Builders, Budgets, and Beers

Hosted by Adaptive

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Latest episode

Oct 2026

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EN-US

About the show

The Builders, Budgets, and Beers Podcast is where the construction industry comes to talk about the financial side of building — the decisions, the mistakes, and the systems that separate profitable companies from the rest. From regional GCs and high-volume builders to construction accountants and industry tech leaders, our guests share what's actually working and what they wish they'd known sooner. Produced by the team at Adaptive, it's real talk on the financial operations behind growing, scaling, and running a complex construction business. One budget, one story, and one beer at a time.

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60 recent

October 21, 20261 hr 3 min

How To Give Your Construction Business Clear Direction

Reece sits down with Andrew Amrhein of Precision SME to break down why so many construction businesses avoid business planning and how to make the process simple enough to actually use. Andrew walks through a five-step framework built around reflecting, affirming, measuring, committing, and reviewing, along with the questions that help builders clarify where the business is going. They cover financial check-ins, gross profit consistency, delegation, visual management, quarterly commitments, and why the plan itself matters less than building the habit of planning. If your business feels busy but directionless, this episode gives you a practical way to step out of the day-to-day and build a plan your team can actually execute. https://precision-sme.com Download Andrew's Annual Planning Checklist here Show Notes: 00:00:13 Show Intro 00:02:39 Meet Andrew 00:05:18 Planning Problem 00:14:42 Create Reflection Space 00:18:39 Start With Wins 00:23:36 Five Planning Steps 00:27:05 Build The Vision 00:43:50 Measure And Commit 00:47:17 Review The Plan 00:50:48 Planning At Any Size 00:56:19 Execute And Learn Find Our Hosts: Reece Barnes Matt Calvano Podcast Produced By: Motif Media

October 14, 202638 min

Why Residential Builders Lose Track of Cash Flow

Reece sits down with Steven Bernitt, CFO at Artisan Builders, to talk about what happens when a residential construction business is making decisions with financial information that is already out of date. Steven explains how real-time project budgets, better purchase order discipline, and a faster monthly close can give builders a clearer picture of cash flow and job performance. They also get into why context creates team buy-in, how accurate documentation builds client trust, and why being busy does not automatically mean the company is financially healthy. This is a practical look at building financial systems that help a construction company make better decisions before cash gets tight. https://artisanbuilds.com https://www.linkedin.com/company/artisan-builders-llc https://www.instagram.com/artisan_builders Show Notes: 00:53 Meet Steven Bernitt 04:25 Context Drives Buy-In 06:32 Better Processes Matter 11:23 Live Project Budgets 15:49 Field Context Matters 20:07 Fixing Monthly Close 23:10 Cash Flow Timing 29:54 Building Client Trust 36:32 Better Future Estimates Find Our Host: Find Our Hosts: Reece Barnes Matt Calvano Podcast Produced By: Motif Media

September 30, 202634 min

A Construction Tech CEO on Why Builder Financials Break Down

Reece sits down with Matt Calvano, co-founder and CEO of Adaptive, to talk about why construction financials break down when the field and back office are working from different information. Unlike most businesses, construction accounting depends on constantly understanding what is actually happening on each project. They get into why buying software based on features alone rarely fixes the problem, how builders can give their teams more freedom to test better tools, and why workflow matters as much as the system itself. Matt also shares where Adaptive is headed after its $30 million Series B, including using operational context from schedules, daily logs, email, and the field to make financial reporting more accurate and proactive. Show Notes: 00:11 Matt Returns 02:11 Accounting Needs Operations 06:43 Where Software Breaks 10:46 Workflow Before Software 16:19 Better Buying Decisions 20:12 Rethinking Construction Tech 21:53 Define Success First 24:56 Adaptive's Next Chapter 29:06 Operational Context 31:58 Financials In Real Time Find Our Hosts: Reece Barnes Matt Calvano Podcast Produced By: Motif Media

