Funding for contractors who are tired of waiting to get paid.
Cover payroll between draws, buy the truck, or take the bigger job. Advances, lines of credit and term loans for contractors and trades. Apply in two minutes with no hard credit pull.
Applying won’t affect your credit score. Accepting an offer may involve a hard inquiry.
You did the work. The money is still weeks away.
Every contractor knows the shape of it. The job is framed. The pay application is in. The crew still needs to be paid on Friday. Slow and uneven payments cost US construction an estimated $299 billion in 2025. That works out to a hidden 14 percent tax on the whole industry, according to Rabbet’s 2025 Construction Payments Report. The same report found that 91 percent of general contractors now weigh an owner’s payment reputation before they bid. And 88 percent walked away from at least one project last year because the pay was too slow.
Subs carry most of it. Subcontractors wait an average of 56 days to be paid after they submit a pay application. While they wait, 86 percent front the labor and 75 percent pay for materials out of their own pocket. Those figures come from Billd’s surveys as compiled by DocJoist. One in three subs has pulled from personal or retirement savings to make payroll. Forty-three percent say they do not have the working capital to absorb one surprise expense.
The same compilation shows how wide the problem runs. Dodge Construction Network found 74 percent of construction companies reporting moderate to severe cash flow problems. Mobilization Funding found 56 percent of contractors had turned down a project because of cash flow risk. Construction as a whole runs 83 days of sales outstanding, per Rabbet’s 2024 report. Electrical, plumbing and HVAC contractors do better at 57 days, per CreditPulse. Better, and still eight weeks of money you have earned and cannot spend.
Here is what those weeks cost a working contractor:
- A crew that is not paid on Friday may not be there on Monday. Rehiring and retraining costs more than any bridge.
- A supplier who is paid late stops extending terms. Then every order needs cash up front.
- A job you cannot mobilize is a job someone else takes. The bid you won turns into the bid you lost.
- Personal savings spent on payroll are savings that do not come back when the draw finally lands.
Here is what Batch does about it. Money against the work you have already booked, on a schedule that fits how contractors actually get paid. Read about how we fund businesses, or keep going for the numbers.
The six reasons contractors call.
The money is not earmarked. These are the six things it usually goes to.
Payroll between draws
The pay app is in. The check is 45 days out. Your crew gets paid Friday either way. An advance bridges those weeks so nobody walks.
Mobilization on a new job
Every job costs money before the first draw. Deposits, permits, the first two weeks of labor. Fund the start against the signed contract.
Materials deposits
Lumber, copper, roofing and steel all want a deposit before they ship. Pay the supplier now and remit from the draw when it lands.
Trucks, vans and equipment
A second service van books more calls. A skid steer saves a rental every month. Finance the equipment and let it pay its own note.
Hiring a crew for a bigger contract
You won the job. Now you need six more people on it by Monday. Cover the first payroll cycles before the pay apps catch up.
Slow season cash
Roofers, pavers and landscapers earn in eight months and pay overhead in twelve. A line of credit carries the quiet months.
Four ways to fund the job, side by side.
Our terms as of 2026-09-28. Every offer you receive shows the payback amount and the Estimated APR next to each other.
| Amount | How you pay it back | Typical time to funds | Best for | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Merchant cash advance | $5,000 to $1,500,000 | A fixed daily or weekly remittance until the payback amount is met. Factor rate 1.25 to 1.50 (Estimated APR shown on every offer). | As fast as same day1 | Payroll between draws, mobilization, a materials deposit due this week |
| Business line of credit | Set per file by the provider | Draw what you need. Interest only on what is outstanding, weekly or monthly. | As fast as 1 to 3 days1 | The slow season, a customer who pays in 60 days, the next slipped draw |
| Term loan | Up to $5,000,000 through our bank partner | Fixed payments over up to 12 years, from 8.77% APR | As fast as 3 to 7 days1 | A planned investment with steady deposits behind it |
| Equipment financing | Set by the vendor quote | Monthly payments over 2 to 7 years. The equipment is the collateral. | As fast as 2 to 5 days1 | Trucks, vans, machines and tools, new or used |
Figures as of 2026-09-28.
A merchant cash advance is a purchase of a portion of your future receivables. It is not a loan. You get a lump sum now and remit a fixed amount each business day or each week until the payback amount is met. It is the fastest money on the table and the most expensive per dollar. So it fits a short gap with a known end: the pay application that lands in 45 days, or the deposit on materials for a job that is already signed.
A business line of credit sits open. You draw when a draw slips and repay when it lands. You pay interest only on the money outstanding. It costs less than an advance and takes a little longer to set up. It fits a contractor whose pay cycle is always sixty days behind the work, and who wants the cushion in place before the next slow month.
A term loan pays out once and comes back in fixed monthly payments over years. It is the lowest cost of the three. It fits a planned move with steady deposits behind it: a second crew, a yard, a bigger contract you have already won. Equipment financing works the same way for a specific truck, van or machine, with the equipment itself as the collateral.
