Cleaning & janitorial
Cleaning Cash Flow Calculator
Track money in against money out, with weekly payroll against monthly customer payment.
Result
Profit and cash are different things and a growing contractor can run out of cash while profitable, because the work is paid for before the invoice is. This models collection speed, not seasonality.
Get a Free Business AuditWhat moves the number
- Payroll frequency, which is typically weekly or fortnightly.
- Customer payment terms, which for commercial contracts can be monthly or longer.
- The gap between the two, which has to be funded.
Where this one goes wrong
Growing commercial contracts without funding the gap. Cleaners are paid weekly and commercial customers pay monthly in arrears, so every new contract widens the funding gap before it produces cash.
Questions
About this calculator
Why does commercial growth strain cash?
Because payroll runs weekly and commercial payment runs monthly or longer. Each new contract requires several weeks of wages before the first invoice is paid.
How do I fund that?
Reserve from existing trading, arrange a facility before it is needed, or negotiate payment terms at contract stage. All three are easier before the contract starts.
Does domestic work help?
Usually yes, because domestic customers often pay at the time of service. It provides the working capital that funds commercial growth.
The formula
cash tied up = daily invoicing x days to get paid
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How to use this calculator
- Invoiced per month ($). Enter your own figure; the page starts at $51,000.
- Payment terms (days). Enter your own figure; the page starts at 30.
- Days customers actually take. Enter your own figure; the page starts at 46.
- Costs paid out per month ($). Enter your own figure; the page starts at $38,000.
- Cash in the bank now ($). Enter your own figure; the page starts at $22,000.
The result updates as you type, so you can try a figure, see what it does to days of funding gap, and change it back. Nothing you enter is sent anywhere or saved.
A worked example
These are the figures the calculator opens with. Every number in the results column below is produced by the same calculation the page runs, so you can follow it through before putting your own figures in.
What goes in
| Input | Value |
|---|---|
| Invoiced per month | $51,000 |
| Payment terms (days) | 30 |
| Days customers actually take | 46 |
| Costs paid out per month | $38,000 |
| Cash in the bank now | $22,000 |
What comes out
| Result | Value |
|---|---|
| Days of funding gap main result | 16 |
| Cash tied up in invoices | $78,200 |
| Monthly surplus | $13,000 |
| Months of cover | 999.0 |
There is $78,200 sitting in unpaid invoices, and customers take 16 days longer than your terms allow. That gap is the money you are lending them for free.
How sensitive the answer is
Holding everything else steady and changing only invoiced per month, this is what happens to days of funding gap. It is worth knowing which of your inputs the answer actually hinges on, and which barely move it.
| Invoiced per month ($) | Days of funding gap |
|---|---|
| $25,500 | 16 |
| $38,250 | 16 |
| $51,000 example above | 16 |
| $76,500 | 16 |
| $102,000 | 16 |
Every other input is held at the example value while this one changes, which is not how a real job behaves. Treat it as a guide to which number matters most, not as five separate quotes.
What each figure means
- Invoiced per month ($)
- A money amount, starting at $51,000.
- Payment terms (days)
- A number, between 0 and 180, starting at 30.
- Days customers actually take
- A number, between 0 and 365, starting at 46.
- Costs paid out per month ($)
- A money amount, starting at $38,000.
- Cash in the bank now ($)
- A money amount, starting at $22,000.
What the results tell you
| Result | What it is |
|---|---|
| Days of funding gap | The headline result. A number. |
| Cash tied up in invoices | A money figure. |
| Monthly surplus | A money figure. |
| Months of cover | A decimal figure. |
Time is the variable that bites
Pricing that works out on paper fails when the job takes longer than quoted. First cleans, heavily soiled sites and access problems all run over, so it is worth pricing the first visit separately from the recurring one.
Estimating is the easy part
The jobs you never hear about cost more than the ones you mis-measure. BDEVY builds the marketing, systems and automation that bring them in.