You can run a profitable year and still scramble to make payroll, because profit is earned over time while cash is a question of timing. Material bought today, labor paid Friday, and an invoice collected in 45 days is a cash gap even on a great job.
The levers: deposits and progress draws that match your outlays, invoicing promptly and following up on receivables, not letting work get far ahead of payments, and keeping a reserve for the gaps. Pricing for margin keeps you profitable; managing timing keeps you solvent.
Watch the job that's 'almost done' for months — retainage and an unfinished punch list are cash sitting on someone else's roof. Close jobs out and collect; finished-but-unpaid is the most common form of contractor cash stress.
Stop pricing from memory
The Contractor Authority System™ turns this into a repeatable process — burdened labor & overhead, change-order protection, and client-ready proposals. One-time $97.
FAQ
Because profit and cash are different. Profit is earned across the job; cash depends on when money comes in versus goes out. Deposits, progress draws, and prompt collection fix the timing gap.
Enough to cover payroll and fixed costs through your typical collection gap and a slow stretch. The exact number depends on your overhead and how fast you get paid — but 'none' is how a profitable shop ends up borrowing.