Thornton Fence Consulting Group+StashGradeA partnership for fence contractors
Tony Thornton

Recommended by Tony Thornton · Thornton Fence Consulting Group

What shape is your fence company actually in?

Get a free financial health scorecard: one number out of 100, and a letter grade, and the single move that would improve it most. Data pulled straight from your books, and graded against what a healthy fence company looks like. No spreadsheet, no homework.

Get my free health reportSee a sample report →

The financial read a CFO would give you, on a fence company’s budget. Free with subscription options.

Free. Read-only connection to QuickBooks, or upload a CSV or QBO export. Minutes, not weeks. Disconnect anytime.

Read-only access. We can see invoices, expenses, and your P&L. We do not edit your books, and we cannot touch money. What we never do:
  • Never sell your data.
  • Never share it with anyone unless you opt in.
  • Never use it to train public AI models.

Disconnect anytime in one click. Ask us to delete your data and it’s gone.

Read the full security details.

A StashGrade health score: one grade for the whole business, the five scored areas behind it, and the move worth the most points.

Who you are dealing with

Two businesses, one offer. Here is exactly who each one is and what it does for you.

Thornton Fence Consulting Group

The advice

Thornton Fence Consulting Group

Tony Thornton’s consulting practice for fence contractors: one-on-one engagements, fence and gate installation training, keynotes and workshops, and the Fence Masters Group peer network. More than 50 years in this trade, and the frameworks StashGrade reasons from come out of it.

  • 50+ years in fencing
  • AFA Hall of Fame
  • Author, The 7 Strategies
  • Tony ThorntonTony ThorntonFounder · AFA Hall of Fame
More about Thornton Fence Consulting Group →
StashGrade

The numbers, and the fix

StashGrade

Software that reads your books and tells you what shape the business is in: a health score out of 100, margin broken out by fence type even when your chart of accounts does not separate it, and the spend that is leaking. Then two done-for-you service lines, StashGrade Ops and StashGrade Launch, that go and fix what it finds. A fractional CFO on the numbers, a fractional CTO on the systems.

  • Built for specialty trades
  • Reads QuickBooks, CSV, or QBO
  • Free to start
  • Mike PetroskeyMike PetroskeyCo-Founder
  • Justin JudyJustin JudyCo-Founder
More about StashGrade →

Mike Petroskey and Justin Judy built StashGrade after years inside contractor software and technology work across fencing, decking, roofing, and concrete. That background is why the software does not stop at a report: the same team runs the service lines that go and correct what the report finds.

Tony’s frameworks are inside the score

Four of Tony’s Thornton Fence Consulting Group frameworks — operations workflow, budgeting and forecasting, overhead and profitability, and pricing — are loaded into the expert knowledge StashGrade reasons from. When your report tells you what to do about a thin month, it is reasoning from Tony’s teachings, not generic small-business advice.

The fencing benchmarks started from his framework

The framework your numbers get graded against was built from Tony’s framework for what healthy looks like in this trade: gross and net margin, labor and material share, overhead recovery, break-even. That is the scale behind your letter grade.

We teach it together

Tony and StashGrade ran the Busy vs Profitable mid-year check-up webinar for fence contractors, and we keep publishing on the same question: why a full schedule can still mean a thin bank account.

Tony Thornton teaching a session on budgeting for fence companies
Tony Thornton teaching the budgeting framework the score grades against.
Fenceline to Success: the Thornton Fence Consulting Group standard of excellence

What is a financial health scorecard?

The same question Tony asks on the first discussion — is this company financially healthy, and where is it weakest — answered from your own financial numbers instead of a conversation.

One number, and a letter you can act on

Your scorecard comes back as a score out of 100 and a letter grade, the way a report card works. High enough and you know the business is sound. Low enough and you know it is not, before the bank account tells you.

Five pillars, so you know where it hurts

The scorecard breaks into profitability, cost discipline, cash and break-even, growth and forecast, and operations. A company can be strong on four and quietly leaking on the fifth, and the pillar bars show which one.

Graded against your trade, not business-in-general

Every number is scored against the range a healthy fence company should be at — margin, labor and material share, overhead recovery, break-even — rather than a generic small-business average.

Messy books do not disqualify you

Missing a number never counts against the score: it drops out and the rest re-weights. The score only looks at closed months, so a half-finished month is not held against you either.

It ends with one move, not a lecture

The report names the change that would raise the score the most and what it is worth. Most owners already suspect where the problem is. This tells you whether you are right and what it costs you.

What you get for free

The health scorecard is on the free plan. No card, no trial clock. Here is exactly what free includes:

  • QuickBooks Online connection (read-only)
  • Grade, margin snapshot, and year-end forecast
  • Statements with the money-flow chart
  • Your StashGrade score
  • Savings scan: full roster, one finding unlocked
  • ~15 AI analyses a month
  • Weekly Monday email: what changed and what to do
Get my free health reportSee what the paid plans add →

What actually changes in your operation

A score is only worth something if it moves the business. Here is what fence companies do differently once they can see their own numbers.

