Outsourced CFO & Accounting Services in Savannah
Financial leadership built for a port city in overdrive. Expert outsourced finance for logistics operators, aerospace manufacturers, hospitality groups, and construction companies navigating Savannah's explosive growth corridor along coastal Georgia.
The Savannah Business Landscape
Savannah is no longer a sleepy Southern city that trades on its historic charm. Over the past decade, it has emerged as one of the most consequential logistics and manufacturing corridors on the Eastern Seaboard, driven by the Port of Savannah—the fourth-largest container port in the United States and the fastest-growing by volume. The Georgia Ports Authority handled more than 5.9 million twenty-foot equivalent units in fiscal year 2024, and the ongoing Mason Mega Rail Terminal expansion is designed to double the port's rail capacity, extending its competitive reach into markets as far inland as Memphis, Chicago, and St. Louis. For businesses connected to this port ecosystem, Savannah is not just a shipping point; it is the central nervous system of their supply chain.
Beyond the port, Savannah's economy has diversified dramatically. Gulfstream Aerospace's global headquarters in the Savannah-Hilton Head corridor employs thousands directly and supports a deep network of precision parts suppliers, avionics contractors, and maintenance service providers. Hyundai Motor Group's $7.6 billion electric vehicle manufacturing campus in neighboring Bryan County is the largest single economic development project in Georgia history, and it is drawing an entire ecosystem of battery suppliers, component manufacturers, and logistics providers into the region. JCB, the British heavy equipment manufacturer, operates a major North American production facility in Pooler. And the city's historic district and coastal setting support a hospitality industry that generates well over $3 billion annually in visitor spending across the Savannah metro area.
For business owners managing $5M to $50M in revenue, Savannah's growth creates enormous opportunity—but also real financial complexity. Companies here are navigating international trade finance, rapid capacity expansion, seasonal tourism economics, and a labor market that is tightening fast as multiple large employers compete for the same workforce. The businesses that will capture the most value from this growth wave are the ones with finance leadership that can structure operations, manage cash flow, and model growth scenarios specific to Savannah's unique economic dynamics.
5.9M TEUs
Port Volume
4th largest container port in the U.S.
$7.6 Billion
Hyundai EV Plant
Largest project in Georgia history
$3B+ Tourism
Annual Visitor Spend
Historic district & coastal economy
Port Logistics and International Trade Finance
If your business touches the Port of Savannah, your financial management requirements are fundamentally different from those of a company operating in an inland market. Third-party logistics providers, freight brokers, customs brokers, warehousing operators, and drayage companies all deal with a level of transactional complexity that most general-practice accountants have never encountered. International trade documentation—bills of lading, commercial invoices, certificates of origin, customs entries—must be tracked and reconciled against actual shipments. Duties and tariffs must be classified correctly under the Harmonized Tariff Schedule, and the financial impact of tariff rate changes can ripple through your cost structure within days of a federal policy announcement.
Working capital management is particularly acute for port-connected businesses. A 3PL provider warehousing imported goods for multiple clients may carry significant receivables from shippers while simultaneously owing storage fees, labor costs, and equipment leases. Payment terms in international trade are rarely simple net-30 arrangements; they involve letters of credit, documentary collections, and payment-against-documents structures that create timing mismatches between cash outlays and cash receipts. A logistics company generating $10M in revenue can easily find itself with $2M to $3M in working capital tied up in the gap between when it pays for services and when it collects from customers.
Currency exposure adds another layer. While most Savannah logistics companies transact in U.S. dollars, those with direct relationships with Asian or European shippers may have payables denominated in foreign currencies. Even companies that avoid direct currency risk face indirect exposure through fluctuating container rates, which are priced globally and can swing 30% to 50% in a single quarter depending on demand cycles, fuel surcharges, and shipping line capacity decisions. A finance team that can model these variables and build contingency buffers into cash flow forecasts is essential for any port-dependent operation scaling past $5M.
