Quarrymoor Financial, a small-business funding service in Kingman, Arizona, explains working capital for painting and flooring contractors in Mohave County, AZ: why finishing trades wait longest to be paid, how to size the gap between material deposits, weekly payroll and final payment, and when a line of credit fits better. The county had 115 finishing contractor employers in 2023. Partners make credit decisions and set rates and terms.
Why finishing trades wait the longest
Painters, flooring installers and drywall crews come in at the end of a job. On new construction or a commercial remodel, they bill the general contractor, who bills the owner, and payment flows back down only after the work is accepted. On homeowner jobs, a deposit may cover materials, but the balance arrives at completion. Either way, the crew and the materials are paid for weeks before the money arrives.
Mohave County, AZ had 115 building finishing contractor employers in 2023, with 617 employees, and 61.7% had fewer than five employees (County Business Patterns 2023). Another 318 finishing businesses ran with no paid employees in 2024 (Nonemployer Statistics, counted separately). Small crews have small cushions.
Working capital for a painting business: the three costs
- Materials: paint, primer, caulk, masking, tile, underlayment, adhesive, bought before or at the start.
- Crew wages: weekly, from the first day.
- Waiting time: billing after completion, then the customer's or GC's payment terms, plus any retainage held back.
Pencil out the paint-crew gap week by week
List each job with its start date, length, material cost, weekly crew cost, contract value and payment terms. For each week, add what goes out and what comes in. The deepest dip in the running balance is the working capital you need. Do it for every job running at the same time, because overlapping jobs are where crews run short.
An illustration with invented numbers: a four-person paint crew takes a $21,000 commercial repaint billed on completion with 30-day terms. Materials are $3,900 and wages $4,600 a week for three weeks. The firm pays out $17,700 before billing, then waits 30 days. With $9,000 in the bank at the start, the running balance bottoms out near minus $8,700 before the payment arrives. The figures are made up.
Loan or line of credit?
For one large job with a clear payment date, a short working capital loan sized to that gap is simple. For a firm with several crews and gaps every month, a revolving line of credit lets you draw for each job and repay as each pays. Compare the yearly cost of each in dollars before choosing.
Business loans for painting companies: what partners notice
- Bank statements that show material purchases and job payments
- Contracts or signed estimates with payment terms
- Whether the firm works for GCs, property managers or homeowners
- Retainage owed, listed separately
- Years in business, plus the owner's credit file
When a second job starts before the first one pays
Continuing the invented example: in week two the same firm starts a $14,000 residential repaint with a 40% deposit ($5,600) at signing. Materials are $2,400, and the crew split adds $3,000 a week for two weeks, so the second job puts $8,400 out against the deposit. That is $2,800 more out before its balance is due, and the running low point deepens from about minus $8,700 to about minus $11,500. Neither job is unprofitable; both simply pay late. The figures are made up.
That deeper dip is the number to bring to a partner, together with both contracts. It also shows why a line of credit can fit a firm with overlapping jobs better than a loan sized to one job.
A short checklist for a painting firm's request
- Signed estimates or contracts for every job in the forecast, with payment terms
- The week-by-week running balance you built, including any retainage
- The last quarter or two of statements from the business account
- Supplier account statements for paint and flooring stores
- The firm's state entity record and any trade license, in the name on the bank account
Painting equipment financing options, kept apart from the gap
Sprayers, lifts, scaffolding, trailers and vans are equipment, not working capital. Financing them separately keeps the working capital request sized to the timing gap. The painting, flooring and drywall funding page covers equipment and buying out a competitor. County figures are on the Kingman, AZ page, and other posts are on the Quarrymoor blog.
By Quarrymoor Financial · Updated
