WHY DO GCs TAKE SO LONG TO PAY SUBCONTRACTORS?
A GC usually pays a subcontractor slowly because of one or more of four things: a pay-when-paid or pay-if-paid clause that ties your payment to the owner's, the owner's own approval and payment cycle, a pay application rejected for missing paperwork, and a GC managing its own cash at your expense. Days sales outstanding of 45 is the target for a subcontractor, 30 is strong and 90 is weak. The fix is a cash forecast built on the real pay dates of each GC, so slow pay is planned for and payroll never waits on it.
You invoice on the 25th and expect money in 30 days. The GC bills the owner on the same date. The owner's representative reviews it for a few weeks. The owner's accounts payable pays on its own cycle. Only then does the clause in your subcontract let the GC pay you. Each of those steps is a legitimate delay, and together they can turn a 30 day term into 75 or 90. Slow pay is rarely one person's fault. It's a series of steps, and you can measure each one.
WHAT IT MEANS.
General contractors pay subcontractors slowly for four reasons: the contract ties payment to the owner paying the GC, the owner's own approval cycle is long, rejected pay applications restart the clock, and the GC is using the delay to fund its own cash.
Some late payments are collections problems. Many are timing problems you could see the day you signed the contract. A clause tying your payment to the owner's means you wait as long as the owner does. Retainage held past substantial completion means a second wait. Neither is a surprise if someone reads the contract and puts the dates in a forecast.
Knowing which one you have changes what you do. For a collections problem, you follow up on a set schedule and, if needed, use your lien and notice rights. For a timing problem, you use pricing, a cash forecast and a line of credit sized to the delay. Mixing them up wastes your time and can hurt your relationship with a GC you may want to keep.
WHAT IS BEHIND THE DELAY.
The clause ties your payment to the owner's
Under a pay-when-paid clause, the GC owes you once the owner pays the GC. Pay-if-paid goes further. In most states these clauses are enforceable, so a 30 day term can legally stretch to whatever the owner takes. That wait costs you money, and it belongs in the bid.
The owner's approval and payment cycle is long
Public owners and large private owners review pay applications, schedule approvals and pay on a fixed calendar. Miss the cutoff by a day and the payment moves to the next cycle. The GC has no control over that, and you have no control over the GC's timing.
A pay application is rejected and the clock restarts
Missing lien waivers, insurance certificates, certified payroll or an unapproved change order can send an invoice back. The payment date then restarts from the corrected submission. Clean up your own paperwork first and a large share of what looks like slow pay goes away.
The GC is managing its own cash
Some GCs hold payables as long as they can, because subcontractors are cheaper credit than a bank. It's predictable. So you can measure it GC by GC, and price it or walk away.
RESEARCH FROM OTHER SOURCES.
These figures come from another company's survey. None of them come from SPM's clients. Each one cites the report and the page.
Billd's 2026 National Subcontractor Market Report found subcontractors reported waiting an average of 51 days for payment, against 35 days reported by general contractors.
Source: Billd, 2026 National Subcontractor Market Report, pages 4 and 5 (survey of 623 respondents, published May 13, 2026).
The report doesn't state when the 51 days start. The 2024 and 2025 reports measured the wait from the pay application.
Billd's National Subcontractor Market Reports put the average subcontractor payment wait at 57 days in 2024, 56 days in 2025 and 51 days in 2026.
Source: Billd, 2024 National Subcontractor Market Report, page 4 (survey of 696 respondents, published April 22, 2024); Billd, 2025 National Subcontractor Market Report, page 3 (survey of over 800 construction professionals, published April 15, 2025); Billd, 2026 National Subcontractor Market Report, page 4 (survey of 623 respondents, published May 13, 2026).
The 2024 and 2025 reports measured the wait from the pay application. The 2026 report doesn't state a starting point, so read the three figures as a direction and not as a like for like trend.
PLAN FOR THE DELAY, THEN SHORTEN IT.
Track days from invoice to cash for every GC over the last twelve months. A GC that averages 68 days is a different customer from one that averages 34, and your bid, your credit terms and your forecast should treat them differently.
Build a 13 week cash forecast with each GC's real pay history, retainage release dates, payroll and vendor dates. It shows the weeks cash goes short before they come. Then you set up a line of credit ahead of time and don't scramble for one.
Submit complete pay applications the first time. Follow up the same way on every invoice. Put the cost of slow pay into new bids. A GC who pays late can still be profitable if your price covers the wait.
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. We don't bill by the hour, and we don't do payroll. The one-time onboarding fee is 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.
We build your plan every month. Your team does the work.
You get the CFO work: job costing built to match the way you estimate, a 13 week cash forecast, WIP every month, and a monthly meeting that ends with decisions.
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.
We build the plan, track it and adjust it every month.
We only work with trade subcontractors. We know what to look for, and we fix problems while they're still small. 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 pay for it.
Our team does the bookkeeping and the reconciliations. We don't do payroll.
Strategic, plus a controller who handles payables and receivables the way an in-house controller would. You approve every payment.
We manage the money side for you, every week.
Everything in Strategic, plus our team does the controller work. We handle your bills and receivables the way an in-house controller would: we 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.
Our team does the payables and receivables. We don't do payroll, pay applications or collections.
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