Your bills don't stop when business slows down. Find out how much cash you need to get through the slow months — and what size credit line a bank might consider.
Every business has busy months and slow months. A working capital line can help cover payroll, materials, and bills while you wait for customers to pay or business to pick back up. Work through the four steps — your results update as you go.
Start with the big picture. You can rough these in — close is fine for a first pass.
List a typical month's cash costs. Each dollar should land in one bucket only — if you pay a crew member, that's payroll; if you pay another company to do the work, that's materials and subcontractors.
This total fills in the "operating cash payments" for every month in Step 3. You can still change any single month there — a slow month with a skeleton crew costs less than a peak month.
This is where the slow months show up. Pick the setup that fits how you think about your year.
Enter the sales you expect to bill each month, then tell us how long customers usually take to pay. We'll turn billings into estimated cash collections for you.
The pattern buttons split your gross annual sales from Step 1 across the months. Adjust any month after — your edits are what count.
For each month: the cash you expect to actually collect from customers, the operating cash going out (pre-filled from Step 2), and any one-time hits like an annual insurance premium or a big repair. Use "Copy previous month" to move fast, then adjust the months that differ.
Forecasts are never perfect — a customer pays late, a truck breaks down. The cushion adds a safety margin on top of your biggest projected borrowing month. It is not added month by month; it only sizes the line.
0% = size the line to the forecast exactly. 15% is a common middle ground. Up to 30% if your income is especially lumpy.
Line sizes are shown before financing costs — estimated interest and fees are calculated separately in the Borrowing Cost Estimate below and are not baked into these numbers.
Fill in your numbers above and this will explain what your pattern means.
How each month plays out: draws when cash would dip below your minimum, repayments when there's extra cash above it. Repayments never exceed what's owed.
Now that you know how much working capital your business may need, let's compare it with a common starting benchmark used when discussing business credit lines.
A rough rule of thumb bankers often use as a starting point for the conversation: a working capital line around 10% of gross annual sales. Your gross annual sales from Step 1 ($0) carry over automatically.
The benchmark is just the opening of the conversation. Here's what actually gets weighed:
Does the business consistently earn a profit? A line of credit bridges timing gaps — it isn't a fix for a business that loses money month after month.
Can the business repay borrowing as customers pay? Lenders want to see the line get paid down as invoices turn into cash.
How much does the business already owe, and what are its payment obligations? Every existing payment competes with a new line.
How much money do customers owe, and how collectible are those invoices? Fresh invoices from reliable customers carry more weight than old ones.
What supports the line — receivables, equipment, property — and what does the business's borrowing history look like?
Some credit lines are secured by what customers owe you, and those can support different amounts than the 10% sales benchmark. If you track your receivables, run this quick check. Each invoice should be counted in one bucket only — don't subtract the same invoice twice.
Enter your receivables above to see the amount left after taking out the old and ineligible invoices. This is an illustration for your own planning — it is not a bank-approved borrowing base, and a real lender will apply its own rules and advance rates.
Optional — put in a rate to see roughly what carrying the line for a year might cost, based on the borrowing pattern you just forecast.
Everything on one page — your need, the benchmark, and what to do next.
Based on the numbers you entered — not generic advice.
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