Stop Being the Bank for Everybody: A Heavy Civil CFO's Cash Playbook with Joseph Patti of Restani Construction

"Why are we the bank for everybody?" That question sits behind every turnaround Joseph Patti has led. Joseph is CFO of Restani Construction Corp., a New York City heavy civil contractor. He is a CPA and CCIFP who has worked in construction finance since 1990, and a longtime CFMA leader, including past president of the New Jersey Chapter. In this episode he shares the cash, forecasting, and job tracking habits he brings to every contractor he joins, and how his team now uses AI on top of Sage 300 and HCSS to know how each job did every single day. In this episode:- How collecting material deposits up front helped take a flooring contractor from $10 million owed on its credit line to about $15 million in the bank- The turnaround levers at McLaren Engineering: weekly collection meetings, a bank-to-book 13-week cash flow, 85 to 90 percent utilization targets, and estimates to complete owned by project managers- Why borrowing at 18 percent on a 15 percent margin job means you are going backwards- What makes NYC agency work different: low-bid competition, utility conflicts, weather, and claims- Running the company "like a candy store": daily cost versus daily billable quantities, with AI pulling Sage 300 and HCSS data into one place- Unit price jobs: why daily quantity tracking makes your numbers "bulletproof," and why quantity you give up never comes back- Substituting bonds for cash retainage, and the $200,000 to $250,000 a year in interest income on a $5 million retainage position- The 5 percent mobilization payment trap and the race to the bottom on bids- Why the current ratio can mislead, and why underbillings and the financial statement notes deserve more attention- How CFMA's Financial Benchmarker avoids double counting contractor and CPA firm data- What a first-year construction CFO should do this month Chapters:(00:41) From Wall Street plans to construction finance(02:47) Turnaround lessons: deposits, collections, and the 13-week cash flow(08:59) Inside Restani: cash planning and forecasting(12:31) What makes NYC heavy civil different(15:56) Sage 300, HCSS, and AI: the numbers before 9 a.m.(20:01) Overrated metrics and why underbillings matter(22:25) Unit price jobs and daily quantity tracking(28:57) Could this become standalone software?(30:26) Bonds in lieu of cash retainage(33:03) The mobilization payment trap(35:05) Order of operations when cash is tight(38:37) CFMA and the Benchmarker(43:47) Advice for a first-year construction CFO Finance at the Jobsite is hosted by Rishi Srivastava, Co-Founder and CEO of Beiing Human, AI-powered accounts payable automation built for construction contractors. Learn more at beiinghuman.com.