You can be fully booked, turning over €300,000 a year, and still have a week in November where you can’t make payroll. It happens to trades businesses all over Ireland. Not because the business is failing. Because cash flow and profit are two completely different things, and most tradespeople only track one of them.
The difference between profit and cash flow
Profit is what’s left after you subtract your costs from your revenue. Cash flow is what’s actually in your bank account on any given day.
Here’s a simple example. You complete a €5,000 job in October. The customer takes 60 days to pay, common in construction and commercial work. Meanwhile you’ve paid for the materials upfront in September (€1,800), paid your subbies when the work was done (€900), and your van insurance came out in October (€120). Your profit is fine. Your cash flow in October and November is terrible.
That gap, between when you do the work and when you get paid, is where trades businesses get into trouble. The bigger and more commercial your work gets, the wider that gap tends to be.
Why trades businesses get into cash trouble
The seasonal nature of much trades work is the first problem. You might be flat out April through September and quiet October through February. Revenue is lumpy. But your van repayments, insurance, and phone bills don’t know that.
Materials upfront is the second problem. Most suppliers want payment in 30 days. Customers often take 60. You’re financing the gap out of your own pocket.
The third problem is growth. Counter-intuitively, winning bigger jobs can make cash flow worse before it gets better. A €30,000 contract requires far more materials and labour upfront than ten €3,000 jobs, and the payment schedule may not arrive until key stages are complete.
The fourth problem, the one nobody talks about, is mixing business and personal money. When your business account and personal account are the same account, you have no idea whether the €4,200 in there is enough or barely enough. Separate accounts are not optional if you want to understand your cash position.
Three cash flow rules every tradesperson should follow
Rule 1: Always take a deposit. For any job over €500, take 20-30% upfront before you start. This is standard practice and any customer who pushes back on it should make you cautious. The deposit covers your material cost and de-risks the job immediately. If they won’t pay a deposit, they may not pay the final invoice either.
Rule 2: Invoice on completion, not a week later. Every day between completing a job and sending the invoice is a day you’re not getting paid. Get into the habit of sending the invoice the day the job finishes, ideally from your phone before you leave the site. Tradify and ServiceM8 both let you do this in two minutes.
Rule 3: Know your cash position a month ahead. Not your current balance, but what you expect to receive and spend in the next four weeks. This doesn’t need a complex model. A simple note of confirmed work coming in, expected payment dates, and known outgoings gives you a warning if trouble is approaching.
How to spot a cash flow problem before it becomes a crisis
The danger signs are subtle at first. You start relying on your overdraft regularly rather than occasionally. You find yourself delaying paying suppliers beyond their terms. You feel anxious on a Monday morning even when you’re busy.
The most useful early warning is tracking your debtor days, the average number of days between completing work and receiving payment. If that number is creeping above 45 days, you have a problem developing. Above 60 days in a small trades business is a serious issue.
Another useful check: could you cover three months of fixed costs from cash in the business right now, without new revenue coming in? If the answer is no, your buffer is too thin.
Getting paid faster: practical tactics that work in Ireland
The biggest lever is changing your payment terms. “30 days” on an invoice is an invitation to pay in 45. “Payment due within 7 days of completion” with a reminder at day 8 gets you paid much faster.
Make it easy to pay. Add your IBAN to every invoice. Better yet, include a Stripe payment link so customers can pay by card immediately. Many customers will pay on the spot if it takes 30 seconds rather than a bank transfer they’ll get to later.
Follow up by text rather than email for overdue invoices. A simple “Hi [name], just following up on the invoice for [job], let me know if you have any questions” sent the day after payment is due gets more responses than any formal reminder.
Should you use an overdraft or a business credit card?
Both have legitimate uses but neither is a substitute for cash flow management.
An overdraft is useful as a short-term buffer for genuine timing mismatches, like the two weeks between paying materials and receiving a stage payment. It becomes a problem when you’re using it structurally, every month, to cover a shortfall that isn’t temporary.
A business credit card, particularly one with 30-45 day interest-free terms, can actually help cash flow for materials purchases if you’re disciplined. Pay it off in full every month. If you’re paying interest, the benefit disappears.
The honest answer: if you’re regularly relying on either, you have a cash flow problem that needs solving at the root, not just managed month to month.
Want to get your numbers under control?
ProBizMate helps Irish tradespeople with the practical side of running a tighter business. Ring Maebh on 085 226 2645 or see how it works.
Or read next: How to Stop Chasing Payments as a Tradesperson