Cash Flow for Fiber Contractors
Fiber contractors lose cash to three overlapping gaps: carrier billing cycles running 45–60 days creating a permanent receivables pipeline, T&M rates that do not cover overhead when carrier deployment pauses, and no 13-week forecast to show the cash shortage coming. On $250K of monthly T&M work with 45-day pay cycles, $375K of earned revenue is always in the pipeline. When a carrier project pauses, costs keep running against zero new billing. That is not bad luck. It is a structural cash gap with a specific fix.
The cash flow volatility that fiber contractors experience — flush months followed by months where payroll is a question mark — is not random. It follows carrier deployment cycles that happen on a predictable schedule. The problem is that most fiber contractors do not have a 13-week cash forecast that maps expected payment receipts against committed costs. They find out about the shortage when they log in Thursday night before Friday payroll. CFOS builds that forecast and runs the AR follow-up rhythm that compresses the 45-day pay cycle as much as the carrier will allow.
Why Fiber Cash Hits and Misses
Net 45 Means $375K In the Pipeline on $3M Annual Revenue
Major carriers pay net 45 at best. Net 60 happens. On $250K of monthly T&M work, a 45-day pay cycle means $375K of earned revenue is permanently in the pipeline — completed work, billed, waiting for a carrier payment run. When a carrier project pauses mid-cycle, the receivables from the last active months sit in the pipeline while crew costs keep running. Weekly AR follow-up compresses the cycle. A 13-week cash forecast shows the gap coming 6–8 weeks out instead of 6–8 hours before payroll.
The Rate That Works at 80% Loses Cash at 55%
When carrier deployments slow, crew utilization drops but payroll does not. If the T&M rate was built on 80% utilization, every hour billed at 55% utilization loses money on overhead. On $250K of monthly T&M work dropping to $140K during a carrier pause, that is $15K–$25K of monthly overhead shortfall hitting operating cash directly. The fix is a rate built on honest annual utilization — so slow months are already covered in the pricing.
Pure T&M Has No Cash Floor
A fiber contractor running 100% carrier T&M has no contracted revenue floor. When the carrier pauses, revenue goes to zero. Structured cabling, enterprise network installations, and government broadband projects provide a contracted billing base. They do not pay as well per hour as hot carrier T&M work. They do not disappear when a carrier deployment pauses. Revenue mix is a cash flow tool — not just a growth strategy.
FLAT MONTHLY FEE. NO SURPRISES.
Two tiers based on trailing 12-month revenue. No hourly billing. No payroll. No add-ons.
- ControlQore setup and job costing structure
- Books migrated to start of last taxable year
- Full-service bookkeeping and bank reconciliations
- Monthly job cost reports
- Everything in Core Financial
- Monthly CFO advisory meeting
- Controllership and WIP reporting
- Cash forecasting and AR follow-up rhythm
- Strategic accountability
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