Construction Company Transitions from Reactive Growth to Financial Clarity

At HTB, we help growing companies turn financial complexity into clarity. Through our Client Accounting & Advisory Services (CAAS), we partner with business owners to build reliable financial systems, improve cash flow visibility, and support smarter, data-driven decisions. The following success story shows how that partnership made a meaningful impact for a multi-division construction and outdoor living company.

The Client

Makaira Landscape & Pool is a design-build-maintain firm based in South Louisiana, specializing in high-end custom pools, outdoor living environments, integrated landscape construction, and a growing maintenance and service operation. Their business spans multiple revenue streams and divisions, each with distinct operational and financial demands.

The Challenge

Makaira experienced rapid growth during the post-COVID construction surge, as demand for outdoor living spaces increased dramatically. While revenue and project volume expanded quickly, internal structure and financial oversight had not yet scaled at the same pace.

As demand normalized, leadership recognized the need to reset and build intentionally. The company restructured into clearly defined divisions—each with assigned leadership, accountability, and performance metrics.

As a multi-division operation, Makaira faced increasing complexity across job volume, vendor payables, subcontractors, payroll, customer billing, and cash flow timing. Without timely, reliable financial reporting, decision-making risked becoming reactive rather than strategic.

They needed more than basic bookkeeping. They needed structure, visibility, and a financial partner to support responsible growth and long-term planning.

The Solution

Our CAAS team partnered with Makaira to implement scalable financial systems and processes designed to support clarity and forward-looking decision-making.

We helped by:

• Establishing structured weekly bill pay and cash flow discipline using BILL
• Implementing QB Time to improve payroll accuracy and create efficiencies through automation of time entry for a large group of hourly employees
• Converting to QuickBooks Online to create real-time financial visibility
• Delivering accurate monthly financials paired with forecasting
• Implementing class tracking and division-level reporting to analyze margins, monitor growth trends, manage expenses, and support pricing adjustments across revenue streams—including recurring maintenance services and larger installation projects
• Streamlining monthly customer billing and invoicing processes while implementing automated ACH billing for recurring maintenance clients to improve accounts receivable management and reduce time spent collecting payments

The focus was not just on closing the books—but on creating financial information leadership could trust and use.

The Results

The impact has been significant across both operations and leadership decision-making.

Operational Improvements 

• Improved cash management and payables discipline
• More accurate payroll and automated time tracking
• Streamlined customer billing and collections processes
• Real-time insight into financial performance
• Reduced reactive decision-making

Strategic Clarity 

• Clear visibility into division-level performance, growth trends, and margins
• Improved ability to evaluate pricing adjustments across service lines
• Data-driven decisions instead of instinct-based assumptions
• Better planning for staffing, equipment purchases, and growth
• Increased confidence in financial position at any given time

Most importantly, leadership now operates with clarity. Knowing where the business stands financially has changed how the company leads, plans, and scales.

Looking Ahead

Partnering with our CAAS team shifted Makaira’s mindset from survival mode to strategic growth mode. Accounting is now a leadership tool that actively informs pricing, hiring, expansion planning, capital structuring, and long-term SBA readiness.

With scalable systems in place, Makaira continues to build out project tracking, job costing, integrations, inventory management, and additional automation—ensuring future growth is sustainable and intentional, not reactive.