Haleridge Commercial Capital, a small-business funding service in Las Vegas, Nevada, prepares funding requests for general contractors, builders and specialty trades across Clark County, NV. Construction cash flow can run on draws and retainage, so lines of credit, working capital and equipment financing are the fits to weigh; partners review backlog, statements and receivables.
| Construction employer establishments, Clark County, NV (2023) | 3,588 |
|---|---|
| Paid employees | 76,796 |
| Under five employees | 47.9% |
| Nonemployer construction businesses (2024) | 12,748 |
Why contractors run short even on profitable jobs
A general contractor's cash goes out in a predictable order: deposits on materials, equipment rental, weekly crew payroll, subcontractor invoices. The money comes back in draws, after inspection and paperwork, and a slice of every draw is held back as retainage until the job is closed out. A busy, profitable year can still leave the bank account thin in the middle of it.
Business loans for contractors are mostly about timing, not rescue. The question is which structure matches the gap.
What is retainage in construction billing?
Retainage is a percentage of each progress payment that the owner or general contractor holds back until the work is finished and accepted. On a long job it accumulates into a meaningful sum that you have earned but cannot spend. Some partners look at retainage receivable when reviewing a contractor's request.
Working capital requirement for a construction company: a rough calculation
A simple way to size it: add up what you will pay out on a job before the first draw arrives, then add what the retainage will hold back until closeout. That total, for the jobs running at the same time, is roughly the cash the business must carry.
Illustration only
A hypothetical east-valley tenant-improvement contractor starts a job worth $180,000 with monthly draws and 10% retainage. Before the first draw it spends $22,000 on materials and $16,000 on two weeks of payroll and a lift rental: $38,000 out. Each $45,000 draw arrives with $4,500 held back, so by the last draw $18,000 sits in retainage. With two such jobs overlapping, the business carries close to $76,000 before the first draws land. These figures are invented to show the method, not typical costs or offers.
Which funding types fit contractors
| Need | Funding type | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Crew wages and lumber before the next draw | Line of credit | Draw as the job spends, repay when the draw arrives |
| One large gap before a big job pays | Working capital loan | One sum on a short schedule |
| Skid steer, trailer, lift or work truck | Equipment financing | The machine secures it |
| Second yard or office build-out | Term loan | A lasting asset, fixed payments |
Construction equipment financing is secured by the machine, which partners can value. Working capital for a construction company rests on receivables, which a partner will want to see documented.
What partners typically review for a contractor
- Business bank statements showing draw deposits.
- A current job list or backlog, with contract values and billing status.
- Accounts receivable, including retainage.
- Your Nevada State Contractors Board license details, if your work requires one.
- Equipment quotes for any machine purchase.
No partner publishes thresholds for contractors. Haleridge organizes the file; the partner decides. The Nevada contractors license guide explains how to pull license records for the file.
East-valley and Clark County, NV construction counts
Clark County, NV had 3,588 construction employer establishments in 2023, with 76,796 paid employees; 47.9% had fewer than five employees (County Business Patterns 2023). Separately, 12,748 construction businesses had no payroll in 2024 (Nonemployer Statistics 2024). In ZIP 89115 on the east side, construction accounted for 130 employer establishments, second only to retail (ZIP Code Business Patterns 2023).
Residential permit counts give context: 14,466 new housing units were authorized in Clark County, NV in 2025 (Building Permits Survey). The east-valley ZIP table sits on the Las Vegas, NV page.
Specialty trades with their own pages
Each specialty trade has a different cash pattern. Plumbing and HVAC contractors carry parts stock and service vans. Painting, flooring and drywall contractors pay material deposits and crews until the punch list clears. Electrical contractors may work on commercial draw cycles. Roofing contractors order material ahead and sometimes wait on insurers.
Other trades, from residential builders to landscapers, are on the industries hub.
Before a contractor calls Haleridge
- List the jobs running now, with contract values and next draw dates.
- Total the retainage you are owed.
- Name the gap: payroll, materials, a machine, or all three.
- Download the last three to six months of statements from the business account.
Then compare a working capital loan with a line of credit, and price any machine on the equipment financing page.
Equipment or rental: a contractor's call
Renting a skid steer for one job keeps the balance sheet light; owning it can pay off once it is busy most weeks. A rough test: total last year's rental invoices for the same class of machine. If they approach a year of payments on a financed machine, ownership through equipment financing is worth pricing.
A partner may ask about rental history too, since it shows whether a machine would have work.
By Haleridge Commercial Capital · Updated
