FIBER JOBS LOOK PROFITABLE. THE ACCOUNT IS STILL EMPTY.
Fiber subcontractors have no cash left for reasons specific to how the work is built and billed, on jobs that are making money. The three that cost the most in this trade are below, taken from fiber contractor research. Most are at 75 to 90 days from finishing work to holding the money, and 45 days is achievable.
Cash and profit are measured on different clocks. Your profit and loss records revenue when you invoice and costs when you incur them, while the bank account only knows what cleared. Labour goes out weekly and collects 45 to 90 days later, minus retention. That distance is what a growing, profitable fiber company funds out of pocket, and it widens as you grow. The specific things that widen it in this trade are what the rest of this page is about.
WHERE IT LEAKS OUT.
Carrier and ISP master service agreements pay per unit (per foot placed, per splice, per home connected) on the carrier's payment calendar. Completion documentation, as-built packages and closeout audits hold up every invoice. Crews get paid weekly and carrier terms stretch for months, so contractors turn to factoring, the same cut to margin the concrete cluster warns about.
The $42.45B BEAD program reached its deployment inflection in 2026: most states' final proposals are in, funding is distributing through state broadband offices, and construction is beginning to flow, with peak activity projected through 2030. But the program has been rewritten mid-stream (fiber preference removed, requirements cut, potential payouts reduced to around $20 billion by some industry estimates), and contractors positioning for BEAD subcontracts face Davis-Bacon compliance, insurance/COI packages with 24-to-48-hour correction windows, and compressed engineering timelines. The opportunity is real; the cash and compliance load comes before the revenue does.
Directional drilling near existing utilities faces the same 811/strike liability regime as excavation (strict liability trends, GL sublimits, $2,500-$10,000 fine tiers), with fiber's twist: cross-bores into sewer laterals discovered years later.
BEAD and carrier work both hold payment for GIS deliverables, as-built documentation and audit-ready packages. The documentation formats differ from commercial builds, and final payment stops when crews get ahead of the paperwork. In this trade the cash problem is a reporting problem.
WHAT MOVES MARGIN IN THIS TRADE.
The Carrier's Calendar
Unit-price MSAs pay per foot and per splice on the carrier's terms, and only after closeout documentation. Crews get paid Friday. The carrier pays when the audit clears. That wait is where fiber contractors meet factoring salesmen.
The Pole Owner's Price
The utility that owns the pole sets, schedules and invoices make-ready. One industry director puts the five-year increase near 300 percent. If a pass-through triples and has no variance report of its own, nobody has priced it.
The Paperwork Mile
As-builts, GIS packages and compliance documentation hold up every dollar of BEAD and carrier money. Work you finish ahead of the paperwork is in the ground, and you can't bill it.
DAYS SALES OUTSTANDING.
Ninety days is weak, 45 is the target, 30 is strong. Nothing else moves cash faster.
| Position | Days | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| Weak | 90 days | Roughly three months of work funded out of your own pocket. |
| Target | 45 days | You can get here on the days you control. Bill on time, send complete paperwork, and follow up in week two. |
| Strong | 30 days | Takes work every month. It's the cheapest money you can get. |
Moving from 90 days to 45 frees roughly annual revenue divided by 365, times 45 days. At $4M that's about $493,000. At $8M it's about $986,000. That money costs no interest and needs no bank. So we fix billing and collections before we talk about financing.
FIBER BENCHMARKS.
Fiber subcontractors at $1M to $5M net 7 percent, against the CFOS net profit target, set at your trade's net profit average at your revenue plus 3.5 points, never below 10 percent, before taxes. The working capital target is 13 percent of annual revenue, and the monthly close should finish by day 10 so the numbers can still change a decision.
FREQUENTLY ASKED.
