Cash Flow Tip 9 - The Project Schedule and Cash Flow

The smoother the project schedule is, the smoother your cash flow will be.

D. Brown Management Profile Picture
Share

Large variations in the resource loading across a project’s duration impact cash flow and field productivity.  

Cash Flow: Tip 9 The Project Schedule and Cash Flow

Labor intensive contractors are impacted the worst because there is zero cash flow float on labor costs. Labor is paid within days of being incurred without any ability to stretch the payments out at all.  

The best schedule you can have for cash flow is one that ramps up smoothly, holds at peak production for a period of time, and then ramps down smoothly. The closer you can get to this schedule flow on your projects, the smoother they will run.

Schedule management starts with making clear production assumptions during the bid process and where applicable, getting those integrated into your contract.  

From there, focus on planning your project and keeping a level schedule flow in mind.  

Plan your Schedule-of-Values (SOV) for maximum cash flow based on the project schedule. 

Leverage your relationships to negotiate the best schedule flow and SOV you can.  

We are revamping our publicly available cash flow workshop that includes these 18 tactics that contractors can use to accelerate cash flow. Stay informed of updates on release.


More from D. Brown Management
Learning, Doing and Teaching
Growth in life, career, and business is about a continual cycle of learning, doing, and teaching.
Executive Briefing - Understanding Industry Trends
The construction industry is changing at an unprecedented rate. The challenges for contractors are compounded by the shortage of talent at all levels, including craft, management, and technical experts.
Be Specific About Problems
The business of construction is filled with constant problems. It’s not that great contractors don’t have problems, it's that great contractors have learned how to troubleshoot first, which allows them to learn from their problems faster.