Working capital for construction businesses.

No. Underwriting reviews the operating business and requested product. A signed contract does not guarantee collection or a financing offer.

These may be eligible business uses, depending on the product and agreement. Explain the project, amount, and timing in your request.

No. This page describes business working capital and equipment-related options for operating construction businesses, not real-estate development or home-building mortgages.

Test that scenario before accepting an offer. Review your reserves, supplier terms, and the proposed payment schedule; contact the provider promptly if cash flow changes.

Contractors often owe crew wages weeks before a progress payment lands. Funding can bridge that gap when the amount is sized to your actual payroll schedule and the billing milestone that will repay it. Map crew costs by week, note the expected payment date, and add a buffer for a delayed approval or a disputed item before choosing an amount and a payment schedule.

Start with the supplier deposits and material costs you must pay before you can bill the customer, then add delivery and rental costs tied to the start of work. Compare that total with the project cash you already have available; the difference is your planning gap. Bring the project budget and supplier timing with your application so the request matches documented job costs rather than a round estimate.

Yes, equipment needs are a common funding purpose for contractors. Compare buying, renting, and repairing against how much the equipment will actually be used across your booked work, and include transport, maintenance, and downtime in the comparison. Equipment financing is tied to an eligible asset, while working capital can cover smaller tools and repairs, subject to the product and agreement.

Funding does not provide bonding and does not replace a surety bond or any bonding requirement a project owner sets. Working capital may help with general operating costs around a larger job, such as insurance premiums or mobilization expenses, where the agreement allows those uses. Confirm eligible uses in your offer, and arrange bonding separately through your surety provider before you bid work that requires it.

A strong backlog and signed contracts help explain your request: they show the work ahead, expected billing dates, and where repayment will come from. They supplement the required application and bank statements rather than replacing them, and they do not guarantee approval or guarantee that a customer will pay on time. Bring open receivables, billing milestones, and contract amounts that help underwriting see the full project picture.

Timing depends on the product, how complete your file is, and underwriting. Reviews move faster when you submit the signed application, four recent complete business bank statements, your current funding obligations, and the project details behind the request at the start. Ask your contact for an estimate tied to your file and your deadline, especially when a start date, payroll, or a supplier deposit is driving the timing.

Yes. Supplier deposits are a common reason contractors seek working capital, because materials must be ordered before the first progress payment arrives. Bring the supplier quote, the deposit amount, and the delivery date, and size the request to the job budget rather than the full contract value.

Funding can cover the first weeks of wages, onboarding, and related costs while you wait for the initial billing cycle to catch up. Show the signed work, the crew plan, and expected billing dates with your application, and keep the request tied to the payroll the job actually requires.

Prepare a signed application and four recent, complete business bank statements, a list of current funding and balances, and the project details behind the request — contract amounts, billing milestones, and open receivables. Complete files move through review without extra rounds of document requests, and meeting the guidelines does not guarantee approval.

Yes. Everyday operating costs continue between projects, and working capital can help cover fuel, equipment repairs, and insurance premiums during a gap. Build the request from your actual monthly costs and upcoming work, and compare the payment schedule against a normal month before accepting.

Tell the team about changes early. A delayed start or a larger change order can change the amount and timing you need, and an updated project budget helps the review match the real job. Keep contract updates and revised billing dates with your file so the request stays accurate.

Yes. Many contractors return as new projects start, because each job brings its own materials, payroll, and timing gap. A record of revenue handled as agreed and payments made on schedule strengthens each new review, whether the next need is a larger job or added equipment.

After you apply, the review works from your complete file: a signed application, four recent, complete business bank statements, a list of current funding and balances, and the project details behind the request, including contract amounts, billing milestones, and open receivables. Additional records may be requested through the approved channel. If an offer follows, compare the net amount, total obligation, all fees, payment frequency, and expected duration before you sign. A signed contract supports the request, but it does not guarantee approval.

Size the request to the gap before the payment arrives. This page works the example: $35,000 in materials and $20,000 in payroll create $55,000 of costs before the next progress payment. With $15,000 of available project cash, the initial gap is $40,000, and if a delay adds $10,000 in costs, the planning gap becomes $50,000 before financing charges. Bring the project budget and billing dates so the amount matches documented job costs.

