Industry Expertise Contractors relieve cash management pressures with modernized payments

Growth creates added liquidity demands.

Contractors and project-based businesses must maximize cash flow conversion for the funds they need to operate and grow. Project billing schedules can delay cash collection by 30, 45, or 60 days, and sometimes even more.

Funding labor and material costs throughout the project lifecycle often requires these businesses to incur significant expenses. It’s common for businesses to buy materials, pay workers and subcontractors, and fund projects weeks or months before receiving full payment. With fixed-price contracts for projects with extended timelines, the risk of added costs in labor and materials increases.

At the same time, new fleet and equipment needed for projects must still be bought. Retainage structures may withhold 10% (or more) of project payments until completion. And some bonding requirements call for contractors to maintain specified liquidity levels throughout the course of a project.

Legacy payment processes create inefficiencies and security vulnerabilities.

While new payment methods are rapidly growing in popularity, many businesses haven’t yet adopted—or actively resist—all the treasury and payment technologies available today. Clinging to manual receipt collection and expense reporting creates excessive demands on staff time, allows errors to creep in, and increases the likelihood of undetected fraud.

Many contractors rely on checks, dramatically upping fraud risk. In 2025, over 76% of organizations reported attempted or actual fraud, down only slightly from 79% the prior year. Checks continue to be the payment method that’s most susceptible to fraud. In one survey, 58% of respondents reported check fraud or attempted fraud compared to just 21% for fraud attempts associated with card use^{Disclosure 1}.

Beyond minimizing check usage, strong controls over vendor onboarding, payment-change requests, and approval workflows can help prevent business email compromise and payment-redirection fraud.

3 ways to boost efficiency and security.

Refine your payment strategy by following these steps to increase operational efficiency, improve cash flow, and decrease fraud risk: 

1. Evaluate how money moves through your business.

In growth-oriented, project-based businesses, cash goes out before it comes in. Billing, payment receipts, and retainage contribute to timing gaps and can delay liquidity even when projects are profitable.

Begin your evaluation by mapping:

• How customers pay you
• How quickly funds become available
• How vendors and subcontractors are paid
• Where checks, manual approvals, and paper processes still exist

Then ask yourself:

• Are payment delays creating avoidable working capital problems?
• Which payment methods create the greatest operational burden in terms of staff time spent on data entry, research, and error correction?
• Where are fraud and payment risks highest?

Reducing the time required to collect receivables is just as important as streamlining outgoing payments. Digital payment acceptance, electronic invoicing, and automated collections processes can help contractors convert completed work into available cash more quickly.

2. Automate payments and back-office processes.

For many organizations, automation can generate immediate efficiencies, reducing manual data entry, improving accuracy, and allowing your staff to focus on higher-value responsibilities.

Some of the most compelling opportunities around automation include:

• Eliminating manual payment processes. Reduce hidden costs, workload, and fraud exposure by streamlining and removing paper from:
  • Receipt capture and management
  • Expense reporting
  • Approval workflows
  • Financial reporting and reconciliation

Leverage integration with ERP and contractor management systems wherever possible.

• Using card programs to modernize your business’s payables. Subcontractors are increasingly requesting digital payment, including by card, for faster payment without the hidden costs associated with manual payment processing. Additionally, card programs offer a simpler way to make payments without having to establish credit with vendors. Rebates are often available based on your level of spending, and you can save on administrative costs by reducing your dependence on inefficient reimbursement and documentation processes.
• Streamlining field spending with corporate cards. In industries such as mechanical and electrical where large crews are deployed for extended periods of time, corporate cards like Truist’s Commercial Card solutions can streamline travel and expense (T&E) by allowing employees to directly upload receipts and input job codes. Corporate cards offer greater control over employee spending. You’ll be able to set spending limits, block certain payment types, and benefit from reduced risk of fraud.
• Adopting a wide variety of payment methods.
  • Explore options like commercial virtual cards that offer T&E benefits similar to corporate cards. They offer an ideal solution for paying travel crew expenses. Commercial virtual cards provide dynamically generated card numbers—not associated with physical cards—that can be sent instantly to a payee—an individual, a supplier, or even a customer. You can incorporate custom data elements during virtual card generation, eliminating manual reconciliation when a transaction is posted.
  • Combine multiple card programs into a single platform. Fragmented card programs increase the potential for fraud.
  • Simplify invoice payments via Truist ePayables, which allow for fully digital payments and streamlined reconciliations.
  • Consider using ACH, wire transfers, Real-Time Payments (RTP®), FedNow®, and Zelle®. Zelle is a great choice to replace checks and enables quick payments to consumers with just a phone number or email. It’s ideal for vendors who don’t accept cards or for payments to non-W2 workers and subcontractors.
  • Use Truist Integrated Payables. Truist can route each payment through the appropriate channel based on your vendors’ accepted payment methods.

3. Develop a strategic cash and liquidity plan.

Many construction-oriented businesses keep significant cash balances due to the volume of money moving through the business and the need to reserve cash for planned and unplanned needs. Following a disciplined approach to cash segmentation and planning can help maintain adequate liquidity while putting excess funds to work more effectively. For added cash visibility and improved planning, consider separating cash into three categories:

Operating cash

• Payroll
• Materials purchases
• Routine project expenses

Reserve cash

• Bonding and liquidity requirements
• Seasonal fluctuations
• Unexpected project needs

Strategic cash

• Equipment replacement
• Fleet expansion
• Facility investments
• Future growth opportunities