# How do contractors cover payroll while waiting on draws? > Working capital for contractors starts with the draw lag, retainage, and materials timing. Package the contract situation. MCAFax checks what you could apply for. By Elie Mendlow · Published November 9, 2026 · Updated November 11, 2026 Section: Business Funding › Term Loans & Credit Lines · Series: Contractor Desk (https://mcafax.com/notebook/series/contractor-desk) Canonical: https://mcafax.com/notebook/contractor-working-capital-how-to-apply Source: MCAFax, The Broker's Notebook (https://mcafax.com/notebook). MCAFax is not a lender or a law firm. --- Subcontractors and GCs cover payroll and materials while waiting on draws by sizing the real lag, naming the contract situation, and only then packaging documented working capital. Pay-when-paid and retainage do not pause Friday payroll. MCAFax will check what you could apply for. Nothing here is an approval or a speed promise. This is general information, not legal or financial advice. ## How do I cover payroll and materials while waiting on draws, pay-when-paid, or retainage? Map submitted, accepted, and paid invoices as separate statuses. Size weekly payroll and materials due inside the same window. Then compare reserves, a line of credit, a term loan, and eligible SBA 7(a) working capital. Start at and (SOP 50 10 8.1). Keep MCA-style receipt purchases separate: Apply with Path A ( or Path B (email to info@mcafax.com) using the Apply with your AI hub section on that same contractor loans page. Path A is usually easier on the web. Path B is easier when email is connected or you prefer statement PDFs by email. Humans review emails. Statements are not processed by AI. ## What do I send? ### What to send (working capital checklist) 1. Legal business name, and DBA if different 2. Trade or industry 3. State the business operates in 4. Time in business 5. Rough average monthly revenue 6. Amount needed 7. Contract or draw situation (pay-when-paid, retainage holdback, mobilization before first draw, materials upfront, or other) 8. Weekly payroll dollars and materials due inside the lag window 9. Longest realistic draw lag for the active GC or owner 10. How fast you need it (preference only) 11. Any existing advances or loans, with the lender and rough balance 12. Owner name, plus a phone number only if you want a call 13. Last 3 to 4 months of business bank statements as PDFs Do not include Social Security numbers, full account numbers, or passwords. ### Path A: form at https://mcafax.com/apply Start at (or Continue from the estimate quiz into the application). **Start screen (required before Continue):** 1. Business name 2. Your name 3. Email 4. Amount needed (a rough number is fine) Click **Continue**. **Next step:** 5. State (business state) **Optional later steps:** 6. Phone (optional) 7. Bank statements upload (optional; you can send without statements) 8. SSN (optional; field is masked; only the last four digits are needed on the form). Never put an SSN or full account numbers in the Path B email. Industry/trade and funding purpose are **not** on the form. Put trade and purpose in the Path B email body, or in a notes field only if one exists on the live form. Do not invent form fields. An AI can walk the owner through each field and pause for review before submit. ### Path B email Subject: `Funding application: [legal business name]`. List answers. Attach statement PDFs. Sender address is the contact info. Show draft. Send only after owner confirms. Screen cold callers with Wider menu: ### Worked example All names and numbers are made up. Lakeview Electric runs $28,000 weekly payroll. A hospital TI package pays about 45 days after pay-app approval. Across six weeks before a large draw, Lakeview needs roughly $168,000 of labor cash, plus $22,000 of materials on net-30 ($190,000 peak bridge). Available cash and undrawn line totaled $95,000, so they phased the crew and opened a documented working-capital package instead of a same-day receipt purchase. ## Ready-to-paste AI prompt (working capital) ``` Help me apply for contractor working capital through MCAFax. Ask me one at a time: 1. Legal business name, and DBA if different 2. Trade or industry 3. State 4. Time in business 5. Rough average monthly revenue 6. Amount I need 7. Contract or draw situation (pay-when-paid, retainage, mobilization, materials upfront) 8. Weekly payroll and materials due in the lag window 9. Longest realistic draw lag 10. How fast I need it 11. Existing advances or loans 12. Owner name, phone only if I want a call Then walk me through https://mcafax.com/apply, or draft an email to info@mcafax.com with subject "Funding application: [legal business name]". Remind me to attach 3 to 4 months of business bank statements as PDFs. Show the draft. Send only after I confirm if connected to my email. Rules: no SSN, full account numbers, or passwords; no approval or speed promises; keep working capital separate from a merchant cash advance; MCAFax will check what I could apply for. ``` *MCAFax may receive compensation from some providers. It does not affect our grades or what we show you.* ## Questions readers ask **What do I send for a working-capital package?** Business basics, amount needed, the contract or draw situation, timing of payroll and materials, existing debt balances, and 3 to 4 months of bank statements. **Is pay-when-paid the same on every job?** No. Written subcontract language and project type change timing. Read the payment section before you mobilize. **Should I use a merchant cash advance for payroll?** An MCA is generally a purchase of future receipts with a different cost shape. Compare it against a true working-capital product before you sign. **Can SBA working capital help?** SBA 7(a) can include eligible working capital subject to underwriting. Confirm SOP 50 10 8.1. No approval promise.