Working Capital for Construction Contractors in New York

Payroll first, always

When a contractor runs short, the first thing that cannot slip is payroll. A skilled crew has options, and missing a payday risks losing people mid-job. Materials come next, since suppliers can hold deliveries. Overhead slips last, but it also piles up.

Working capital is general-purpose operating funding. It helps you cover these items while your receivables catch up.

Where a contractor's cash actually sits

• Receivables: invoiced work waiting to be paid.
• Retainage: money earned but held back until completion, a common feature of construction contracts.
• Materials: already purchased and sitting in a yard or on a site.
• Mobilization: costs paid before work started.

Money tied up in those four places is not available for payroll even though the business is owed it. Working capital turns some of that waiting into usable cash.

Sizing your request: a short exercise

1. Add up eight weeks of payroll, materials and overhead across current jobs.
2. Subtract what you realistically expect to collect in the same eight weeks.
3. Add a cushion for a delayed payment.
4. Compare the result to our minimum of $25,000. A smaller gap may not be a fit for us.

Not the right tool when

Working capital is not designed to carry a loss-making job, and it should not become a permanent substitute for a cash reserve. If you find yourself needing it every month, look at pricing, payment terms and project mix.

What we need from you

Here is what to expect from us. The range is $25,000 to $5,000,000. We look at about three months of business bank statements, consider FICO scores from 500, and skip tax returns. The application takes around 5 minutes with a soft credit pull, and funding can come in as little as 24 hours. Sole proprietors are eligible to apply.

A worked example, for illustration only

A mechanical subcontractor has three jobs running. Combined weekly payroll is $18,000, and two progress payments are late. Four weeks of covering the gap would need about $72,000, before materials. The figures are invented to show the mechanics and are not a quote or typical result.

Seasonal swings for New York trades

Not every trade runs through winter at the same speed. Exterior and site work can slow when the weather turns, while interior finish trades often stay busy. A contractor whose work leans exterior may find that January payroll arrives with little billing behind it. Planning working capital around that quiet stretch, rather than the busiest month, gives a more honest picture of the amount you might need.

Keeping the paperwork ready

Clean books shorten the conversation with any funder. Reconcile your bank accounts monthly, keep job-level records of what has been billed and paid, and separate personal spending from the business account. We review about three months of business bank statements, so tidy statements make it much easier to see the deposits that matter.