You are the bank for your biggest customer
When a Sacramento vendor delivers work to a large institution, the invoice goes into a queue. The vendor has already paid for staff, materials and fuel, and now waits. In effect, the vendor is financing the customer for the length of the wait. That is neither unusual nor a sign of a weak business; it is the default arrangement for anyone who invoices larger organizations.
Sacramento has a lot of such relationships. It is the capital, the seat of Sacramento County, with a long history of state and federal employment and a large healthcare sector centered on Sutter Health and UC Davis Medical Center. Companies around them include contractors, maintenance firms, staffing agencies and food-service vendors.
Receivables, step by step
- Day 0: work finishes and you invoice.
- Day 1 to 15: the customer reviews and approves, and you pay crews and suppliers meanwhile.
- Day 15 to 45: the invoice moves toward payment, and one or two payrolls fall due.
- Day 45 and after: payment lands, often right when the next batch of bills arrives.
These day counts are illustrative; every customer differs. What matters is the overlap, because the next job begins before the last one has paid.
Sizing the request by the gap
| Item | Example amount (illustration) |
|---|---|
| Payroll for two periods | $26,000 |
| Materials and fuel | $11,000 |
| Insurance and rent | $5,000 |
| Total gap to bridge | $42,000 |
The figures are made up to show the method: add up what must be paid between invoicing and collecting, then ask for that, not the largest number you can get. They are not our terms.
Mistakes that make the gap worse
- Taking on a large new customer without sizing the extra cash the work will need.
- Paying yourself from the same money set aside for the payroll that falls due before the invoice clears.
- Treating a recurring shortfall as a one-off, then returning for a second round that was never planned for.
A useful habit is to keep a simple weekly list of invoices out, with their expected pay dates, next to a list of bills coming due. The week where the second list outgrows the first is the week you need cash.
When another structure is better
If the gap repeats monthly, a line of credit gives you standing access. If you are buying a machine, see equipment financing. Related industry pages cover warehousing, trucking and agriculture.
We fund $25,000 to $5,000,000, with funding in as little as 24 hours once approved. We consider FICO scores of 500 and up, ask for about three months of business bank statements and do not require tax returns. The application takes about five minutes and uses a soft credit pull. Sole proprietors can apply. Owners in Elk Grove, Folsom, Rancho Cordova and Citrus Heights can apply directly.