Welcome to the Online Home of AscendantVG

We're a boutique, low volume / high quality Construction Accounting, Finance & Technology shop serving only Real Estate Developers, Homebuilders and General Contractors.

Get Ready for a 30 Minute Read

There's a lot to read here. And that's intentional, for two reasons.

First, we feel it's important that our website not only give you the details of how we do what we do but that it also leave you with a keen sense of who we are as people.

And, second, it's not easy for a Real Estate Developer, Homebuilder or General Contractor to get its Back Office right - and by Back Office we mean its Accounting and Finance Department, inclusive of its tech stack (i.e., its ERP, its project management and accounting systems, and, where applicable, its capital raising and investor servicing systems). It takes a lot of work and it requires that the effort be led by someone who knows how to make it all come together in a logical and sustainable way. Fortunately, that's what we do here each and every day; we're a firm of Construction Accounting, Finance and Technology experts. So, please, settle in with a hot cup of coffee or a cold beer and read on to get to know us better.


Your Passion is Our Passion

Our clients are passionate about developing, designing, constructing...in short, all share a passion for creating spaces and places that improve, enhance and enrich people's lives. As Construction Accountants, Fractional CFOs, Estimators,  Software Integrators and Capital Raising Deal Makers, our passion is enabling our clients to pursue their own passions profitably. And we look forward to doing the same for you.

We've Been Working Remotely Since Before Working
Remotely Was a Thing

AscendantVG was founded in 2016 as a fully-remote firm; in other words, we were working remotely for our clients long before the COVID-19 pandemic made working remotely a thing. Now, perhaps you're wondering why this should matter to you. It should matter because there's a certain art to successfully working, coaching and leading Accounting and Finance departments from afar. And we've mastered it.

We're Based in the USA

We're based in Jackson, Wyoming, at the foot of world-famous Jackson Hole Ski Resort. Our USA staff are each and all American citizens and all share a passion for the outdoors - we're skiers, snowboarders, hikers, dog (and cat) lovers. We enjoy the lives we live and the work / life balances we've struck.

This means you can take comfort in knowing that your work is being done by USA-based professionals who are living lives of our own intentional design; that's important because, in our experience, happy people do better work.

We're Led by a World-Class Construction Accounting /
Project Finance (both P3 and Reg D) Professsional

Our Managing Partner, Marco Vargas, has 27 years of construction accounting and finance experience and is one of a handful of guys worldwide who has overseen, audited or otherwise been involved in the cost estimating, budgeting, course of construction accounting and P3 project financing of multiple mega-projects  (projects with development budgets in excess of $1 billion USD...and, yes, that's billion...with a "b"). A LearJet factory (ACT $1.1B USD, Queretaro, Mexico). A Nissan factory (ACT $2.0B USD, Aguascalientes, Mexico). A proposed BYD (Build Your Dreams) Auto factory (engagement currently underway, proposed budget and location in Mexico confidential). And perhaps the most complicated ever: the cost estimating, budgeting and feasibility analysis of constructing both the upstream and downstream oil and gas infrastructure anticipated within the Pemex / Exxon-Mobil joint venture agreement of 2014 (EST $8.0B USD, various sites in Mexico).

And, at budgets more down to earth, multiple large public works projects (both USA and Mexico, including roads, bridges, airports and airport improvements, lift stations and processing plants, many being P3 financed), multi-floor high rise tenant improvements, (including multiple build outs for WeWork in Mexico), restaurant remodels (including, fun fact, two Michelin starred restaurants), residential subdivisions and homes (both USA and Mexico, including several thousand production and spec homes, many being financed via Reg D offerings, and several hundred custom homes and high rise condominiums with construction budgets north of $1 million USD, with many north of $5 million USD), several hundred modular (i.e, offsite, factory built) apartment units in mid rise buildings stood up on concrete podiums, condominium conversions, residential remodels and flips and, lastly, commercial, industrial and retail build-to-suits (many, once again, being financed via Reg D offerings).

Marco retired from Pricewaterhouse Coopers in 2016, at the old age of 45, having achieved Global Relationship Partner (a big deal in the Big Four space). Since his retirement from PwC, Marco has led AscendantVG and has served as Fractional CFO to a short list of Real Estate Developers, Homebuilders and General Contractors, helping each of them professionalize their back offices, grow their businesses and - most importantly - empowering each of them to pursue their passion profitably.

Yes, It's a Big and Bold Claim

It's a big and bold claim...we admit it. But we don't hesitate to say it:
our clients make money.

Now, that's not to say that everyone who has hired us over the years was making money when we began working with them. Many weren't. Or, in several cases, some wrongly thought they were when, in fact, they weren't. But, in the end, clients who listen to what we have to say, and who do what we say needs to be done, operate profitably.

It's not magic and, no, we're not rocket scientists. In fact, we tend to run a little bit on the nerdy side. But beyond our nerdy veneers lies a uniquely knowledgeable, highly experienced, data-driven team that knows how - both intellectually and intuitively - to shape and mold a proposed development, a homebuilding business or a general contracting company into a profitable undertaking. Or, in the case of a project or a business that's already genuinely profitable, that knows how to right size it - up or down - to optimize its profitability.

And now for a test (yes, that's right...there's a test). Did you notice we said data-driven? Read on to learn more about why this matters. Spoiler alert: in our experience, Developers,Homebuilders and General Contractors rarely struggle with understanding their data; rather, they struggle with maintaining and extracting meaningful data from their systems.

Stop the WIP Madness...Please! 

Here's a great example: the Work in Progress calculation, or "WIP". The most common request we get from inquiring, potential new clients is that we put an end to the WIP bouncing around - up one month, down the next - and that we bring some stability to the interim financials. But here's the issue with that request: WIP is actually very simple to get right. The mathematical formula for calculating WIP only requires four data inputs: (1) contracted build amount, (2) amount billed to date, (3) budgeted cost to construct and (4) remaining cost to complete. Using these four inputs, WIP is a five second calculation (okay...15 seconds if you're a slow learner).

In fact, the issues these potential clients are inquiring about typically have nothing to do with the calculation, per se, being wrong; instead, the core issue underlying their request is that one or more of the four required data inputs isn't right. In other words, getting WIP right requires data integrity and discipline. Unfortunately, organizations must plan for this and must learn to do it. First, it requires the right software stack, synchronized and integrated correctly from the beginning and then maintained pursuant to proper procedures, systems and protocols. And then, even with all of that, it commonly takes several months of training to get everyone understanding the various parts they play and the contributions they must regularly make to get it right and to keep it right.

Learn this Term: Duality

And one last thing, from along the same line as being  "data driven." Be sure you don't leave this site without first learning what the term "duality" means and why it might just be the key to solving the issue or pain point that brought you here.

Once Again, Welcome

Welcome to the online home of AscendantVG. We're pleased you're here and we look forward to working with and serving you.