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 is due and billing is not keeping pace with procurement. The work is done. The money is owed. The timing gap between supplier invoice and GC payment is draining the account. CFOS aligns billing to procurement so cash comes in before supplier invoices go past terms.
AP problems are downstream of billing problems. Fix billing velocity and collections first. The suppliers get paid when the cash cycle is running. CFOS installs the cycle.
AP PILES UP WHEN BILLING FALLS BEHIND PROCUREMENT.
A $2.8M masonry contractor places a $140,000 block order in week 1. The supplier invoices net-30. The GC pays on a 25th-of-the-month billing cycle. The contractor submits the pay app that includes the material on the 28th — three days after the GC's cut-off. The app is rolled to the following month. The GC pays 45 days after the corrected submission.
By then, the block supplier's invoice is 75 days old. The supplier is on the phone. The contractor's account is on credit hold. The next delivery for the job does not ship until the account is cleared. The job stops. Billing stops. The cash problem compounds.
This failure chain starts with one missed billing cut-off. A $140K material order on a job that is billing $280K per month. Three days late on a pay app submission causes a 45-day cash delay and a supplier credit hold. That is not a slow GC problem. That is a billing discipline problem.
THE SUPPLIER CRISIS HAS THREE CAUSES.
On most subcontractor jobs, material procurement is a line item in the cost code system — not a standalone billing line on the schedule of values. When a $60K rebar delivery happens in week 2, it becomes a cost. It does not trigger a billing event until the next pay app cycle, which may be 3 to 5 weeks away.
CFOS structures the SOV before the contract is signed. Every major material procurement event — concrete, rebar, electrical gear, structural steel — gets its own billing line. When material is delivered and staged, the billing line is ready. The pay app captures it immediately. Cash comes in 20–25 days after delivery instead of 45–60.
Every GC has a billing cut-off date — the day by which a pay app must be submitted to be included in that month's payment cycle. Miss it by one day and the app waits until the following cycle. On a monthly billing schedule, one missed cut-off is 25–35 days of delayed cash. On a $500K job, that delay represents $80K–$120K sitting uncollected.
CFOS maps every active job's GC cut-off date into ControlQore. Pay apps go out 2 business days before the cut-off, not after. The billing calendar is reviewed every Monday. There is no "we'll get to it this week" — the cut-off is the deadline and the deadline is immovable.
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. CFOS runs a weekly AP aging review — every Monday, alongside the AR review. What is due this week. What is due next week. Which invoices are approaching credit-hold thresholds. Which suppliers need a call now before the account goes sideways.
Proactive AP management keeps supplier relationships intact, maintains credit lines, and allows the business to prioritize payments based on business impact rather than whoever is calling the loudest.
FOUR SYSTEMS THAT KEEP SUPPLIERS PAID AND CREDIT LINES OPEN.
FLAT MONTHLY FEE. NO SURPRISES.
Two tiers based on trailing 12-month revenue. No hourly billing. No payroll. No add-ons.
| Revenue | Core Financial | Executive Financial |
|---|---|---|
| Under $1M | $1,900/mo | $2,900/mo |
| $1M–$3M | $2,600/mo | $3,600/mo |
| $4M–$6M | $3,800/mo | $5,500/mo |
| $7M–$9M | $5,100/mo | $6,900/mo |
| $10M–$12M | $6,100/mo | $8,500/mo |
| $13M+ | Quoted | Quoted |
FREQUENTLY ASKED.
