YOUR LINE OF CREDIT IS MAXED. HERE'S WHY AND HOW TO FIX IT.
A maxed line of credit means you've used your cash buffer and are operating with no financial margin for error. The next unexpected expense, slow pay from a GC, or bad weather week hits operations directly, with no cushion. Most LOCs max out because of three compounding problems: AR that isn't collected on schedule, billing that goes out late, and overhead that's higher than the margin can support. The LOC was supposed to be a bridge, drawn and repaid within 30 to 60 days.
When the balance has been at the limit for three months straight, the line stopped being a bridge and became permanent financing for the shortfall the business runs every month. That's a different problem than a cash crunch, and it doesn't respond to the same fix. A bigger line refills at a higher balance on the same schedule, because nothing about the billing or the collecting changed. The thing to correct is the cash system underneath the line, and the good news is that most of the money needed to pay the balance down has already been earned.
WHAT IT MEANS.
A maxed line of credit is a revolving bank line that has been drawn to its limit, which means the cash buffer the business borrows against is fully spent.
The three causes below tend to run together rather than one at a time. A contractor collecting in 75 days is usually also billing late, and a contractor billing late is usually also carrying more overhead than the margin covers. That's why paying the balance down takes a sequence rather than a single decision, and why the sequence starts with the cash you've already billed for.
THE THREE COMPOUNDING PROBLEMS THAT DRAIN AN LOC.
Slow AR collection
Every invoice that sits 60 days instead of 30 is another 30 days of borrowed cash financed by the LOC. On $5M of revenue, moving average collection from 75 days to 45 days frees $415K, which can pay off most LOCs without any new revenue. That money has already been earned and billed, so recovering it costs nothing but phone calls and a schedule.
Late or back loaded billing
Pay applications submitted on the 20th instead of the 1st delay cash by 30 days. Back loaded schedules of values push the largest draws to the end of the project, so the front half of the job runs on borrowed money. Both of those force the LOC to cover the hole that billing was supposed to cover.
Overhead running ahead of margin
If overhead is 22 percent of revenue and gross margin is 19 percent, the LOC is financing the 3 point shortfall every month. No billing or collections improvement fixes a negative margin structure, because the business is losing money on the arithmetic before a single invoice goes out late. Only overhead reduction or margin improvement closes that one.
WHAT IT LOOKS LIKE IN DOLLARS.
On $5M of revenue, moving average collection from 75 days to 45 days frees $415K. Front loading every active schedule of values and submitting every pay application on the 1st moves another $150K to $300K forward in cash timing on a $5M subcontractor over the following 60 days. Neither of those requires a new contract or a bigger line.
A verified civil client doing $6.7M had a $348K LOC maxed out with overhead running at 30 percent. Within 30 days of the billing and collections process going in, there was $309K in the bank. The $348K LOC was fully paid off within 60 days, and the owner paid out $65K in bonuses.
HOW TO PAY OFF THE LOC AND KEEP IT PAID.
Call every GC with an outstanding invoice, and work the largest and oldest first. A single $100K draw released early pays down a significant portion of most LOCs. This is cash you already earned, it just hasn't been collected, which makes it the cheapest money available to you this month.
Front load every active schedule of values and submit every pay application on the 1st. Put the weekly collections cadence in place at the same time so nothing slides back into the 60 day bucket while you're working the old invoices. These changes move $150K to $300K forward in cash timing on a $5M subcontractor over the next 60 days.
Once the LOC is paid down, the forecast tells you when to draw and when to repay, which is what keeps it from becoming permanent financing again. The line should be drawn for specific, predictable mobilization needs and repaid within 30 to 45 days. A draw with a repayment date attached is a tool, and a draw without one is a habit.
THE OUTPUTS, NAMED.
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.
| 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.
