Commercial GCs and subs typically run $100,000 to over $1 million a month through their accounts, and the cash problem is rarely profitability — it's timing. Mobilization costs — crew, equipment, initial materials — land before the first draw is ever submitted, let alone paid. Draws are billed against completed work, reviewed, and paid on the owner's or GC's schedule, commonly 30 to 45 days after submission. Retainage — 5% to 10% of every draw — is withheld until the project is substantially complete, and often isn't released until months after the crew has moved to the next job.
Add a change order and the timing gets worse before it gets better: the added work is frequently performed before it's fully priced and approved, which means it's funded out of the same stretched cash as everything else.
The result is a contractor that's profitable on the job-cost report and still short for Friday payroll. That's a cash-flow problem, not a business problem, and it's usually better solved with a bridge against a specific draw or receivable-backed financing against billed work — not a general advance, which prices and remits against total deposits rather than the one draw that's actually late.
of small business financing applicants received none of the financing they sought
Federal Reserve, 2026 Small Business Credit Survey
The other 78% were priced, sized, or partially funded — GCs among them, since a job's profitability on paper rarely matches its cash position mid-project.
Enough to cover mobilization plus one full draw cycle — commonly 30 to 45 days — without relying on the next draw to fund the current one. Contractors in this range typically run $100,000 to over $1 million a month in deposits, and the right reserve or facility size scales with the largest job currently mobilizing, not the average job.
Core placements run $50,000 or more a month in deposits — squarely where commercial construction sits. Most deals land between $20,000 and $200,000 a month, with a dedicated program for contractors still building toward that.
It delays payment for work already performed by roughly 30 to 45 days after the draw is submitted, reviewed, and approved. Mobilization happens first and is billed last. The table below shows one project's shape.
| Milestone | Cash out | Cash in | Retainage held |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mobilization (Week 0) | Crew, equipment, initial materials | $0 | — |
| Draw 1 submitted (Week 4) | Ongoing labor & materials | $0 | 10% withheld on approval |
| Draw 1 paid (Week 6-8) | — | ~90% of draw 1 | Balance carried |
| Draws 2-4 (Weeks 8-20) | Continued labor & materials | Paid on same 30-45 day lag | 10% withheld each draw |
| Substantial completion | — | Final draw, less retainage | Retainage becomes due |
| Retainage release (months later) | — | 5-10% of total contract value | Released |
Every row before "retainage release" is cash the contractor has already spent. The row that actually closes the gap can land months after the crew has moved on.
Retainage is 5% to 10% of every draw, withheld by the owner or GC until the project reaches substantial completion — and it commonly isn't paid out until months after that. On a $2 million contract at 10%, that's $200,000 sitting with the owner while the contractor has already paid its crews and suppliers for the full value of the work.
Retainage exists to protect the owner against unfinished punch-list items. It doesn't protect the contractor's payroll, and it's the single largest reason a fully performing job still shows up as a cash drain for months after the work is done.
Because the added work is routinely performed before it's priced, approved, and added to the draw schedule. A supplemental scope discovered mid-project — hitting rock the geotechnical report missed, an owner-requested finish upgrade — gets built first and negotiated second. Materials and labor for that scope come out of the same stretched cash as the base contract, often for weeks before it's formally billable.
Because job-cost profitability is measured against total contract value, while cash is measured against what's actually been collected — and retainage plus the draw lag mean those two numbers rarely match mid-project. A GC can show a healthy margin on the job-cost report and still be short on a specific Friday, because 10% of every draw paid so far is sitting as retainage and the next draw hasn't cleared yet.
Usually a bridge against a specific approved draw, or receivable-backed financing against billed work — not a general revenue-based advance. An advance prices and remits against total deposits, which punishes the contractor's entire cash flow for a gap that's really about one late draw or one retainage release. A bridge or receivable-backed structure ties funding to the actual document — the draw, the pay application, the retainage schedule — and is sized and repaid against that specific inflow.
| Structure | Financed against | Fits best when |
|---|---|---|
| Bridge financing | One specific, dated, documented inflow — an approved draw or retainage release | You're waiting on one identifiable payment and know roughly when it lands |
| Receivable-backed financing | Billed, approved draws or pay applications generally | You have an ongoing pattern of approved draws moving through a predictable review cycle |
| Revenue-based advance | Overall business deposits, not tied to one draw | You need general operating capital not tied to a specific job's draw schedule |
| Equipment financing | The equipment itself, as collateral | You're buying or replacing equipment rather than covering a draw-timing gap |
For most contractors carrying a mobilization or retainage gap on an identifiable job, the bridge or receivable-backed route is both cheaper and more targeted than a general advance. Say so plainly: paying to fix one job's timing with financing sized to the whole business is usually the wrong tool.
The contract, the draw schedule, the retainage terms, and the creditworthiness of the paying owner or GC — not just the contractor's own financials.
Financing a timing gap is different from financing a bad job.
A few honest lines before financing the gap instead of the problem:
Mobilized. Waiting on the draw. Tell us the contract, the draw schedule, and what's held in retainage, and we'll size the structure that actually fits — bridge, receivable-backed, or general capital.
See your options →No credit pull to talk. Business-purpose financing only.
Under $20K a month in deposits? Most of what's above is priced for businesses doing $50K or more a month in deposits — that's the core of what we place. Funding doesn't stop below that line, though; the structure just changes. There's a program built for exactly your revenue level, and the same rule applies either way.
See what you qualify for →Handled through a funding partner. No upfront cost, and we're paid only if it funds.