September 23, 202634 min

4 Perspectives On When Why And How Builders Scale Profitably

This compilation episode revisits past conversations with Tyler Grace, Shawn Van Dyke, Isabel Affinito, and Paul Atherton to explore when, why, and how builders should scale their businesses. Across four different perspectives, the conversations cover profitable growth, knowing your numbers, building the right team, simplifying systems, getting the owner out of day-to-day operations, and deciding what growth is actually supposed to provide. The common thread is simple: more revenue and more volume do not automatically create a better business. Tyler Grace, TRG Home Concepts Know Your Numbers, Not Just Your Craft Listen to the Tyler Grace episode Paul Atherton Why Most Builders Stay Stuck at $2M Listen to the Paul Atherton episode Isabel Affinito Systems, People, and Profit Listen to the Isabel Affinito episode Shawn Van Dyke Know Your Numbers, Protect Your Margin Listen to the Shawn Van Dyke episode Show Notes: 00:11 Show Intro 00:58 Tyler’s Business Model 05:31 Scaling Fundamentals 08:04 Profit Before Growth 16:34 Fix Money First 20:20 Scaling Magnifies Chaos 21:54 Getting Out Of Operations 25:04 Building Self Management 28:04 Define Your Anti Goals 30:06 Build Around Your Life Find Our Hosts: Reece Barnes Matt Calvano Podcast Produced By: Motif Media

September 16, 202635 min

Stop Confusing Markup With Margin with Kevin Aycock

Reece sits down with Kevin Aycock of Southern Luxury Homes to talk about what it actually takes to get control of the financial side of a construction business. Kevin shares how COVID forced him to rethink estimating, cost-plus construction, preconstruction, and the systems his team used to understand costs before work began. They break down markup versus margin, tracking overhead, using purchase orders, and why builders need someone helping them review their financials every month. Kevin’s biggest lesson is simple: financial discipline takes work, but putting it off only makes the problem harder. https://southernluxury.com https://www.instagram.com/southernluxuryhomes Show Notes: 00:09 Show Intro 01:05 Meet Kevin 02:51 Knowing Your Numbers 04:47 COVID Changed Costs 08:38 Cost Plus Trust 12:09 Fixing Preconstruction 16:03 Building Better Systems 20:33 Markup Versus Margin 26:32 Understanding Overhead 29:48 Reviewing The Books 33:56 Start Right Now 35:01 Connect With Kevin Find Our Hosts: Reece Barnes Matt Calvano Podcast Produced By: Motif Media

September 9, 202634 min

How Builders Get Control Of Their Numbers with Jared Westergard

Reece sits down with Jared Westergard of Blackline Financial to talk about why so many builders are still making financial decisions without fully trusting the numbers in front of them. They cover overhead, deposits, cash flow, bad data, and the systems that can make the financial side of a construction business easier to understand. The goal is simple: stop the financial guesswork and start making decisions with better information. https://blackline.financial https://www.instagram.com/jaredwestergard Show Notes: 00:07 Show Intro 00:52 Meet Jared 03:29 Money Conversations 05:59 Financial Blind Spots 08:10 Fixing The Foundation 12:07 Cleaning Up Books 17:26 Profit Without Cash 20:15 Deposits And Cash Flow 25:24 Feeding The Machine 28:18 Systems And Roles 33:16 One Number First Find Our Hosts: Reece Barnes Matt Calvano Podcast Produced By: Motif Media