About Estimated APR. A factor rate and an interest rate cannot be compared by eye. A factor of 1.30 sounds like 30 percent. Paid back over four months, it is far more than that on an annual basis. So every offer we send shows an Estimated APR beside the factor rate, worked out the same way a bank works out the APR on a loan. You see the true annual cost of each option before you choose.
Three contractors, three kinds of money.
Every figure below is computed the same way the desk computes an offer. Every figure is an estimate.
The sub with payroll due Friday
A $60,000 pay application is 45 days out. $18,000 of payroll is due Friday. A $20,000 advance at a factor of 1.375, the middle of our range, remitted daily over 60 calendar days.
- Estimated advance
- $20,000
- Estimated payback amount
- $27,500
- Estimated cost of capital
- $7,500
- Estimated daily remittance
- $639.53 for 43 business days
- Estimated APR
- 401% (actuarial); simple annualized 227%
The alternative is missing payroll. A crew that is not paid Friday may not be there Monday. Rehiring and retraining costs more than $7,500. The draw covers the payback with room to spare.
Estimates only. Your offer depends on the funding provider’s review of your statements.
The HVAC company adding a van
A second service van before summer. Assume a $50,000 van (your dealer quote sets the real number), 10% down, 12% APR over 60 months.
- Amount financed
- $45,000
- Estimated monthly payment
- $1,001.00
- Estimated total interest
- $15,060
- Estimated total paid
- $65,060
The van is the collateral. The rate is set by the equipment, the term and the file rather than by a personal asset. A second van that books three more calls a day pays its own note.
Estimates only. Your offer depends on the funding provider’s review of your statements.
The roofer covering the winter
January to March overhead. A $15,000 draw on a line of credit at 24% APR, interest only, repaid in full by May 1 (120 days), with a 1.5% draw fee.
- Draw
- $15,000
- Estimated interest for the draw
- $1,193
- Estimated draw fee
- $225
- Estimated cost of the draw
- $1,418
- Estimated monthly interest while open
- $302.33
The same $15,000 as a 12-month term loan at the same APR would cost about $2,021 in interest. The whole amount would be out all year instead of four months.
Estimates only. Your offer depends on the funding provider’s review of your statements.
Five things a contractor’s file is read for.
A funder does not read a business plan. It reads the bank statements and the contract. Here is what it looks for, in the order it looks.
- 01
Consistency of monthly deposits
Funders read the deposits into your business account, month by month. Steady deposits matter more than profit on paper.
- 02
Time in business
3+ months opens the door. 6 months is typical. More history means more options and better pricing.
- 03
Existing advances or positions
An advance that is already remitting from the account changes what a funder will offer. Tell us up front. It is the first thing they see in the statements anyway.
- 04
NSFs and negative balance days
Up to 5 returned items and 5 negative days a month is workable on our panel. More than that narrows the field.
- 05
Contracts in hand or a schedule of values
A signed contract, a pay application or a schedule of values shows the money that is already booked. It is the strongest thing a contractor can attach.
Do you meet the basics?
- 3+ months in business (6 typical)
- $10,000+ a month in deposits into the business account
- Credit of 500+, checked with a soft pull
Floors as of 2026-09-28. Meeting them does not guarantee an offer. Missing one does not always rule you out.
One more thing that helps: the story behind the statements. A big deposit in March and nothing in April reads badly on its own. It reads fine once the funder knows March was a retainage release and April was the start of a new job. Put two lines in the application that explain the swings. Matt passes them along with the file, and the offer is better for it.
What a sub should expect to have tied up.
In New Jersey, the Prompt Payment Act sets the clock. Once a billing is approved, the owner must pay the prime contractor within 30 calendar days of the billing date. A billing counts as approved 20 days after the owner receives it, unless the owner says in writing what is withheld and why. Once the prime is paid, it must pay its subs within 10 calendar days. Late payment carries interest at the prime rate plus 1 percent. Add those two windows up and the statute alone allows 40 days from the billing date to the sub’s check, on a job with no dispute at all. A job with a dispute runs longer.
In New York, retainage on private projects of $150,000 or more is capped at 5 percent under General Business Law Article 35-E, section 756-c, as amended in 2023. The owner must release it within 30 days of final approval of the work. On a $200,000 subcontract, that is $10,000 held back rather than the $20,000 a 10 percent hold would take. It is still money you have earned that does not reach the account until closeout. A funder sizes an advance on what does reach the account. Bring the schedule of values so the held amount is visible as money on its way.
Batch Capital is based in New Jersey and funds contractors in both states and nationwide. Matt takes every call himself. A contractor who knows the difference between a draw and a retainage release is speaking with someone who does too.
Funded in four steps.
Apply in two minutes
A short application on this site. No hard credit pull to apply. You can do it from the truck.
Send three months of statements
Business bank statements, a voided check and a government ID. For larger amounts, add the contract or schedule of values.
Compare offers, true cost side by side
Every offer shows the payback amount and the Estimated APR next to each other, whatever the product.
Get funded as fast as same day¹
Accept the offer that fits. The funds land in the business account, and payroll goes out on time.