The published guidelines start at $25,000 in monthly business revenue. Merchant cash advance and line of credit guidelines start at six months in business, while equipment and term funding guidelines start at one year. Credit requirements and additional conditions differ by product, and meeting a minimum does not guarantee approval. Prepare a signed application and four recent, complete business bank statements before you apply.

Check the complete offer, not just the payment. Confirm the net amount your business will receive, the total payment or remittance obligation, all fees, payment frequency, and expected duration. Review liens, guarantees, early-payment treatment, and any reconciliation provisions, and remember that a factor rate on a merchant cash advance is not APR. Test the payment schedule against a delayed progress payment before you accept.

Yes. The weeks before the season are when crews are hired, equipment is serviced, and materials are priced and ordered, all before the first progress payments of the season arrive. Build the request from your booked work: the crew plan, supplier deposits, and billing milestones for the jobs ahead. Starting the season with materials and payroll covered lets you take the work you have already won instead of turning it down.

The file is familiar the second time: a signed application, four recent, complete business bank statements, and the new project budget and billing dates behind the request. What changes is the record you bring with it. Revenue handled as agreed and payments made on schedule strengthen the new review, and each project is sized on its own materials, payroll, and timing gap rather than the last job.

Build each job's gap separately first: its materials, payroll, and the date its next progress payment is expected. Then lay the two timelines side by side in a 13-week forecast. The combined request should cover the weeks where the gaps stack up, not simply add both totals, because payments from one job often land while the other is still spending.

Tell the reviewer early and show the revised timeline rather than letting a payment date pass in silence. A delay that adds costs changes the planning gap, as this page's example shows, and a business that reports the change with its updated forecast gives the servicing team something concrete to work with.

Subcontractor costs are part of the labor a project requires before its progress payment arrives, so include them in the project budget with the payment terms you have agreed. Keep your own payroll and subcontractor lines separate in the request, because their due dates rarely match, and the reviewer sizes the gap from those dates.

Yes, because retention is earned revenue you cannot spend yet. Show the amounts held, the projects they belong to, and when release is expected, so the reviewer judges your available cash accurately instead of assuming every billed dollar is in the bank. It is part of keeping the payment assumption separate from confirmed cash.

A signed application, four recent complete business bank statements, and the project budget with its billing milestones for the job being funded. Add the contract or work order behind the request where it helps explain timing. That package lets the reviewer follow the money from materials and payroll to the progress payment that follows.

Price it as its own slice. Equipment keeps earning across many jobs and usually fits a structure matched to its working life, while materials and payroll belong to one job's gap before its progress payment. Separating the slices keeps each payment aligned with what it bought and stops a single job from carrying the cost of a machine it barely used.

No. Keep the customer payment assumption separate from confirmed cash. Amounts billed but not yet collected, retention held back, and items still in approval are earned revenue you cannot spend yet. Size the request from the cash actually available, as this page's example does, and use a 13-week forecast to test the timing before accepting an obligation.

It moves that money from confirmed cash into the wait column. Map crew costs against billing milestones and expected collections, include the possibility of a delayed approval or a disputed item, and size the buffer before choosing an amount and a schedule. Tell the reviewer early and show the revised timeline rather than letting a payment date pass in silence.

They belong in the mobilization list. List supplier deposits, delivery dates, rental costs, and the work required before you can bill the customer, and compare purchase, rental, and repair costs against how much the equipment will actually be used across your booked work, including transport, maintenance, and downtime in the comparison.

Supplier deposits and material costs that must be paid before billing, delivery dates, rental costs, and the labor required to start work. Add crew payroll mapped against the billing milestones for the job. Bring the project budget, expected billing dates, and open receivables with your application, so the request matches documented job costs rather than a round estimate.

Compare the collection schedule with the way your business actually receives payments before accepting. Request the net amount, total obligation, all fees, payment frequency, and expected duration in writing, and review reconciliation provisions. Large but irregular invoices may not align with frequent automatic collections, so ask about the product's specific terms and available alternatives.

Check whether additional crews, supervision, insurance, or supplier capacity will be needed before the extra revenue arrives, and what that mobilization costs. Taking on more work spends money ahead of its first progress payment just like the current job did. Lay the new job's gap beside the open one in your forecast before committing the business to both.

Turn the request into a calendar. List each mobilization cost with the day it must be paid: supplier deposits, delivery dates, rental starts, permit fees, and each pay run before the first billing milestone. On this page's example, $55,000 of materials and payroll against $15,000 of project cash leaves a $40,000 gap, and dating each dollar shows exactly which weeks the funding has to cover.