September 2, 202641 min

What AI Means For The Future Of Construction Through 3 Perspectives

Reece revisits conversations with Julie Adams of Sage, Deepti Yenireddy of Boone AI, and Ryan Rademann of Wipfli about how AI is changing the work of construction. Pulled from three past episodes, these conversations explore estimating, financial reporting, outdated systems, workforce shortages, and AI literacy. Together, they point toward a bigger shift: AI is not simply replacing people or automating tasks. It is changing where people provide value and what contractors need from their teams, systems, and processes. Julie Adams, Sage The AI Opportunity In Construction with Julie Adams Listen to the Julie Adams episode Deepti Yenireddy, Boone AI How AI Speeds Up Profitable Bids with Deepti Yenireddy Listen to the Deepti Yenireddy episode Ryan Rademann, Wipfli How Contractors Can Adopt AI Agents Without Chaos with Ryan Rademann Listen to the Ryan Rademann episode Show Notes: 00:07 Show Intro 01:40 AI Adoption Rising 05:40 Where AI Helps 07:54 Faster Business Insights 12:12 Beyond ChatGPT 14:00 Jobs And Opportunity 17:12 Estimating Bottlenecks 20:43 AI And Workforce 27:42 Fix Systems First 31:24 AI Ready People 34:48 Contractors Become Tech 39:06 Redefining Human Value Find Our Hosts: Reece Barnes Matt Calvano Podcast Produced By: Motif Media

August 26, 202636 min

The Hidden Costs Of A Messy Back Office with Aimee Roden

Reece sits down with construction bookkeeper Aimee Roden to talk about the back-office mistakes that quietly cost contractors money, from poor cost coding to delayed billing and unreliable job-cost reports. Aimee breaks down why contractors overload their chart of accounts, how coding connects directly to AIA billing and accounts receivable, and why waiting until the end of a job to understand performance is a dangerous way to run a business. They also get into when owners become the bottleneck, why these problems grow with revenue, and how better systems and AI can make the financial side of construction easier to manage. Show Notes: 00:12 Show Intro 00:43 Meet Aimee Roden 03:33 Construction Job Costing 05:21 Coding And Billing 06:00 Chart Of Accounts 12:00 Cost Codes Explained 14:51 AIA Billing Problems 18:01 Tracking Real Performance 21:23 Getting Paid 26:28 Scaling The Back Office 30:22 AI And Efficiency Find Our Hosts: Reece Barnes Matt Calvano Podcast Produced By: Motif Media

August 19, 202632 min

Building A Future In The Trades with Bryan Eberson

Reece sits down with Bryan Eberson, founder of Eberson Construction and Remodeling, to talk about why the trades may be one of the biggest business opportunities available to the next generation, and what separates simply having a job from building a company with long-term value. Bryan shares how he grew from a one-man operation to a 20-person design-build firm, why field experience still matters, and how investing in people, EOS, systems, and clear ownership helped him stop being the bottleneck. https://ebersonconstruction.com Show Notes: 00:12 Show Intro 00:58 Meet Bryan 05:32 Construction's Opportunity 07:16 Starting Young 10:08 Earn Your Stripes 12:59 Trades And Ownership 16:14 Building To Sell 19:25 Invest In People 21:23 Systems Create Scale 24:10 Owner Bottleneck 26:45 Building The Vision 31:25 Build Something Lasting Find Our Hosts: Reece Barnes Matt Calvano Podcast Produced By: Motif Media

August 12, 202644 min

Making The Numbers Matter To Builders with Tyler Krueger

Reece sits down with Tyler Krueger, controller at Canopy Builders, to talk about why construction accounting has to be more than something owners check at tax time. From a million dollars in the bank that may not actually be yours to milestone billing, clean books, jobsite involvement, and monthly financial reviews, Tyler explains how better accounting leads to better business decisions. They also cover what makes a strong construction controller, why financial teams need to understand the field, and how builders can make the numbers easier for the entire company to use. https://www.linkedin.com/in/tyler-krueger-72b195106 Show Notes: 00:07 Intro 01:07 Meet Tyler Krueger 05:52 Accounting Needs Attention 11:31 When Books Mislead 15:35 The Right Controller 20:19 Get Onsite 25:35 Simplify The Ask 27:17 Make Numbers Engaging 35:06 Accounting Growth Stages 39:42 Relationships And Peer Learning Find Our Hosts: Reece Barnes Matt Calvano Podcast Produced By: Motif Media