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, holding too much retention, or operating 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.
Rather talk it through first? Book a 20 minute call. Nothing gets sold on this call.
Want Josh to build it with you? Cash Flow Intervention, $497 one time. A 90 minute session that fills in the 13 week forecast with your real numbers and makes the billing changes on the call.
WHAT IT MEANS.
A payroll shortfall is a cash timing problem rather than a profit problem: the money you earned is 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 stays uncollected, and overhead continues 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.
RESEARCH FROM OTHER SOURCES.
These figures come from another company's survey, not from SPM's clients. Each one cites the report and the page.
Billd's 2025 National Subcontractor Market Report found 86 percent of subcontractors come out of pocket to cover labor and 75 percent come out of pocket for materials before they receive payment.
Source: Billd, 2025 National Subcontractor Market Report, page 5 (survey of over 800 construction professionals, published April 15, 2025).
Billd's 2026 National Subcontractor Market Report found 83 percent of business owners reported worrying about their cash flow in 2025.
Source: Billd, 2026 National Subcontractor Market Report, page 5 (survey of 623 respondents, published May 13, 2026).
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. The one-time onboarding fee is right here in the table.
Built for subs doing $1M to $12M. Above $12.5M we quote.
| Last 12 months revenue | Core | Strategic | Platinum | One-time onboarding |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Under $1M | $1,900 | $3,100 | $3,300 | $2,500 |
| $1M to $3.5M | $2,600 | $4,100 | $5,300 | $4,500 |
| $3.5M to $6.5M | $3,800 | $5,900 | $8,300 | $6,000 |
| $6.5M to $9.5M | $5,100 | $7,600 | $11,800 | $7,500 |
| $9.5M to $12.5M | $6,100 | $8,900 | $14,900 | $9,000 |
| Above $12.5M | Quoted | Quoted | Quoted | Quoted |
The onboarding fee covers migrating your books back to the start of your last taxable year and getting you fully operational in 60 days. It's billed once, with your first invoice. It's the same for all three tiers, and it moves with your revenue band. Your first month is prorated, and your monthly engagement starts on the first of the first full month.
Just want the setup? Onboarding only is the same onboarding work with no monthly service after it, one time, at the onboarding fee plus $2,000. Start a monthly engagement later and $2,000 counts toward it. It starts at $4,500, and the price for every band is on the pricing page.
The three tier columns are the whole price. Which one fits depends on how much of the work you want off your desk. No payroll. No hidden line items. The onboarding fee is right here in the table.
- Online software only: QuickBooks, Sage, Viewpoint and similar. No VPN or hosted desktop.
- Not in any tier: payroll, pay applications, collections on receivables.
- Pricing valid through 2027.
CFO work. Your own bookkeeper keeps doing the books.
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 and never in a report.
Your bookkeeper still does the books.
Core, plus bookkeeping and bank reconciliations, plus job costing and WIP software set up and managed for you. Use your own online accounting software or we supply it, one price.
Every job shows its margin while it is still open.
Everything in Core, plus the bookkeeping and bank reconciliations done for you, and the job costing and WIP software set up, loaded with your cost codes, and managed every month. Use your own online software, or move to ours and we cover it.
A bookkeeper we choose does the books and reconciliations. No payroll.
Strategic, plus a controller who handles payables and receivables the way an in-house controller would. You approve every payment.
You approve, and the money side gets handled.
Everything in Strategic, plus a controller we choose who handles your bills and receivables for you the way an in-house controller would. They call vendors, pay the bills and keep the accounting current. We plan the cash flow first, and you approve every payment because it is your money.
A controller we choose does the payables and receivables. No payroll, no pay applications, no collections.
FREQUENTLY ASKED.
