4 MCAS.
30 DAYS.
DEBT-FREE.
A $3.4M civil contractor was paying $110,000 per month across four merchant cash advances, had $700,000 in accounts payable over 90 days old, no line of credit, and was begging friends and family to make payroll. Within 30 days of installing project management standards from CONTROL Chapter 6, all four MCAs were negotiated to a fraction of the payments. Overhead dropped from 32% to 15%. Gross profit went from 5% to 33%.
The business itself was sound. Billing was where it fell apart. Money sat in AR for 60 to 90 days or more because there were no standards: no billing dates, no change order process, no notice of nonpayment. When cash did not come in, they took an MCA. Then another. Then another. Four MCAs later, they were drowning. Fixing the billing fixed everything.
A $3.4M civil contractor, two partners, five years in business, was worried about payroll every single week. For four months straight. They had four merchant cash advances bleeding $110,000 a month out of the business. $700,000 in accounts payable over 90 days old. No line of credit. No bank would touch them.
They were begging friends and family to make payroll. The owner and his wife were doing everything. Every decision went through them, every problem ended up on their desk. There were no standards, so nothing got done without their approval. Money did not come in on time. Projects stalled. Then they took an MCA. Then another delay. Then another MCA. Four MCAs later, they were paying $110,000 a month just to stay afloat.
No Billing Standards
There was no set billing date. Pay applications went out whenever someone got around to it, sometimes weeks late. Every late submission meant 30 to 60 more days before the check came in.
No Change Order Discipline
Change orders were negotiated verbally or not at all. Scope changes happened, crews absorbed them, and nobody got paid for the extra work. Hundreds of thousands in legitimate charges never billed.
No Notice of Nonpayment Process
When GCs paid late, which was constant, there was no formal process. They just waited. The GC knew there were no consequences for slow payment, so slow payment became the standard.
Owner in Every Decision
Because there were no standards, no one could make a decision without the owner. Every conversation with a GC, every change order, every delay had to go through him. The business could not function when he was overwhelmed.
Three standards were installed immediately:
- Bill on the 15th. Every project. Every month. No exceptions. Draft the pay application and submit it, not when it feels convenient, on the 15th.
- Send a change order every single time there is a change in conditions. Drawings change, send a change order. Scope changes, send a change order. Contract terms change, send a change order. Every single time. No exceptions. No verbal agreements.
- Send notice of nonpayment on day 40 after the GC sends their pay application. The PM does it. No waiting for owner approval. The standard is the standard.
Within 30 days, AR dropped from 90+ days to current. Cash started flowing. The four MCA payments were negotiated from $110,000 per month down to $20,000 per month total. Within months, they were eliminated entirely.
CONTROL Chapter 6: Project Management Standards. Billing dates, change order process, notice of nonpayment, and how to hold GCs accountable to the contract they agreed to. Download the PM standards framework at constructioncfo.net.
Today: 22 booked projects at 33% gross profit. 14% overhead. Took first week off in four years. Adding a business partner because the financials and trajectory are clean enough to attract one. On track to have all debts paid off by end of 2026.
- You have taken one or more MCAs to cover payroll or vendor payments
- Your AR is consistently 60 to 90 days or older
- Change orders happen verbally or not at all
- You have no formal billing date, you bill when you get around to it
- You are the one making every financial decision because no one else knows what to do
By installing project management standards: billing on the 15th, sending every change order, and sending notice of nonpayment on day 40 after the GC's pay application. Cash started flowing properly within 30 days. The MCA payments were negotiated down from $110K/month to $20K/month total while the cash caught up.
No billing standards, no change order discipline, and no notice of nonpayment process meant money sat in AR for 60 to 90 or more days. Every time a check was delayed, they took an MCA to cover payroll. Four MCAs compounded the problem.
Chapter 6 covers Project Management Standards: billing dates, change order processes, notice of nonpayment, and how to hold general contractors accountable to the contract terms you agreed to without damaging the relationship.
No. Once standards were installed and cash started flowing, the four MCA payments were negotiated from $110K/month down to $20K/month total. They were fully eliminated by end of 2026.
Start with a fixed billing date, a rule that every change in conditions gets a written change order, and a notice of nonpayment sent on a set day after each pay application. Chapter 6 of CONTROL walks through all three. SPM The Construction CFO also builds this for you directly at constructioncfo.net.
BILLING IS WHERE THE MONEY IS.
CONTROL Chapter 6 covers Project Management Standards: the exact process to install billing discipline, change order control, and notice of nonpayment. Get the book.
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