Landscaping
Landscaping Cash Flow Calculator
Track money in against money out, with the seasonal shape of the trade accounted for.
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
- Seasonal revenue concentration against level overhead.
- Material bought before installation work is paid for.
- Equipment purchases, which cluster at the start of a season.
Where this one goes wrong
Spending the season's cash as it arrives. Landscaping cash flow is front-loaded into the growing season and the off-season has to be funded from it, which is a discipline rather than an accident.
Questions
About this calculator
When is landscaping cash tightest?
Late winter and early spring, when overhead has run through the quiet months and the season's equipment and material spending arrives before the revenue does.
Does monthly billing help?
Considerably. Spreading maintenance income across twelve months smooths exactly the gap that causes problems, provided the annual total is correct.
Should installation work take deposits?
For material-heavy work, yes. Bulk material and plants are bought up front, and funding them from working capital across several jobs adds up quickly.
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 $47,000.
- Payment terms (days). Enter your own figure; the page starts at 30.
- Days customers actually take. Enter your own figure; the page starts at 46.
- Costs paid out per month ($). 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 | $47,000 |
| 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 | $72,067 |
| Monthly surplus | $9,000 |
| Months of cover | 999.0 |
There is $72,067 sitting in unpaid invoices, and customers take 16 days longer than your terms allow. That gap is the money you are lending them for free.
How sensitive the answer is
Holding everything else steady and changing only invoiced per month, this is what happens to days of funding gap. It is worth knowing which of your inputs the answer actually hinges on, and which barely move it.
| Invoiced per month ($) | Days of funding gap |
|---|---|
| $23,500 | 16 |
| $35,250 | 16 |
| $47,000 example above | 16 |
| $70,500 | 16 |
| $94,000 | 16 |
Every other input is held at the example value while this one changes, which is not how a real job behaves. Treat it as a guide to which number matters most, not as five separate quotes.
What each figure means
- Invoiced per month ($)
- A money amount, starting at $47,000.
- Payment terms (days)
- A number, between 0 and 180, starting at 30.
- Days customers actually take
- A number, between 0 and 365, starting at 46.
- Costs paid out per month ($)
- 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. |
Seasonality is not in this
Coverage and material figures assume the area you enter. Slope, access for machinery, existing growth and the time of year all affect both quantity and labour, and none of them appear in a calculation like this.
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.