Aerospace Manufacturing and Defense Supply Chain Finance
Gulfstream Aerospace is Savannah's largest private employer, and its presence has created a manufacturing ecosystem that extends far beyond the company's own facilities. Dozens of small and mid-sized companies in the Savannah area produce precision-machined components, wire harnesses, avionics subassemblies, and interior finishing materials for Gulfstream's business jet programs. These suppliers operate under demanding quality standards—AS9100 certification is typically a minimum requirement—and their financial management must reflect the long production cycles, progress billing arrangements, and contract pricing structures that characterize aerospace manufacturing.
For a $5M to $20M aerospace supplier in the Savannah corridor, the financial challenges are specific and consequential. Production contracts may span 12 to 24 months, during which the company must fund raw material purchases, labor, and overhead before collecting on completed deliverables. Progress billing milestones help, but they rarely align perfectly with actual cash outlays. Inventory management is complex because aerospace-grade materials must be traceable to specific lots and heat codes, and scrap rates on precision parts can be significant. A single rejected lot can blow up a quarterly margin if the cost accounting system doesn't catch it in real time.
Companies that also hold defense contracts through Gulfstream's military programs or through nearby Hunter Army Airfield face additional compliance requirements. DCAA audits require cost accounting systems that segregate direct and indirect costs by contract, maintain compliant timekeeping for labor charged to government work, and produce incurred cost submissions on schedule. For a mid-sized manufacturer splitting revenue between commercial aerospace and defense work, the accounting requirements are essentially two separate systems running in parallel—and getting either one wrong can result in contract termination or debarment from future government bidding.
Hospitality and Tourism in a Seasonal Market
Savannah's tourism economy is built on a combination of historic architecture, a renowned food scene, and coastal accessibility that draws visitors from across the Southeast and beyond. The city's historic district—one of the largest National Historic Landmark Districts in the United States—generates foot traffic that supports hundreds of restaurants, boutique hotels, tour operators, and retail shops. Tybee Island adds a beach tourism component that peaks in summer months. And Savannah's growing reputation as a destination for bachelorette parties, wedding weekends, and corporate retreats has created a year-round event economy that didn't exist a decade ago.
The financial challenge for hospitality operators in Savannah is managing the intersection of seasonality, labor costs, and real estate economics in the historic district. Peak season runs from March through June and again in October and November, with summer heat suppressing domestic visitation somewhat despite the beach draw. January and February are typically the slowest months. This means a restaurant group or boutique hotel operator generating $8M to $15M in annual revenue must build enough cash during peak months to cover fixed costs—rent, insurance, property maintenance on historic buildings, and core staff payroll—during periods when revenue may drop 30% to 40% from peak levels.
Historic district properties add a unique wrinkle that mainland hotel chains never deal with. Savannah's preservation ordinances require that renovations to historic buildings meet specific architectural standards, which increases construction costs and extends timelines. A hotel renovation that would cost $200 per square foot in a modern building can easily reach $350 to $400 per square foot when historic preservation requirements apply. Capital improvement planning for historic hospitality properties requires financial modeling that accounts for these elevated costs, the revenue disruption during renovation periods, and the often-complex tax credit structures available through federal and state historic preservation programs.
Construction and Real Estate Development in a Boom Market
Savannah's construction market is operating at full throttle. The Hyundai EV plant alone has created demand for thousands of new housing units, commercial buildings, and infrastructure improvements across Bryan, Chatham, and Effingham counties. Warehouse and industrial construction along the I-16 and I-95 corridors is booming as logistics companies expand to serve the growing port. Residential development is racing to keep pace with a population that has grown more than 10% since 2020, and commercial construction in downtown Savannah and the emerging Plant Riverside District continues to transform the city's skyline.
For general contractors, specialty subcontractors, and developers operating in this market, the growth is welcome but creates serious financial management challenges. Material costs in the Savannah corridor have been volatile, driven by both national supply chain disruptions and local demand spikes as multiple large projects compete for the same materials and trades. Labor costs are escalating as construction workers are recruited from across Georgia and neighboring states to fill the pipeline. A general contractor managing $10M to $30M in annual revenue must track costs at the job level with precision, because a 3% to 5% overrun on materials or labor on a $5M project can turn a profitable job into a loss—and in a market this hot, the temptation to bid aggressively to win work makes cost discipline even more critical.
