CAN'T PAY SUPPLIERS. HERE IS THE REAL PROBLEM.
When a subcontractor can't pay material suppliers, it means AR is aging faster than AP comes due and billing isn't keeping pace with procurement. The work is done and the money is owed. The timing between the supplier invoice and the GC payment is what drains the account. CFOS aligns billing to procurement so cash comes in before supplier invoices go past terms.
AP problems sit downstream of billing problems. Fix billing velocity and collections first, and the suppliers get paid because the cash cycle is running rather than because you found money somewhere on a Thursday. That order is the whole thing. Chasing AP directly means deciding which vendor to disappoint this week, and a few months of that costs you credit lines, material pricing, and delivery priority you won't get back at the same terms. The cycle runs on what gets installed, and payment follows it.
WHAT IT MEANS.
A supplier payment crisis is what happens when AR ages faster than AP comes due and billing falls behind procurement, so material invoices go past terms while the work they paid for is still uncollected.
THE SUPPLIER CRISIS HAS THREE CAUSES.
Procurement isn't on the schedule of values
On most subcontractor jobs, material procurement is a line item in the cost code system and not a standalone billing line on the schedule of values. When a $60K rebar delivery happens in week 2, it becomes a cost. It doesn't trigger a billing event until the next pay app cycle, which may be 3 to 5 weeks away, and the supplier's net 30 clock started the day the truck showed at the gate.
Billing cut offs get missed
Every GC has a billing cut off date, the day a pay app has to be in to be included in that month's payment cycle. Miss it by one day and the app waits for the following cycle. On a monthly billing schedule, one missed cut off is 25 to 35 days of delayed cash. On a $500K job, that delay is $80K to $120K sitting uncollected.
AP aging isn't reviewed weekly
Most subcontractors review AP when suppliers call. By then the invoice is 45 days old, the account may be on hold, and the conversation is adversarial instead of cooperative. Reviewing the aging every week costs twenty minutes and changes who is calling whom.
WHAT IT LOOKS LIKE IN DOLLARS.
A $2.8M masonry contractor places a $140,000 block order in week 1 on net 30 supplier terms. The GC pays on a 25th of the month billing cycle. The pay app goes in on the 28th, three days late, so the application rolls to the following month. The GC pays 45 days after the corrected submission, and by then the block supplier's invoice is 75 days old. The supplier puts the account on credit hold, the next delivery stops, the job stops, the billing stops, and the cash problem compounds.
45 to 60 days is the average span from material to cash without procurement aligned billing, and 22 to 30 days with it. $120K is the typical AP float on a $3M sub with no weekly AP aging review. And missing a GC billing cut off by 3 days delays cash 25 to 35 days on a monthly cycle.
FOUR SYSTEMS THAT KEEP SUPPLIERS PAID AND CREDIT LINES OPEN.
Every major material procurement event gets a billing line before the contract is signed. When the material comes in, the billing event triggers, and cash follows 20 to 25 days after delivery instead of 45 to 60. Built into the SOV structure before the job starts, that alignment is the single most powerful AP fix available to a subcontractor.
Every GC's cut off date is mapped in ControlQore, and pay apps go out 2 days before the cut off rather than after it. One saved billing cycle on a $400K job is $60K to $80K of cash coming in 25 to 35 days earlier. The calendar makes the deadline non negotiable, and the whole billing calendar gets reviewed every Monday.
Every Monday: what's past 30 days, what's approaching credit hold thresholds, and which suppliers need a call today. AP gets reviewed before it becomes a crisis rather than after a supplier calls. That keeps relationships intact and credit lines open, and it lets you prioritize payments by business impact and not by whoever is loudest.
The weekly cash forecast shows every AP obligation coming due alongside expected AR collections. When a large supplier payment due in week 6 sits against a billing cycle with no expected receipt until week 8, that problem is visible 6 weeks out instead of on the day the invoice goes past terms.
FLAT MONTHLY FEE. NO SURPRISES.
Three tiers, priced by your trailing twelve month revenue. Which one you're in depends on how much of the work you want off your desk. No hourly billing, no payroll, and no add-ons.
Pricing
| Last 12 months revenue | Monthly fee |
|---|---|
| Up to $1M | $1,900 to $2,900 |
| $1M to $3.5M | $2,600 to $3,900 |
| $3.5M to $6.5M | $3,800 to $5,700 |
| $6.5M to $9.5M | $5,100 to $7,100 |
| $9.5M to $12.5M | $6,100 to $8,500 |
| $12.5M to $15.5M | $7,400 to $11,000 |
| $15.5M to $18.5M | $9,400 to $13,500 |
| $18.5M+ | Quoted individually |
Range reflects the three tiers below. Which one you're in depends on how much of the work you want off your desk. No payroll. No hidden line items.
You stop guessing.
You get the CFO work. Job costing built against the way you estimate, a 13 week cash forecast, monthly WIP, and a meeting every month that ends in decisions rather than a report.
Your bookkeeper keeps doing the books.
You stop touching the books.
Everything in Core, and we run the bookkeeping and the controllership as well. Nobody in your office is answering coding questions or chasing a reconciliation at month end.
We do the books. No payroll.
Every job shows its margin while it's still running.
Everything in Executive, plus the job costing and WIP platform set up, loaded with your cost codes, and managed for you every month. You never have to learn it.
We do the job costing.
FREQUENTLY ASKED.
