Everything Adds Up for Sherri Cavaletti’s Accounting Career at Castle

Sherri Cavaletti got her first taste of the construction industry while working at a family-owned mechanical contractor in St. Louis. Originally hired as a receptionist, her role expanded to encompass accounting duties as the company’s assistant controller.  

Although Cavaletti enjoyed that job, she was approached by an event marketing company and joined the firm as a project accounting manager for its Coca-Cola and U.S. Army accounts.

But it didn’t take long for Cavaletti to realize she had made a big mistake and decide she wanted to return to construction.

“I think some of the best people work in construction,” says Cavaletti, whose resume caught the eye of former Castle President Rich Ledbetter as he was searching for potential candidates to fill a controller position.

She later learned that Ledbetter’s best friend owned the event marketing company where she was employed. “Rich and I still laugh about that fact when we get together,” she says.

After signing on with Castle in 2005, Cavaletti knew she had made a wise choice. “I fell in love with Castle on day one,” she says. “It's just a pretty special place.”

She also discovered how much she enjoys project accounting. “I really like digging deep into the details of projects and working with project managers to help them solve issues,” says Cavaletti, whose responsibilities have continued to expand as Castle’s project volume and geographic reach have grown over the years.

“I remember when we were working on a project at Mizzou in Columbia, Missouri, and it seemed like such a challenge to coordinate travel with our project manager and field teams,” she says. “Now we have offices in Omaha and California and we're working all over the place.”

As director of project accounting, Cavaletti currently oversees a five-person accounting team that manages accounts receivable, accounts payable, payroll and billing for all Castle projects.

“We're a close-knit team, and we work with every project from start up to close out, which is challenging, but also a lot of fun,” says Cavaletti, who also serves as a member of Castle’s core leadership team.

She credits her organizational skills and big-picture perspective for her success. “I’m able to step back, listen to the issues, figure out what we're trying to accomplish, and consider how a decision is going to affect every other team member,” she says. “And if I need to make an immediate decision, I'm able to do that as well.”

Castle’s people are Cavaletti’s favorite part of the job. “There's just this great kind of vibe here,” she says. “Everyone wants to contribute and make a difference. And we're always there for each other, stepping in to help if somebody's struggling. It really is our people who make the biggest difference.”

Cavaletti and her husband are the parents of three kids, three grandchildren and a 180-pound French mastiff. She enjoys traveling, interior design, reading and hanging out at the pool in the summer.