PAYROLL IS FRIDAY. YOU DON'T HAVE THE MONEY.
If payroll is in 48 to 72 hours and the cash isn't there, the first move is AR recovery, not a loan. Call every GC with an outstanding invoice today and get status on every pending pay application. A $500K civil contractor often has $80K to $150K in AR that's collectible within 48 hours if the right calls get made.
This happens to contractors who aren't failing. It happens to contractors growing too fast, carrying too much retention, or running without a collections process. The work was good, the jobs made money, and the money is in a GC's payables queue behind eleven other subs. That's why the first four hours go to the phone and not to a lender. Borrowing at 40% to solve a timing problem you could solve with five phone calls is how one bad Friday turns into a bad year.
WHAT IT MEANS.
A payroll shortfall is a cash timing problem rather than a profit problem: the money you earned is sitting in somebody else's account and your payroll date came first.
A payroll crisis doesn't build in 48 hours. It builds over weeks while the work gets done, the billing goes out late, the GC pays slow, the AR sits uncollected, and overhead runs anyway. Friday is just the day it becomes visible.
WHAT TO DO RIGHT NOW.
Hour 1: list every outstanding invoice
Pull your AR aging report right now. Every invoice over 14 days gets a phone call, not an email, and you start with the largest. An $80K draw from three weeks ago that the GC forgot to process is recoverable today with a direct call.
Hour 2: call every GC with an open pay app
Don't ask when it will be processed. Ask who is holding it and what it needs in order to be released. Most GC accounting teams release early when a subcontractor calls directly and professionally, and 'I need this processed by Thursday' is a complete sentence.
Hour 3: check every active project for unbilled work
Is there work completed and not yet billed on any active job? Submit the pay application today. Some GCs will process a mid-cycle billing if it's small enough and the sub asks directly.
Hour 4: line of credit before MCA
If your bank has a line of credit, draw it today. A line of credit at 8 to 12% is infinitely better than an MCA at 40 to 80%. If you don't have a line of credit, that's the second thing to fix after payroll.
WHAT IT LOOKS LIKE IN DOLLARS.
A $500K civil contractor often has $80K to $150K in AR that's collectible within 48 hours when the right calls get made. A weekly collections cadence moves average collection from 75 days to 50 days on most jobs. Front-loading the schedule of values moves the first draw forward by 15 to 30 days on every project. None of those three costs a dollar in interest.
SO FRIDAY STOPS BEING A QUESTION.
A payroll crisis doesn't appear in 48 hours, it builds over weeks. A 13-week cash forecast would have shown the shortfall six weeks ago, when there was still time to collect AR, accelerate billing, or draw credit without panic. The forecast doesn't create cash, it creates lead time.
Every invoice over 30 days gets a follow-up call every week. Not when the balance is low, every week on schedule. This alone moves average collection from 75 days to 50 days on most jobs.
The schedule of values on every active project should be front-loaded, with mobilization, submittals, and early phases billed at full defensible value. This moves the first draw forward by 15 to 30 days on every project. Defensible is the operative word, because a padded SOV buys one good month and slows every application after it.
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.