Here is what happens after you apply. Matt reads the file himself, the same day it comes in. He looks at the deposits, the balance days and the contract, and he calls you with a straight read on what the panel will do. If the file is a fit, it goes to the funders who fund your trade and your size. If it is not a fit yet, he tells you what to fix and when to come back. No file sits in a queue. No file gets shopped to a list you did not agree to.
Offers come back as a side by side. Each one shows the amount, the payback amount, the remittance schedule and the Estimated APR in the same place. You pick one or none. Nothing is signed until you say so.
Written for the trade, not the industry.
Each trade gets paid on its own rhythm. The funding should match it.
HVAC
Summer and winter carry the year. Fund the vans and the parts inventory before the first heat wave, not during it.
Plumbing and electrical
Service work pays fast. Commercial rough-ins pay in 60 days. Funding covers the gap between the two kinds of work.
Roofing
Storm season brings the jobs all at once. Fund the crews and the materials to take every one of them.
Landscaping
Spring installs need equipment and a crew before the first invoice goes out. A line of credit carries the winter too.
General contractors
You pay subs before the owner pays you. Bridge the draw schedule so your subs stay on your jobs.
Specialty trades
Masonry, concrete, drywall, glazing, paving. If you submit pay applications and wait, this page is written for you.
What contractors ask before they apply.
- Can I get funded while I'm waiting on a draw or a slow paying GC?
- Yes. That is the most common reason a contractor calls us. A funder looks at the deposits already flowing through your business account and at the work you have booked. It does not hinge on the one check that is late. An advance can be in the account as fast as the same day¹. A line of credit can sit open for the next time a draw slips.
- What is pay when paid, and how do I cover payroll under it?
- A pay when paid clause means the general contractor pays you after the owner pays the GC. Your crew does not work on that schedule. They get paid Friday. Funding against the pay application you have already submitted bridges the gap. You remit from the draw when it lands, and the crew never waits on the owner.
- How do I fund mobilization before the first draw?
- Mobilization is the cost of starting a job before any pay application goes in. Deposits on materials, equipment moves, the first two weeks of labor. Funders look at the signed contract and its schedule of values as the source of repayment. Send the contract with your statements and say which line items you need to cover first.
- Is a merchant cash advance a loan?
- No. An advance is a purchase of a portion of your future receivables. You receive a lump sum now and remit a fixed amount, daily or weekly, until the payback amount is met. The cost is a factor rate. An advance of $20,000 at 1.375 has a payback amount of $27,500. Remitted daily over 60 calendar days, that is an Estimated APR of 401%. A factor rate is charged on the starting balance and an interest rate on a declining one, so the same offer looks small one way and large the other. That is why we show the Estimated APR beside every factor rate.
- Can a new contractor qualify?
- Our funders look for 3+ months in business, and 6 months is typical. A newer contractor with steady deposits and a signed contract can still get an advance, usually a smaller one at a higher factor. A line of credit or a term loan generally waits until the business has more history in the bank.
- Can I qualify with bad credit?
- Often. The credit floor across our panel is 500, checked with a soft pull that does not affect your score. Deposits, time in business and how many days the account runs negative carry more weight than the score itself. Accepting an offer may involve a hard inquiry at that point.
- Do I need collateral?
- Not for an advance. It is secured by the receivables you are selling, not by a truck or a house. Equipment financing uses the equipment itself. A term loan or a line of credit may ask for a general lien on business assets and a personal guarantee. The funding provider's disclosure names exactly what is required before you sign.
- How does retainage affect how much I can get?
- Retainage is the share of each pay application the owner holds back until the job is done, commonly 5 to 10 percent. Funders size an advance on the deposits that actually reach your account. Held retainage does not count as cash flow until it is released. A schedule of values that shows the retainage coming due helps a funder see the full picture.
- What documents do I need?
- Three months of business bank statements, a voided check and a government photo ID. For larger amounts, add the signed contract or the schedule of values for the job you are funding. If you take card payments, one processing statement lets us look at that too. PDFs from your online banking are best.
- How fast can I get funded?
- As fast as the same day¹ for a file that arrives with complete bank statements early on a business day. As fast as 24 to 48 hours¹ for most others. Equipment financing and term loans take a few days longer because a vendor quote or more history is reviewed. Timing depends on the funding provider and how quickly the documents arrive.
Book the job. We'll help you fund it.
Two minutes to apply, no hard credit pull, and a person in New Jersey who picks up.
Reviewed by Matt Curran, Director, Batch Capital
Last updated
This page is general information, not financial, legal or tax advice. Talk to your accountant or attorney about your own situation.
1 Timing depends on the funding provider and how quickly documents arrive. Files with a complete application and three months of statements received before 2 PM Eastern on a business day are the ones that decide and fund fastest. Not every file funds in a day.
Sources
- Rabbet, 2025 Construction Payments Report
- DocJoist, Construction Payment Statistics (compiling Billd 2024 and 2025, Rabbet 2024, CreditPulse 2025, Dodge Construction Network and Mobilization Funding 2025)
- New York General Business Law, Article 35-E, sections 756 and 756-c (retainage)
- New Jersey Prompt Payment Act, N.J.S.A. 2A:30A-2