CFO Services Perth: Strong Revenue, Still Running Out of Cash in Mining and Resources

You’re winning work. The crew is on site, the quote has been accepted, the retentions are ticking up. You’re invoicing big numbers — six-figure progress claims, sometimes seven. So why are you still watching the bank balance like a hawk every Thursday afternoon, wondering whether you can make payroll next week without dipping into the overdraft again? You’re not imagining it. For Perth mining and resources services businesses, the gap between revenue earned and cash in hand is one of the widest in the Australian economy, and it’s the single biggest reason profitable operators still feel broke.

What This Actually Looks Like Inside a Mining and Resources Business

The reports you get from your bookkeeper or accountant are historical. They tell you what happened. They don’t tell you what’s about to happen. In mining and resources, the gap between revenue earned and cash received can be brutal — progress claims held for 30 to 60 days, retention held for 12 months or more, upfront mobilisation spend, tier-one head contractors extending terms to 75 days, and variation approvals that sit in a project manager’s inbox for weeks. Without forward-looking reporting, you’re always reacting. You see the damage after it’s done. A Fractional CFO Perth partner doesn’t replace your accountant. They sit alongside you and build the visibility you’re missing — the kind that shows you cash position by week, by contract, by site, before the pressure hits.

The Three Cash Traps Unique to Mining Services

Mining and resources work has three cash traps that don’t show up in a typical P&L. The first is mobilisation — crew flown in, camp booked, plant mobilised, equipment freighted — all paid before a single invoice is raised. On a $3M shutdown campaign, that can be $400,000 to $600,000 of cash out before any cash in. The second is retention — usually 5% to 10% held by the principal, often for 12 months after practical completion. On a $15M annual book, that’s $750,000 to $1.5M locked up at any given moment. The third is the variation lag — work done now, approved later, invoiced later still. A site running hot on variations can easily have $800,000 of unbilled work in progress before anyone notices.

Why Does This Keep Happening — Even to Experienced Operators?

Because the tools most mining services businesses use are built for compliance, not forecasting. Your accountant gives you a set of annuals 90 days after year-end. Your bookkeeper reconciles the bank every week but doesn’t forecast what the balance will be in six weeks. Your project managers track cost-to-complete on individual jobs but don’t roll it up to a group cash picture. And your head of operations is focused on safety, delivery and crew — not on when Rio’s receivables team will pay the last progress claim.

Why Revenue and Cash Diverge in Resources Work

Accrual revenue recognition — what your P&L shows — bears almost no relationship to when money actually arrives. You can book $2M of revenue in March, have it invoiced in April, have the invoice approved by the principal in May, paid in June, and the retention released in June the following year. Your P&L says you had a great March. Your bank balance tells you that on top of the job cost you carried through March, you’ve now got another four months of overhead to fund before the cash catches up. This is not a crisis — it’s how the sector works. But it needs a forecasting discipline most SME operators never install.

What Changes When the Reporting Goes Forward-Looking

When the CFO services a Perth operator brings in are installed properly, three things change inside the first quarter. You see a 13-week rolling cash forecast that reflects the real timing of inflows and outflows. You see contract-level profitability with cost-to-complete, not just revenue to date. And you see a working capital picture that isolates mobilisation, WIP, debtors and retention as separate levers.

The Mining Services KPIs That Actually Move the Dial

An Illustrative Perth Mining Services Scenario

The following is a composite scenario based on typical Perth engagements — not a real client. Numbers are representative of the sorts of businesses we work with.

Consider a Perth-based drilling and sampling business on $14M annual turnover, working across three iron ore sites in the Pilbara and two gold jobs in the Goldfields. Headline margin on quotes was a solid 22%. The owner couldn’t understand why cash kept tightening as the order book grew. When we rebuilt the reporting, three things stood out. Mobilisation cash on the newest iron ore contract had run to $820,000, with the principal’s payment terms extended from 45 to 75 days mid-contract. Retention across the book had grown to $1.35M — 9.6% of revenue — because the last 5% from two completed jobs was still outstanding 14 months later. And variations approved verbally by site supervisors but never raised through the contracts team had reached $470,000 of unbilled work.

