Materials, Crews, and the Wait to Get Paid
Roofing runs on money you have already spent. Materials go on the distributor account or come out of pocket at job start. Crews are paid weekly, or by the square. And the money comes back on somebody else's schedule — net-30 to net-90 on a commercial pay app, with 5 to 10 percent held as retainage until the punch list is signed off.
Insurance work has its own clock. The ACV check lands first, the job gets built, and the recoverable depreciation is only released after completion photos and the final invoice go back to the carrier. If there is a mortgage on the property, the lender has to endorse the check before anyone sees it. Meanwhile the deductible still has to be collected and any supplement is a separate conversation — usually the one that starts after tear-off, when the rotted decking or the extra layer or the code upgrade turns up and the crew is already on the roof.
Then there is the season. The work concentrates into a few good months, and the fixed costs do not. Contractors who build backlog through the peak carry the slow months comfortably; the ones who spent the peak waiting on collections start the next season thin. Coast funds established roofing operations through all of it — residential and commercial, retail and restoration.
What Roofing Contractors Fund with Coast
Material orders ahead of a signed job
Shingles, membrane, fasteners and disposal on a job that is sold but not started. Buy the order outright instead of stretching the distributor account into a COD hold.
Crew payroll against a slow pay app
Crews are paid weekly. The pay app is net-45 with retainage on top. Cover the weeks in between without slowing production.
Retainage you have already earned
Five to ten percent of contract value sitting with the GC until final completion. Fund against the gap rather than letting it hold up the next job.
Supplements waiting on the carrier
Hidden decking damage, an extra layer, a code-required upgrade. The scope grew after tear-off and the approval has not caught up with the crew.
Trucks, lifts and conveyors
Boom trucks, dump trailers, ladder hoists, safety and fall-protection systems — new or used, from a dealer or a private seller, with the equipment as collateral.
Adding a crew or a second market
A defined expansion with a number attached — another production crew, a second territory, or the estimating and aerial-measurement stack to support both.
Match Your Situation to the Right Program
| Your situation | The fit | Why |
|---|
| Payroll is Friday and the pay app is 45 days out | Working Capital | Fast lump sum sized to the gap, terms from 6 to 24 months |
| A truck, boom lift or conveyor with an invoice in hand | Equipment Financing | The equipment is the collateral — up to $5M over 2 to 5 years |
| Recurring gaps across several jobs and draws | Business Line of Credit | Draw as needed, pay only on what you use ($200K+ revenue) |
| A defined expansion — a crew, a yard, a second market | Business Loan | Lump-sum capital on a fixed payment schedule over 4 to 36 months |
| A smaller need you would rather handle fully online | Swell — our online revenue advance | 15-minute application, draw as needed, pay only for what you use |
Real Funding, Real Roofers
A structure matched to how a roofer actually gets paid
A California foam roofing contractor coming up on seven years in business, running about $1.5M a year, needed working capital to cover the gap every roofer knows — materials and crew paid now, the money for the job landing later. His advisor ran several structures against the numbers before recommending one, then walked through why that structure fit his billing cycle rather than quoting the largest amount he qualified for. Coast funded $30,000 on an eighteen-month schedule. Matching the program to how a business actually gets paid is what separates capital that helps from capital that adds pressure.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I get funding while waiting on retainage?
Yes, and it is one of the most common reasons roofing contractors come to Coast. Retainage is money you have already earned that you cannot use until final completion and punch-list sign-off. Rather than letting it hold up the next job's material deposit, your advisor sizes short-term working capital or a line of credit to the gap and structures repayment around when the retainage actually clears.
Can funding cover a supplement the carrier has not approved yet?
Yes. Funding is underwritten on your business — revenue, deposits and cash flow — not on a specific claim, so it does not wait on the adjuster. That matters because supplements surface after tear-off, when the crew is already working and the materials are already bought. Coast is not a party to the claim and has no role in the carrier's decision; the funding simply covers the interval between doing the work and being paid for it.
Does insurance restoration work count as revenue for approval?
It does. Underwriting looks at your bank deposits and the consistency of your cash flow, not at how the work was sourced. Restoration-heavy books can look uneven month to month, which is why an advisor reviews the whole business rather than a single ratio — including your backlog and signed contracts.
Can I finance a truck, boom lift or conveyor?
Yes — equipment financing covers boom trucks, dump trailers, ladder hoists and conveyors, lifts, and safety and fall-protection systems, new or used, from a dealer or a private seller. Terms run 2 to 5 years with fixed monthly payments and the equipment itself as collateral, so it does not tie up the working capital you need for materials and crews.
What can I use roofing business funding for?
Almost any legitimate business purpose: material orders, crew payroll, the gap on a slow pay app, retainage, supplements, equipment, insurance and bonding costs, marketing and lead generation ahead of the season, or adding a crew. Coast does not restrict funds to a single category — you know where the next dollar of capacity comes from better than any funder does.
How fast can a roofing contractor get funded?
Funding can arrive in as little as 24 hours after approval. The application takes about five minutes with no hard credit pull, and preliminary decisions often come back the same day. If closing documents are completed by 11 AM PT Monday through Friday, funds can arrive the same business day.*
Do you work with residential and commercial roofers?
Both, and they are genuinely different businesses. Residential work turns fast and is paid on deposits, completions or an insurance cycle. Commercial runs on progress billing, schedules of values and retainage over a longer arc. Your advisor structures around whichever side your revenue actually comes from — or both, if you run a mixed shop.
Programs Built for Roofing
Funding for Related Industries
Talk to someone who knows your industry
A dedicated Business Funding Advisor can structure capital around how your business actually operates. No hard credit pull to apply.
*Closing documents must be completed by 11 AM PT Monday through Friday to receive funds the same business day. Weekend approvals will be processed the following business day.
Client examples reflect actual funded transactions with identifying details removed; individual results vary and are subject to underwriting approval.
Certain programs may be made available or arranged pursuant to California Financing Law License No. 60DBO-146720.
