Finance
Cash flow and payments
Forecast cash from the receivables and payables you actually have, and track the status of every payment. Buildalytic gives you the picture; your bank and ERP move the money.
Construction cash flow forecasting projects the timing of cash in and out of a contractor’s business using real pay-application, retainage, and payables data. It shows when receivables should convert to cash and when payables come due, so a contractor can see funding gaps before they happen instead of reacting to a low balance.
- Construction DSO (industry surveys, no official figure)
- Commonly cited near 80 days
- Private retainage (ASA / Clemson study, Bausman 2004)
- 7.59% withheld until release
The problem
Cash is the constraint, and the forecast lives in a stale spreadsheet.
Contractors run on cash timing more than profit. Money goes out on labor and materials weeks before a pay application is approved, and retainage holds back a slice of every payment until the end of the job. The forecast that governs whether payroll clears is often a spreadsheet updated once a month.
The data to forecast well already exists in receivables, retainage schedules, and payables, but it lives in separate systems. Nobody has time to reconcile it into a forward view, so the business flies on the current bank balance.
Buildalytic builds the forecast from live pay-application status, retainage release timing, and approved payables, and tracks the status of each payment. It does not move money; it makes the timing visible so decisions are made early.
How it works
From live data to a forward cash view.
Pull the inputs
Receivables, retainage schedules, and approved payables feed the forecast from the same records the finance team already keeps.
Time the cash
Pay-application status and expected approval timing project when receivables convert to cash.
Project the balance
Inflows and outflows combine into a forward cash view that shows gaps before they arrive.
Track each payment
The status of individual payments in and out is tracked so the forecast stays grounded in reality.
What is inside
Visibility into the timing, not another bank account.
Cash flow forecast
A forward view of inflows and outflows built from live receivables and payables.
Retainage timing
Retainage release projected against contract terms and completion, so held cash is planned for.
Payment status
The status of each incoming and outgoing payment, tracked in one place.
Funding-gap alerts
A projected shortfall is surfaced early enough to act on, not after the fact.
Project-level view
Cash timing broken out by project so the drag from a single job is visible.
Works with your bank
A layer on top of your accounting system and bank, which stay the systems that move money.
Frequently asked questions
Why is cash flow so hard in construction?
Contractors pay for labor and materials long before they get paid. Pay applications take weeks to approve, retainage holds back part of every payment until project close, and payment moves down a long chain. Profit on paper does not equal cash in the bank, so timing is the real constraint.
How do you forecast construction cash flow?
You project when receivables will convert to cash using pay-application status and expected approval timing, project retainage release against contract terms, and lay outgoing payables against that. Combining inflows and outflows produces a forward balance that shows funding gaps before they happen, rather than after a low balance.
Does Buildalytic move or hold money?
No. Buildalytic is a visibility and forecasting layer, not a bank. It builds the cash flow picture from your receivables, retainage, and payables and tracks payment status. Your bank and accounting system remain the systems that actually move and hold funds.
How does retainage affect cash flow?
Retainage withholds a percentage of each payment, measured at 7.59 percent on private work in the ASA and Clemson University study (Bausman, 2004), until the end of the project. That held cash can represent most of a job’s profit, tied up for months. Forecasting when retainage releases is essential to knowing when that cash actually arrives.
What data does the cash flow forecast use?
The forecast draws on live receivables and pay-application status, retainage schedules and release timing, and approved payables coming due. Because it uses the records the finance team already maintains, the forward view stays current instead of depending on a manually rebuilt monthly spreadsheet.
See your cash timing forward.
We will build a forward cash view from your receivables, retainage, and payables so funding gaps show up early.