Re-date the plan the same day. A moved delivery shifts the work that depends on it, the crew days around it, and sometimes the billing milestone behind it. Update the 13-week forecast, tell the supplier and the funding team the new date, and check whether rental or storage costs appear in the gap the delay creates. A delay handled on paper early rarely becomes a cash problem later.

A second crew spends money ahead of its first progress payment just like the first one did: wages, supervision, insurance, fuel, and mobilization all land before the extra revenue arrives. Size the addition the same way this page sizes a job, listing its costs before its first payment and the confirmed cash available, rather than assuming the current job's funding stretches to cover both.

Show the paper trail: the signed contract, the billing milestones, submitted invoices, and the customer's payment history on earlier jobs. Add your backlog and open receivables, and keep the disputed or late item named separately from confirmed cash. That record lets a review see a profitable job waiting on a slow payer, which is a different picture from a job that is losing money.

Yes. Permits, inspections, bonding, and insurance are part of the work required before you can bill the customer, and they are due on dates you often cannot move. List them on the mobilization list with their due dates, beside supplier deposits and rental starts, so the request covers the full cost of getting the job legally under way, not just materials and payroll.

Reconcile the job end to end: compare the final payment and any retention released against the costs the funding covered, confirm the remaining obligation on the agreement, and note what the delay, if there was one, actually cost. Keep the contract, billing records, and statements together. That closed-out record becomes the evidence that sizes the next job's request more accurately.

Leave it out of the plan. Retainage is released at closeout, on the owner's schedule, not yours, so size the request to the costs you must front — materials, payroll, mobilization — the way this page's example builds a $40,000 gap from $55,000 of costs against $15,000 of project cash. When the retainage lands, it refills your cash instead of rescuing it.

Yes — that gap is the core construction problem this page is built around. Map the pay application date, the expected draw date, and the payroll and supplier dates in between, and size the request to that window. A dated schedule turns a vague cash worry into a specific, reviewable plan.

The signed contract, the pay applications you submitted, the approval or dispute notes, and your bank statements showing the pattern of earlier draws. Together they show the delay is a timing problem on a performing job, not a failing one — the same distinction this page's questions have always asked you to document.

You can, if each job's costs are listed separately with its own dates. Two jobs means two draw schedules, and a request that keeps them apart lets the review match amounts to each job's fronted costs instead of blending them into one hard-to-check total.

Subcontractors front the same costs — crew wages and materials weeks before a draw — and face the same retainage holdback. The guidelines are about your business's revenue, time in business, and statements, not about which side of the contract you sign.

Compare the released amount with the plan you built: which fronted costs it was meant to refill, what balance remains on the funding, and what reserve you want to hold for the next job's mobilization. Contractors who do that closeout on paper start the next job with a number, not a hope.

It pulls them apart. Payroll keeps its dates, while the pay application, the approval, and the draw release all pass through offices that close for the holiday, so a draw that normally lands in time can land after payday instead. Map both calendars on one page before the short week arrives, and size any request to the widest gap the two calendars create.

Submit the pay application early enough that approval is not waiting on a closed office, confirm the expected release date in writing, and hold the payroll dates beside it. If the release lands after payroll, that difference is a dated, documentable gap — exactly the kind this page's example sizes from fronted materials and payroll costs.

Yes, if the January job is real and dated: a signed contract, a start date, and the mobilization costs listed the way this page lists materials and payroll before the first progress payment. A request built on dated costs for a named job reads as a plan; a request for a round number against a hoped-for job does not.

The last order date that still delivers before the holiday, the days their trucks do not run, and whether a deposit moves your delivery earlier. Supplier calendars shrink in the holiday weeks just like yours do, and a materials date confirmed in writing protects the job schedule the funding was sized around.

Because the review reads the business as it stands now, and this year's statements show the current backlog, the current deposit pattern, and how this year's draws actually behaved. Four recent, complete statements are the published starting point, and a year-end request built on them answers the questions the review will ask before it asks them.

Get the approval status in writing before the closure, note the first business day the office reopens, and hold your payroll and supplier dates against that reopening date. A documented approval waiting on a closed office is a timing problem with a date on it, and dated timing problems are the ones a funding plan can bridge cleanly.