Quarrymoor Financial, a small-business funding service in Kingman, Arizona, arranges funding for painting, flooring and drywall contractors through partners: working capital for material deposits and crew payroll, lines of credit for overlapping jobs and painting equipment financing. Mohave County, AZ had 115 building finishing contractor employers in 2023 (CBP). Partners make credit decisions and set rates and terms.
| Building finishing contractors, Mohave County, AZ | 617 on payroll at 115 employer sites (CBP count, 2023) |
|---|---|
| Finishing contractors with fewer than five employees | 61.7% (CBP 2023) |
| Finishing businesses with no paid employees | 318 with no payroll at all (NES count, 2024) |
| Annual payroll, finishing employers | $28.0 million of payroll across 2023 (CBP) |
The finishing contractor's cash cycle
Finishing work comes last on a job. That means a painting, flooring or drywall crew often waits the longest to be paid: the general contractor bills the owner, the owner pays the GC, and the GC pays the finishing sub after the punch list is signed off. On residential repaint and flooring jobs paid directly by homeowners, a deposit may cover materials, but the balance still arrives only when the work is accepted.
Material costs hit early. A whole-house repaint needs primer, paint and masking supplies on day one; a tile job needs tile, thinset and underlayment delivered before the crew starts. Weekly wages follow immediately.
Working capital for a painting company
Working capital for a painting business is a typical request in this trade: it covers material purchases and two or three weeks of crew wages until the job pays. Size it to a specific job or a short list of jobs, with the contract values and payment terms. The post on working capital for painting contractors in Mohave County, AZ walks through a full example, and the working capital page explains how partners size a request.
Business loans for painting companies with several jobs running
Once a company runs several crews, the gaps overlap and a revolving line can cost less than a series of short loans. A business line of credit lets the business draw for each job's materials and repay as each job pays. Business loans for painting companies that are buying out a competitor, opening a showroom or adding a flooring line are usually term loans.
Sprayers, lifts and vans for painting crews
Airless sprayers, pressure washers, lifts and scaffolding, trailers and work vans are the main equipment costs. Painting equipment financing companies treat most of these like any other equipment financing deal, with the equipment as security. Flooring crews add saws, grinders and dust extraction; drywall crews add lifts and texture rigs.
Items a partner tends to request
- Bank statements showing job payments and material purchases
- Current contracts or signed estimates, with payment terms
- Who pays: a general contractor, property manager or homeowners
- Years in business, plus the owner's credit file
- A contractor license record for the trade
No partner publishes minimums for this trade, and a younger company with signed work can still have a reviewable request.
An illustration with invented numbers
A drywall and paint sub takes a $26,500 interior job from a GC on 30-day terms after completion, with 10% retainage. Materials cost $5,800 up front, and a four-person crew earns $4,400 a week for three weeks. The sub pays out $19,000 before the job is billed, then waits about 30 more days for $23,850 (the contract less retainage), while $2,650 stays held until the project closes. The figures are made up to show the timing problem.
The useful takeaway: the gap is about seven weeks long, not three, because billing and payment come after the work.
Deposits, change orders and the homeowner side
On residential work paid by homeowners, the deposit is the finishing contractor's main protection against carrying materials. A written estimate that names the deposit, the progress payment and the final payment, with the scope spelled out, also makes a funding request easier to support, because a partner can see exactly when money is due.
Change orders matter as much as on commercial work. Extra rooms, a color change after priming or added trim should be written and signed before the work is done, then billed with the next payment. Unbilled extras are cash a crew has already spent.
Painting equipment financing companies: what to ask any of them
Equipment for painting crews is financed through several kinds of providers: the dealer's own program, an independent equipment finance company, a bank, or a partner reached through a request like Quarrymoor's. The provider matters less than the answers to a few questions, asked of each one in writing:
- Is the agreement a loan, an equipment finance agreement or a lease, and who holds title?
- Will it finance a used airless sprayer, boom lift or trailer, and is an inspection needed?
- What is the total of all payments, in dollars, and is there a charge for paying early?
- Can tax, delivery and setup be included, or must they be paid in cash?
- What happens to the agreement if the gear is sold or traded in?
From Nonemployer Statistics 2024, our arithmetic: the county's 318 finishing businesses without employees averaged about $64,600 in receipts each. For a one-person painting outfit, a sprayer or a van is a large share of a year's receipts, which is why spreading it across equipment financing payments is common.
Finishing-trade counts for Mohave County, AZ from the Census Bureau
| Measure | Value | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Employer establishments | 115 | County Business Patterns 2023, NAICS 2383 |
| Paid employees | 617 | CBP 2023, pay period including March 12 |
| Annual payroll | $28.0 million | CBP 2023 |
| Locations below five employees | 61.7% (71) | CBP 2023 |
| Establishments with a ZIP 86401 address | 10 | ZIP Business Patterns 2023 (USPS ZIP area, not city limits) |
| No-payroll businesses (counted separately) | 318, receipts $20.5 million | Nonemployer Statistics 2024, NAICS 2383 (separate program; not added to CBP) |
Most finishing firms in the county are small: 61.7% of employer establishments had fewer than five employees in 2023, and 318 finishing businesses ran with no paid employees in 2024 (NES, counted separately). The parent page on contractor business loans in Kingman, AZ covers draws and retainage across all trades. County-wide figures are on the page of Kingman, AZ business figures.
By Quarrymoor Financial · Updated
