FRAMING JOBS LOOK PROFITABLE. THE CASH IS STILL IN TRANSIT.
Framing 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 framing 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 framing 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.
Framing sets the pace for the whole job. Weather delays, foundation delays and late truss deliveries fall on the framer first. The GC's schedule pressure falls hardest on the trade with the least float. Acceleration (bigger crews, Saturdays) rarely comes with acceleration money unless you document it and bill it.
WHAT MOVES MARGIN IN THIS TRADE.
The Commodity Wrapper
Lumber is at $487 per MBF, with a $440 to $540 expected range and 20 to 30 percent price changes inside a year in the past. You sell it in fixed-price contracts. Without escalation clauses, dated price bases and careful buyout, you're an unhedged lumber trader with a nail gun.
The Pace-Setter's Penalty
The first trade in takes every delay from upstream and every schedule demand from downstream. If you speed up and don't document and bill the cost, you've given the GC free overtime.
The 18 Percent Ceiling
Framing has the thinnest gross margin of the served trades, with zero room for extra cost. Unpriced specialty framing at $500 to $1,500 per feature and blended wood and steel cost history turn a 5 percent net before taxes into a loss.
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.
FRAMING BENCHMARKS.
Framing subcontractors at $1M to $5M net 5 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.
