Eaglepark Business Funding in Henderson, North Carolina offers this cash flow worksheet and loan payment calculator for Vance County, NC contractors sizing the gap between paying for a job and being paid for it.
Contractor Cash Flow Analysis: Draw Dates, Payroll and Material Bills
Cash flow analysis for a job comes down to three lists, each with dates:
- Money going out: payroll every week or two, material deliveries, equipment rentals, fuel, insurance and subcontractor payments.
- Money coming in: each draw or progress payment, net of retainage, on the date it is realistically paid, not the date it is billed.
- Cash on hand at the start of the job.
Lay the three lists out week by week and keep a running balance. The low point of that balance is the cash the job needs from somewhere else, which is the figure a funding request should name.
Construction Cash Flow Forecast for a Vance County, NC Job With Retainage
Illustration only, invented figures: a $100,000 job runs twelve weeks. The crew's payroll is an invented $5,400 a week, materials arrive in weeks 1, 5 and 9, and the owner pays draws in weeks 4, 8 and 12 for 30%, 40% and 30% of the contract, each less 5% retainage. The invented business starts with $10,000 in the account.
| Week | Cash out | Draw received | Balance |
|---|---|---|---|
| Week 1 | $19,400 | - | $9,400 short |
| Week 2 | $5,400 | - | $14,800 short |
| Week 3 | $5,400 | - | $20,200 short |
| Week 4 | $5,400 | $28,500 | $2,900 |
| Week 5 | $14,400 | - | $11,500 short |
| Week 6 | $5,400 | - | $16,900 short |
| Week 7 | $5,400 | - | $22,300 short |
| Week 8 | $5,400 | $38,000 | $10,300 |
| Week 9 | $9,400 | - | $900 |
| Week 10 | $5,400 | - | $4,500 short |
| Week 11 | $5,400 | - | $9,900 short |
| Week 12 | $5,400 | $28,500 | $13,200 |
The balance hits its low point in week 7, at $22,300 short. That is the gap to fund. The invented retainage, $5,000 in all, is still owed after week 12 and arrives only at final acceptance, so it cannot be counted on to cover the gap.
From the Gap to a Monthly Payment: The Loan Calculator on This Page
Type the gap into the loan calculator, with a rate and a term, to see an estimated payment. Illustration only, invented figures: $22,300 at an annual rate of 12% over 6 months comes to about $3,848 a month and about $787 in total interest (our arithmetic).
A contractor with gaps on every job may compare that loan with a line of credit drawn job by job, or with working capital for a single large job.
Contractor Cash Flow Issues the Calculator Makes Visible
- A draw that slips a week or two, which deepens the low point.
- Materials bought in one large delivery instead of staged ones.
- Retainage held until the end, which leaves the last weeks short.
- Two jobs whose low points fall in the same weeks.
- Payroll that grows mid-job when a second crew is added.
Running the worksheet with the draw dates pushed back two weeks shows how much cushion the job really has. Running it again with a second job layered on top shows whether the two low points stack, which is when a credit line sized to the combined low point earns its keep.
What the Calculator Does Not Show: Approval, Rates and Fees
The worksheet and the calculator are arithmetic on your own figures. They do not show whether a partner will approve a request, what rate or term it would offer, or what fees it would charge; those come only from an actual offer. The rate you type is a guess until then.
Vance County, NC counted 76 construction employers in 2023, 45 of them specialty trade contractors (County Business Patterns). Each job is different, which is why the worksheet starts from the job's own dates.
For equipment or a yard purchase on a fixed schedule, see term loans; when the numbers are ready, send the request form.
By Eaglepark Business Funding · Updated