Fixing this wasn’t glamorous. We installed a weekly cash call between finance, contracts and operations. Every variation required a numbered document inside 48 hours of the instruction. Retention recovery became a monthly standing agenda item with the client commercial teams. Inside 120 days, net working capital had dropped by $1.1M. The overdraft utilisation fell from 78% to 34%. The order book didn’t change — the cash position changed. That’s what better reporting actually does in this sector.

The Hiring Decision That Almost Wasn’t Made

The same operator was sitting on a job offer to a senior estimator at $185,000 total package. Without forecast visibility, the owner had parked it — the bank balance didn’t feel ready. With the rebuilt cashflow, it was clear the business could carry the hire from month two, and the tender pipeline the estimator would open up would pay for the role six times over inside 12 months. The hire went ahead. The tender hit rate moved from 18% to 27%. That’s the cost of decisions made without numbers.

How 360 Fox Works With Perth Mining and Resources Businesses

This is what 360 Fox builds. Not a stack of reports you’ll never read — a clear, simple management reporting rhythm that shows you exactly where cash is sitting, which contracts are actually making money, and where the timing gaps are killing your position. You see cash inflows mapped against committed costs. You see which jobs earn margin and which ones just look busy. You make decisions about hiring, equipment and quoting from a position of clarity, not gut feel.

The Typical First 90 Days

In the first month we rebuild your chart of accounts so contract revenue, mobilisation, retention and variations sit in separate, visible lines. In the second month we install the 13-week cash forecast, starting with whatever data is cleanest and refining as we go. By the third month you’re receiving a monthly report pack by the 10th working day, with contract-level profitability and a forward cash view. You can explore the full CFO Services scope for what’s usually included.

What You Get That a Bookkeeper Can’t Give You

A bookkeeper reconciles. An accountant lodges. A fractional CFO sits in the commercial decisions — the variation conversation with the principal, the tender pricing, the equipment purchase, the hire. That’s the difference. You get someone whose job it is to protect the cash position and the margin, not just record what already happened.

Frequently Asked Questions

1. We already have a financial controller. Do we need a fractional CFO as well?
   Sometimes yes, sometimes no. Controllers often carry the accounting, the payroll and the BAS. A CFO carries strategy, forecasting, capital structure and commercial decisions. In many Perth mining services businesses, a fractional CFO works above a controller and adds a layer, rather than replacing the role.
2. How quickly can we get a useful cashflow forecast running?
   A meaningful 13-week forecast is usually running inside 3 to 4 weeks. Accuracy improves over the first two quarters as actuals are compared back and the model is refined. Most clients trust the forecast by week 10.
3. We run SimPro, Xero and a separate project costing tool. Can that work?
   Yes, and that’s a common stack in the sector. A fractional CFO builds a reporting layer that pulls from all three — usually via a monthly consolidation rather than a complex integration — so you get a single source of truth without replacing any of your operational tools.
4. What if our margins are actually already fine and we just need cash management?
   Then the engagement focuses there. Not every business needs pricing rebuilt. Some just need working capital visibility, retention recovery, and a disciplined cash forecast. Good CFO services Perth work is scoped to the problem, not sold as a one-size package.
5. Can you work with our existing bank relationship?
   Absolutely — and in most cases we’ll sit with you in the next facility review. Banks respond very differently to an owner who can present a defensible 12-month cashflow and a clear working capital story. It often means better pricing on the same facility.

Revenue is not the same as money in your hand — and the sooner your numbers show you the difference, the sooner you stop running a profitable business that feels broke. When the reporting tells you what’s about to happen, not just what already did, the pressure of every Thursday afternoon starts to lift. You begin to run the business on purpose.