Greendale Funding of Gallatin, Tennessee shows how a construction company in Sumner County, TN can calculate its working capital requirement: map each job's outlays and receipts by week, add retainage, find the deepest shortfall, and size a loan or line to it. The county counted 468 construction employers in 2023.
Working capital for construction company
Two definitions meet here. In accounting, working capital is current assets minus current liabilities. For funding, the useful figure is the most a contractor is out of pocket across its open jobs before payments catch up. Sumner County, TN counted 468 construction employers in 2023 (County Business Patterns 2023), and housing permits rose from 1,778 units in 2024 to 3,045 in 2025 (Building Permits Survey). More on the trade is on the contractor funding page.
Working capital calculation for construction company around Gallatin, TN
- For each open job, list materials, labor and subcontractor payments by week.
- List each expected payment by week, net of retainage.
- Add the jobs together week by week.
- Track a running balance starting from cash on hand.
- The deepest point below zero is the requirement.
| Week | Out | In | Running balance from $10,000 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $18,000 | $0 | -$8,000 |
| 2 | $6,000 | $0 | -$14,000 |
| 3 | $6,000 | $0 | -$20,000 |
| 4 | $6,000 | $27,000 | +$1,000 |
In that example the requirement is $20,000, reached in week three; the draw in week four restores the balance.
Working capital loans for construction companies for Sumner County, TN businesses
A single job's gap fits a working capital loan; gaps across many jobs fit a line of credit drawn and repaid as draws arrive.
Working capital loan for contractors, explained for Gallatin, TN owners
Retainage is the trap: a 10% holdback on each payment is money earned but not received until closeout. On a $200,000 job, that is $20,000 waiting (our arithmetic), so add it to the requirement until it is paid.
Working capital for roofing contractors: a Gallatin, TN primer
Roofers carry materials and crews until the homeowner or insurer pays, so the cash curve dips at the start of each job. Several jobs starting at once deepen it.
Three overlapping jobs on one Sumner County, TN cash schedule
Illustration only, invented figures: three jobs follow the single-job pattern above but start two weeks apart, in weeks one, three and five. In this invented example, week three combines Job A's low of -$20,000 with Job B's first week at -$8,000: -$28,000. In the same invented example, week five combines Job A's finished +$1,000, Job B's low of -$20,000 and Job C's first week at -$8,000: -$27,000. The requirement is the worse of the two, $28,000 (our arithmetic), well under the $60,000 that adding three separate lows would suggest.
The overlap is what the schedule is for: earlier draws arrive before later jobs reach their lows. Start the jobs closer together and the combined low deepens.
From the deepest week to a request amount in Gallatin, TN
- Take the deepest combined week from the schedule.
- Add retainage not yet released on finished jobs.
- Add a cushion for one draw arriving two weeks late, priced as two weeks of that job's costs.
- Decide whether the total suits a line of credit limit or a single working capital amount.
- Bring the schedule to the call, so the figure can be explained line by line.
Illustration only, invented figures: $28,000 from the schedule plus $12,000 of retainage held on two finished jobs plus $12,000 for one late draw (two weeks at $6,000) gives $52,000 (our arithmetic).
Sumner County, TN contractor counts behind the method
County Business Patterns counted 468 construction employers in Sumner County, TN in 2023, 59.2% with fewer than five employees; 316 of them were specialty trade contractors (NAICS 238). Nonemployer Statistics, a separate program, counted 2,144 construction businesses without payroll in the county in 2024. The method works the same at any size; a one-person firm simply has one crew's weeks to add.
Working capital for painting contractors for owners in Sumner County, TN
Painters carry mostly labor. Their curve follows weekly payroll against monthly or milestone billing. County figures are on the Gallatin, TN data page; more articles are on the Greendale blog.
By Greendale Funding · Updated
