Working Capital for Construction Companies
Capital that moves with the job, not the calendar.
One place for contractors to size the draw-cycle float, price retainage honestly, check a bid before it goes out, and see which financing structure fits the job schedule rather than the other way around.
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Start with the move
What construction companies use business funding for
Pick one and the calculator below changes to the question that move actually asks.
Run the numbers first
The gap between a draw request and the check
The work is done, the draw is submitted, and the money lands when the owner or GC processes it. Count what the float costs while you carry a job you have already billed.
$120,000
Trailing 3-month average across active jobs, not the best month.
85
21
From first payroll and material buy to the day the draw goes out.
52
Include approval time, not just the stated terms.
30
What the contract says, so the drift against it is visible.
18
Revenue less direct job cost. It sets what you actually laid out.
14
What the money funding the wait costs you annually.
Projection
Working capital the cycle ties up
At these figures, working capital the cycle ties up comes out at $200,736.
Working capital the cycle ties up
$200,736
Base, example figures- Cash cycle
- 73
- Sitting in unpaid draws
- $174,378
Full breakdown
- Days paid beyond terms
- 22
- Cost of carrying it for a year
- $28,103
- Same cost, monthly
- $2,342
- Freed if they paid on terms
- $60,496
Key insights
- Working capital the cycle ties up runs from $173,238 to $230,984 as days you fund the job first moves from 11 days to 32 days.
- Working capital the cycle ties up rises as days you fund the job first rises.
Nothing you type here leaves your browser
Every figure is worked out on this page. No input is sent anywhere, stored, or attached to you.
Every figure here is yours to check
It runs on the numbers you entered and nothing else, so you can rebuild any line of it by hand.
Talk to a funding specialist
A real conversation about what these numbers mean before you apply to anything.
What this model leaves out An estimate from your own inputs, not an offer.Read the full note
Draw-gap uses the receivables-gap formula: it sizes the float your draw cycle carries and does not price a specific funding offer.
Typical construction companies funding requests
- $25K-$500KTypical request range
What we actually structure for this industry. Your amount depends on the file.
- 8Structures we place
Equipment, line of credit, term, SBA, asset-based, receivables, revenue-based, and a business HELOC.
- $0Cost to ask
No applicant fees and no hard credit pull to start. Funding partners set final terms.
The numbers
What this industry runs on.
- More than 8 millionConstruction employees in the USU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Current Employment Statistics ·
- The vast majorityShare of firms that are smallAssociated General Contractors of America ·
- 5% to 10% typicalRetainage held on private workIndustry practice documented by the Associated General Contractors of America ·
The cash year
When the money gets tight.
Construction demand is a weather and calendar business. The cash year is not flat, and the structures that fit follow the troughs.
No free source publishes a monthly national index of construction cash flow, so this section describes the pattern in plain terms rather than charting invented numbers.
Winter (northern markets)
Mobilization and layoffs depending on the region; equipment financing and lines of credit carry the slow months so crews and machines are ready for spring.
Spring mobilization
The front-loaded cost of starting the season, hiring, materials, and equipment, lands before the first draws. This is the clearest working-capital trough of the year.
Late-fall wrap-up
Retainage releases and final draws concentrate late; receivables financing and draw-gap lines turn held money into working capital instead of waiting on acceptance.
Funding products
What actually gets placed for construction companies.
- Line of creditMaterials and payroll between draws
- Receivables financingDraws and retainage you cannot wait for
- Equipment financingMachines and fleet over their useful life
- Term loanDefined purchases and expansion
- SBALarger and longer, slower to close
- Revenue-based financingAn urgent gap, at a higher cost
Monthly
The Construction Capital Brief
Once a month: what the national construction picture is doing, which structures are being written for contractors, and the compliance and retainage changes worth knowing before you sign. No pitch, unsubscribe in one click.
Reading
The full library.
Everything we have published for construction companies, newest first. 3 pieces in total. Narrow it to the shelf you need, or read straight down the list.
- Equipment Financing Without Draining CashHow equipment financing works, illustrative rates and terms, how to qualify, and when it beats leasing, a term loan, or paying cash.Jul 9, 2026
- Business Term Loans: A Complete Guide for OwnersAn honest guide to business term loans: how they work, illustrative rates and terms, how to qualify, and when one beats a line of credit.Jul 4, 2026
- MCA vs. Traditional Business Loan: Full ComparisonMCA vs traditional business loan: cost, speed, qualification, and when each makes sense. An honest side-by-side, not the loudest pitch.May 3, 2026
Disclosure
Figures on this page are illustrative estimates only and are not an offer of financing. All amounts, rates, factor rates, terms, payment amounts, timelines, and qualification criteria vary by lender, depend on funder underwriting and your business's bank statement history, and are subject to change without notice. Nothing here is guaranteed until a funder issues terms and you sign them. Factor rates do not represent APR. Commera is a broker, not a lender, and does not set rates.
Common questions
construction companies funding questions, answered straight.
The questions owners ask before they apply, answered for construction companies.
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