ELECTRICAL CONTRACTOR ROUGH-IN TO TRIM-OUT CASH HOLE — HOW TO MANAGE THE 90-DAY GAP.
The rough-in to trim-out cash hole is one of the most predictable cash flow problems in commercial electrical contracting. Rough-in completes. The crew reduces. The last rough-in billing event was 3 weeks ago. Trim-out does not start for another 75 days because the GC is still finishing walls and ceilings. Overhead runs. A skeleton crew maintains the site. No billing events exist. The 13-week forecast built at contract execution shows this gap 12 weeks in advance. Built after it arrives, it shows nothing useful.
SPM models the electrical cash hole at contract execution for every project above $300K. The LOC draw plan for the gap period is in place before rough-in begins.
WHY ELECTRICAL CASH FLOW GOES NEGATIVE BETWEEN PHASES — AND WHAT TO DO ABOUT IT.
Rough-In Completes, Billing Stops, Costs Continue
Commercial electrical projects have a well-known cash hole between rough-in completion and trim-out start. Rough-in is complete. The crew is demobilized or reduced to a skeleton crew. The SOV has been billed through the rough-in milestones. But costs continue: the reduced crew maintaining code compliance, punch list items from the rough-in inspection, materials staging and protection, and the fixed overhead that runs regardless of project pace. Meanwhile, no significant new billing events exist until trim-out begins — which may be 30–90 days later depending on the general construction schedule.
SOV That Front-Loads Rough-In Creates a Back-Loaded Trim-Out
When the SOV is front-loaded toward rough-in — because that is where the material cost is heaviest and billing early improves cash flow during rough-in — the trim-out phase has less billing value than labor content. The electrical contractor spent time and crew on trim-out but the SOV value for trim-out was consumed in the front-loading. The result is a trim-out phase that has high labor cost and low billing recovery. The cash hole is worst when rough-in is overbilled relative to completion AND trim-out SOV value is proportionally lower than trim-out labor content.
Why the Gap Is Often 90 Days, Not 30
On commercial construction projects, the gap between electrical rough-in completion and trim-out start is determined by the general construction schedule — the walls close, the ceiling grid is installed, HVAC is complete, painting is done, and then electrical trim-out begins. That sequence commonly takes 60–90 days on a typical commercial project. An electrical subcontractor who has fully billed the rough-in phase and has no billing events until trim-out starts is carrying crew costs, overhead, and retained payroll obligations through a 90-day zero-billing window.
THREE SOV AND CASH MANAGEMENT ACTIONS THAT REDUCE THE GAP.
The working capital sizing implication: An electrical subcontractor with a 90-day cash hole on a $600K project with $12,000/week in crew and overhead costs during the gap needs $156,000 in working capital to bridge the hole. Model it at contract execution. If available working capital does not cover it, the SOV structure needs to be renegotiated before rough-in begins, not when the gap arrives.
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