Cash flow by job

What it is

A job can be profitable on the WIP schedule and still use cash. Job cash position counts actual cash: payments received from the owner and payments made to subs, suppliers, and payroll.

It differs from over/under billing, which compares billings with earned revenue, not cash.

Why operators track it

• Working capital. Cash-negative jobs draw on the company's cash or credit line.
• Collection focus. Shows which owners to chase.
• Pay timing. Shows whether the contractor is paying subs before being paid.
• Bidding. Jobs with heavy retainage or slow owners need more working capital.

How it is calculated

Job cash position = cash received − cash paid

• Cash received = owner payments applied to the job.
• Cash paid = AP payments, payroll, and other disbursements charged to the job.
• Internal equipment and overhead allocations are not cash; leave them out or show separately.
• A projection adds expected receipts and payments by month.

Worked example

Job 2417 has received $990,000 and paid $845,000: +$145,000. Job 2420 has received $150,000 and paid $225,000: −$75,000. Job 2431 has received $1,450,000 and paid $1,560,000: −$110,000, with $170,000 of retainage still held by the owner.

How to read it

• Explain negatives. Underbilling, slow payment, retainage, and early sub payments are the usual causes.
• Compare to over/under billing. Overbilled jobs are usually cash positive; if not, collections are the issue.
• Retainage can push late-stage jobs negative until release.
• We do not publish a benchmark.

Definitional choices and common pitfalls

• Payroll. Include payroll by job from labor distribution, using amounts actually paid.
• Allocations. Exclude internal equipment charges, or show them separately.
• Timing. Use payment dates, not invoice dates.
• Projection. Actual to date only, or with a forecast. Label the forecast.

How different roles use it

Questions it answers

• Which jobs are cash negative?
• How much is the company financing across jobs?
• Are we paying subs before we are paid?
• Which owners drive negative cash?

How to present it in a report

• One row per job: received, paid, cash position, and over/under billing beside it.
• A total across jobs.
• A monthly cumulative cash curve per job.

Data you need

Fields

What the raw data looks like

Example data A few rows as they might come out of the source system.

Where this data usually lives

• Construction ERP and accounting holds job cost, budgets, billing, AP, and AR. For example: Sage 300 Construction and Real Estate, Viewpoint Vista (Trimble), and Foundation. Some smaller contractors use general accounting software such as QuickBooks with jobs set up as projects.
• Payroll and time tracking hold hours and labor cost by job and cost code, sometimes from a field time app.

The same field can live in more than one system. Agree with the customer which one is the source of truth.

Common data gaps and traps

• Payments not linked to jobs. AP checks pay invoices; join through the invoice to the job.
• Payroll by job. Labor distribution may post cost but not the cash date.
• Unapplied receipts. Cash received but not applied to an invoice.
• Joint checks. Owner payments made jointly to GC and sub.

Related metrics

• WIP over/under billing: billing vs earned.
• Retainage outstanding: cash held back.
• DSO and billing lag: how fast billing becomes cash.

FAQ

Is job cash flow the same as profit?

No. A job can show profit and still be cash negative because of retainage, slow payment, or early payments to subs.

Should overhead be included?

Usually not at job level. Keep it to direct job cash.

How does it relate to overbilling?

Overbilled jobs tend to be cash positive, but only if the owner has paid.

cash_received = SUM(owner_payments applied to job invoices)
cash_paid     = SUM(ap_payments for job invoices) + SUM(payroll_paid by job)
cash_position = cash_received - cash_paid

SELECT job_id, SUM(received) - SUM(paid) AS cash_position FROM (
  SELECT i.job_id, p.amount AS received, 0 AS paid FROM ar_payments p JOIN ar_invoices i USING (invoice_id)
  UNION ALL SELECT a.job_id, 0, p.amount FROM ap_payments p JOIN ap_invoices a USING (ap_invoice_id)
  UNION ALL SELECT job_id, 0, amount FROM payroll_job) x
GROUP BY job_id;

metric: construction.cash_flow_by_job
grain: one row per job per month, cumulative
inputs:
  - owner payments
  - AP payments
  - payroll by job
logic:
  - received = owner payments applied to job
  - paid = AP payments + payroll
  - position = received - paid
edge_cases:
  - unapplied cash: show as unassigned
  - joint checks: record once
  - voided checks: exclude

Version 1.0 · Last reviewed 2026-10-20 · Machine-readable definition