 ↩ ↩² ↩³

4. Chris Baskerville, “The Bathla Collapse: What Happens Next for Subbies & Suppliers”, The Good Builder Podcast (podcast), 2026. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gai7KHv3MHg ↩ ↩²

5. “Builder 2 Builder: Thoughts on running a building business”, The Good Builder (website), 2025. https://thegoodbuilder.com.au/builder-2-builder-thoughts-on-running-a-building-business/ ↩

6. Coach Chase, “AI For Builders: How To Know If You Are Just Distracted From What Actually Matters”, The Professional Builder (podcast), 2026. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zHBvNrpEzKU ↩ ↩² ↩³