You bid the work that pays

Margin broken out by fence type tells you which product lines earn and which ones you have been buying. Owners stop chasing volume on the line that loses money and start pricing it properly or walking away from it.

Your quotes keep up with your costs

When materials drift from 32% of revenue to 45% and labor holds steady, that is a pricing lag, not a cost problem. Seeing it monthly means the next bid corrects it instead of the year absorbing it.

Overhead stops eating the year quietly

Healthy gross margin with thin take-home means the office grew ahead of the crews. The score separates the two, names the lines, and shows what your break-even actually is.

Finished jobs turn back into cash

Profitable on paper and tight in the bank is the most common trap in this trade. The report shows which invoices are sitting and how old, so collections get worked before the next job gets funded.

You run to a budget instead of a feeling

Tony’s teaching is a monthly and annual budget broken out by product line, with actual against plan. StashGrade keeps that comparison current from your own books rather than a spreadsheet somebody has to remember to update.

Everyone is arguing about the same numbers

Owner, bookkeeper, and consultant all reading one current picture ends the meeting that starts with reconciling three versions of the truth. That alone gives a consulting engagement its first month back.

From advice to execution to results

Most consulting helps you find the problem, builds a plan, and tells you what should happen next. Tony’s clients get something the fence industry does not otherwise have: the plan gets carried through implementation, and then the numbers show whether it worked.

  1. 1

    Get a clear picture of the business

    StashGrade

    Every TFCG client is encouraged to start here. The free health scorecard gives you and your consulting team a data-backed view of the business before anyone makes a recommendation.

  2. 2

    Build the plan

    Thornton Fence Consulting Group

    Tony and the TFCG team work through the business with you, identify the biggest opportunities, prioritize what actually matters, and turn it into a plan tied to your goals.

  3. 3

    Execute the plan

    StashGrade Ops & Launch

    Where the plan needs software selected and built, the workflow automated, the crew trained, the books corrected, or a real monthly close, StashGrade Ops and StashGrade Launch do the work. You are not handed a list of recommendations and left to figure out the implementation yourself.

  4. 4

    Measure what happened

    StashGrade

    Your scorecard and the systems around your business show whether the changes produced the result they were supposed to. It comes from your own numbers rather than anyone’s opinion.

  5. 5

    Adjust and improve

    Both

    If something is not working, nobody has to guess. Look at what the numbers did, change the approach, and keep going.

Thornton Fence Consulting Group
determines what should be done.
StashGrade Ops and Launch
get it done.
StashGrade
proves whether it worked.

A strategy only matters if somebody executes it. That is the whole reason this partnership exists, and the free health scorecard is step one of it.

Start with step one

And somebody who will actually go do it

A report that names the problem is worth something. A team that fixes it is worth more. Both service lines are StashGrade’s own, quoted from your own numbers rather than an hourly guess. We are an independent advisory, and what we recommend is what fits the business.

StashGrade Ops

The app finds it. We fix it.

A fractional technology team for fence and specialty contractors. We evaluate what you are running, pick the software that actually fits, build and connect it, automate the work between the phone call and the paid invoice, train your people on it, and keep the numbers underneath it clean.

  • Assessment, independent software selection, architecture, and implementation
  • Workflow automation and the training that makes it stick
  • Bookkeeping, monthly close, and the succession work that makes a company sellable
  • Or a Fractional CTO retainer: a technology leader on your side of the table every month
How StashGrade Ops works

StashGrade Launch

The right tools, set up for you.

You already know the software your business needs. What you do not have is the six weekends it takes to set it up right. Launch installs, configures, and validates your stack using playbooks we have run before, and you sign off at every step.

  • Job costing set up to match how you actually bid
  • A chart of accounts that matches how you actually build
  • A defined finish line, not an open-ended engagement
How StashGrade Launch works

Neither is required. The health score is free and useful on its own, and plenty of owners run it and fix things themselves.

Watch, read, and try

Everything Tony and StashGrade have put out together, plus where to see what a health report looks like on a real set of books.

ExampleSee a sample health report firstThe whole readout on a sample set of fence company books, before you connect anything of your own.
WebinarProfitable, or Just Busy? A Mid-Year Fence Business Check-UpTony and StashGrade, 30 minutes, free to watch: the mid-year check-up he runs with consulting clients, and where margin leaks in pricing, labor, materials, and overhead.
GuideBusy vs Profitable: A Mid-Year Check-Up for Fence CompaniesThe written version of the check-up, with the self-audit you can run on your own numbers this week.
GuideFencing Contractor Profit Margins: What’s Normal and Where the Money LeaksWhat healthy gross and net margin look like for a fence company, and why your blended number hides the line that is losing money.
ProductStashGrade for fencing contractorsMargin by fence type, even when the chart of accounts lumps chain-link, vinyl, and cedar into one revenue account.
Partner siteThornton Fence Consulting GroupTony’s consulting programs, installation training, events, and his book. This is where to go if you want him working with your company directly.
ServicesStashGrade OpsThe app finds it, we fix it: a fractional technology team that assesses the business, selects and builds the software, automates the workflow, and keeps the books diligence-grade behind it.
ServicesStashGrade LaunchDone-for-you setup for Jobber, JobNimbus, QuickBooks Online, and Gusto, validated against your real jobs before you rely on it.

