James Hardy

HardyBuilds is a finance and business advisory brand focused on construction and real estate. Founded by James Hardy, a CPA with nearly two decades of experience, it helps the people who own, fund and operate project-based businesses identify lost margin, improve systems and make timely decisions. Hardy’s experience spans public accounting, lender-side finance, institutional equity and operational roles as a controller and CFO. His work has covered development budgets, construction draws, job costing, forecasts, procurement, multi-entity accounting and financial systems.

HardyBuilds centers its approach on “The Missing Margin”: the gap between a project’s estimated profit and what the business ultimately retains. It explores how everyday issues—such as delayed change orders, late billing, untracked purchases and disconnected systems—can erode profitability. The brand shares practical insights through The Draw, a free newsletter published every other week, alongside articles, posts, webinars, videos and field notes. HardyBuilds also participates in partner work, including a season featuring Ramp. Its content is aimed at general contractors, developers, subcontractors, investors, lenders and owner’s representatives.