Georgia's lien law and retainage rules add further complexity. The state allows up to 10% retainage on private construction projects, which means a contractor with $20M in annual revenue may have $1.5M to $2M in retainage receivables outstanding at any given time—cash that has been earned but cannot be collected until project milestones are met. Managing retainage alongside progress billing, subcontractor payments, and material procurement requires a cash flow management system that anticipates timing gaps and maintains adequate liquidity to fund ongoing operations without over-relying on lines of credit.
Georgia's Tax Environment and Multi-State Complexity
Georgia's tax structure is straightforward compared to some states, but Savannah businesses face specific wrinkles that require careful financial planning. The state corporate income tax rate is 5.75% on net income, with apportionment rules that matter for companies doing business across state lines. Savannah's position near the South Carolina border means many local businesses have employees, customers, or operations in both states—and South Carolina's tax code differs materially from Georgia's in areas like sales tax exemptions, corporate income tax calculations, and economic nexus thresholds for remote sellers.
Georgia does offer meaningful tax incentives for businesses in the Savannah corridor. The state's Job Tax Credit program provides credits of $1,250 to $4,000 per new job created, depending on the county's tier classification. The Port Tax Credit Bonus offers an additional $1,250 per job for companies that increase imports or exports through a Georgia port by more than 10% over base-year levels. Investment tax credits for manufacturing equipment, R&D credits, and Opportunity Zone incentives in designated areas of Chatham County can further reduce the effective tax burden—but only if a company's finance function is tracking eligibility criteria and filing the appropriate documentation.
For companies operating in the port logistics space, Georgia's Freeport Exemption is particularly valuable. This property tax exemption applies to inventory in transit, raw materials, and finished goods held in Georgia for less than 12 months, which can represent significant savings for warehousing and distribution operations. However, claiming the exemption requires careful inventory tracking and timely filing with the county tax assessor—administrative requirements that fall squarely on the finance function and are easily missed by companies without dedicated financial leadership.
What Growing Savannah Businesses Need from a Finance Partner
The defining characteristic of Savannah's economy right now is speed. Everything is moving fast—port volumes, construction timelines, population growth, hiring demands. For business owners generating $5M to $50M in revenue, this velocity creates both opportunity and risk. The companies that will emerge from this growth cycle in the strongest position are those with finance infrastructure that can keep pace: real-time job costing for contractors, rolling cash flow forecasts for logistics operators, dynamic pricing models for hospitality groups, and multi-entity consolidation for business owners who are expanding across industries and geographies simultaneously.
A finance partner serving Savannah businesses needs to understand the specific mechanics of this market—not just apply generic financial frameworks from a textbook. That means knowing how the Port of Savannah's container volumes affect warehouse utilization rates, how Gulfstream's production schedules ripple through the aerospace supply chain, how historic preservation tax credits can offset renovation costs for hospitality operators, and how Georgia's Freeport Exemption can save a distribution company hundreds of thousands of dollars annually if the inventory tracking is done correctly.
It also means understanding that Savannah's business community is tightly interconnected. The construction company building a new warehouse may be owned by the same group that operates a logistics business and a commercial real estate portfolio. The hospitality operator running three restaurants in the historic district may also own the buildings they occupy and have a catering operation that serves the corporate market. These multi-entity, multi-industry structures are common in mid-market Savannah businesses, and they require consolidated financial reporting, intercompany transaction management, and strategic planning that sees the entire portfolio as an integrated whole rather than a collection of separate businesses.
Scale Your Savannah Business with Confidence
Get finance leadership that understands port logistics, aerospace supply chains, Georgia tax incentives, and the dynamics of Savannah's booming growth corridor. We work with Savannah businesses from $5M to $50M in revenue.