Questions

Who is StashGrade?

StashGrade is financial software built for specialty trade contractors, by Mike Petroskey and Justin Judy. It connects to your books and reports what shape the business is in: a health score out of 100, margin by job type, the spend that is leaking, and a forecast. It also has two service arms, StashGrade Ops and StashGrade Launch, that fix what the software finds. The founders built it after years inside contractor technology, because owners who knew their numbers cold sold their companies for far more than owners with the same trucks who did not.

What are StashGrade Ops and StashGrade Launch?

They are StashGrade’s two done-for-you service lines. StashGrade Ops is a fractional technology team for fence and specialty contractors: assessment, independent software selection, systems architecture, implementation, workflow automation, training, and the bookkeeping, monthly close, and succession work underneath it. There is also a Fractional CTO retainer if you would rather have that leadership every month than buy projects one at a time. StashGrade Launch is the setup itself: installing, configuring, and validating your stack on your real jobs, with a defined finish line. Both are quoted from your own numbers rather than an hourly guess, and neither is required to use the free health scorecard.

Is StashGrade a fractional CFO?

It does the part of a CFO’s job that is reading the numbers: what the books say, which lines make and lose money, where the business sits against healthy ranges for the trade, and what to do first. Hiring even a part-time CFO means a retainer most fence companies cannot justify. StashGrade is free to start and $199 a month for the full picture. Where you want human judgment on top, that is Tony; where you want the work done for you, that is StashGrade Ops and Launch.

What is a financial health scorecard?

It is your books turned into one number out of 100 and a letter grade, built from five pillars: profitability, cost discipline, cash and break-even, growth and forecast, and operations. Each underlying number is scored against the range a healthy fence company should be at, so the grade says how your business compares to a well-run one in your own trade.

Is the health scorecard really free?

Yes. The score, a margin snapshot, an AI forecast, and one unlocked savings finding are on the free plan, with no card required. Paid plans add continuous monitoring, full margin history, benchmark bands on the score, and the full action list. Paid plans become your fractional CFO.

What do I have to connect, and how long does it take?

Connect QuickBooks Online read-only, or upload a CSV or a QBO export if you would rather not connect anything. The first insight comes back in minutes, and you can disconnect at any time. StashGrade only reads: we never create, edit, or delete anything in your books, and we never move money.

My books are a mess. Will this even work?

That is the normal case. StashGrade reads what is there and breaks down the parts your chart of accounts does not separate, which is how it can show margin by fence type when everything lands in one revenue account. A number that is genuinely missing drops out of the score rather than counting against you.

What happens after I get my score?

That is your call. The score is useful on its own and nothing follows automatically. If you want help acting on it, Thornton Fence Consulting Group builds the plan, StashGrade Ops and StashGrade Launch do the work the plan calls for, and the score measures whether it worked. Most consulting stops at the plan. This partnership exists so it does not have to.

Who is Tony Thornton?

Tony Thornton founded Thornton Fence Consulting Group, and TFCG is what this partnership is with. The practice consults with fence contractors on operations, sales, pricing, and profitability, trains crews on fence, gate, and gate automation installation, and runs the Fence Masters Group peer network. Its frameworks are what the scorecard grades your business against.

How are TFCG and StashGrade connected?

TFCG and StashGrade are business partners who sell an end-to-end offering together: TFCG determines what should be done, StashGrade Ops and Launch do the work, and the scorecard shows whether it worked. Four of TFCG’s frameworks are loaded into the expert knowledge behind the report, the fencing benchmark bands the score grades against were built from his framework, and we publish and present together.

Does StashGrade give financial advice?

The app does not. StashGrade describes what your books show and what the numbers imply. This is not financial, investment, tax, accounting or legal advice. Advice from our team comes only under a signed agreement. For hands-on help acting on what the report finds, that is what Tony and the StashGrade Ops and Launch teams are for.

Thornton Fence Consulting Group and StashGrade are partners. We built this offering together and we are accountable for it together: the advice, the work that follows it, and the numbers that show whether it worked.

Thornton Fence Consulting Group+StashGrade

Find out where you stand

Connect QuickBooks, upload a CSV, or drop in a QBO export. Your score, your five pillars, and the one move that raises it most come back in minutes. Free, read-only, disconnect anytime.

Get my free health report →

Thornton Fence Consulting Group · StashGrade