Cedarmark Advances, a small-business funding service in Anderson, IN, helps home builders, commercial builders and specialty contractors find working capital, contractor lines of credit and construction equipment financing. This page explains a contractor's cash cycle, which option fits each cost, what partners review, an example and Madison County, IN construction counts.
| Construction employers (NAICS 23) | 226 (CBP 2023) |
|---|---|
| Residential builders (NAICS 2361) | 59 (CBP 2023) |
| No-payroll construction businesses | 971 (NES 2024) |
| New housing units authorized | 186 in 2025 (BPS) |
Why Contractor Cash Runs Ahead of Payment
On a typical job a contractor buys lumber, drywall, fixtures and concrete, pays the crew and subcontractors, and runs equipment for weeks before the owner, general contractor or lender releases a draw. Draws can be held up by inspections, change orders, punch lists or a lender's own schedule, and retainage may hold back part of each payment until the job closes. A profitable builder can still run short of cash in the middle of a year simply because several jobs are waiting on payment at once.
That is why business loans for contractors are mostly about timing, not about the business losing money.
Construction in Madison County, IN
Madison County, IN counted 226 construction employer establishments in 2023, 62.4% of them with fewer than five employees (U.S. Census Bureau, County Business Patterns 2023). Within that sector, the industry detail shows 59 residential building contractors, 8 nonresidential builders, 27 building finishing contractors (drywall, flooring, painting and similar) and 28 other specialty trade contractors such as site preparation, for 122 in those four groups (our arithmetic; the sector's other 104 employers are in trade groups not itemized here). Of the residential builders, 78.0% had fewer than five employees.
The county also had 971 construction businesses with no paid employees in 2024 (U.S. Census Bureau, Nonemployer Statistics 2024), including 285 residential builders, 215 finishing contractors and 191 other specialty contractors. Those are owner-operators and are counted separately from the employer figures. New residential construction is one signal of demand: 186 new housing units were authorized by building permits in the county in 2025, the same number as 2024, against 272 in 2023 (U.S. Census Bureau, Building Permits Survey 2025). That count covers new homes only, not remodels or commercial work.
Construction Company Working Capital and Contractor Lines of Credit
Construction company working capital covers payroll and materials while a draw is pending. A lump-sum working capital loan fits a single large job with a known payment date. When several jobs overlap and the gaps keep recurring, a contractor line of credit can fit better: draw for materials and payroll on each job, repay when the draw lands, and draw again on the next one.
Partners reviewing a contractor line of credit look at the bank statements for the pattern of deposits from draws, the backlog of signed contracts and how quickly customers pay.
How to Finance Construction Equipment
Excavators, skid steers, trailers, dump trucks and lifts can be financed with the machine as collateral. Used construction equipment can be financed; partners ask for the serial number, hours, photos and seller details. Financing makes sense when the machine replaces rental charges or lets the company bid work it currently subcontracts. Equipment financing and leasing explains the loan-versus-lease choice.
Matching Construction Costs to Funding
| Need | Fit to compare |
|---|---|
| Payroll and materials while a draw is pending | Working capital |
| Overlapping jobs with recurring gaps | Line of credit |
| Skid steer, excavator, trailer or truck | Equipment financing |
| Shop, yard or fleet expansion | Term loan |
Trade Contractors Within Construction
Plumbing, heating and air-conditioning contractors have a page of their own here: 34 employer establishments in Madison County, IN in 2023 (U.S. Census Bureau, County Business Patterns 2023). Their cash cycle mixes service calls paid on completion with installation jobs billed in stages, and they carry parts and equipment inventory that general builders do not. The specifics are on plumbing and HVAC contractor funding.
Records Partners Tend to Request for Contractors
- Six to twelve months of business bank statements
- A list of current jobs, contract values and expected draw dates
- Receivables aging, with any retainage still being held
- Equipment quotes, for machine purchases
- Licensing and insurance details, where the partner asks
Illustrative Example and a Construction Loan Calculation
Illustration with invented figures, not an offer. A remodeler has three jobs running. Materials and payroll for the next three weeks total $42,000; draws worth $65,000 are due in four to six weeks. The company draws $40,000 on a line and repays it as the draws arrive over six weeks. At a rate of eleven percent a year on the balance, interest for six weeks on $40,000 is about $506. A one-year loan for the same gap would have charged interest long after the draws paid it off.
People search for a construction business loan calculator. Cedarmark's only calculator is for merchant cash advances, so do the line arithmetic by hand: balance x annual rate x days outstanding / 365. For $40,000 at eleven percent for 42 days that is $40,000 x 0.11 x 42 / 365 = about $506.
