92% of Subcontractors Floated Payroll Last Year, New Siteline Report Finds

New research quantifies the cash-flow pressures facing commercial trade contractors—and the billing practices that can help them take greater control of getting paid

Siteline, the first billing and collections software built for commercial trade contractors, released The State of Subcontractor Billing in 2026, an industry report based on a survey of 492 construction finance and operations professionals conducted in May 2026. The findings show subcontractors are still financing the jobs they build—floating payroll, waiting the longest on retainage, and running much of the billing and collections process manually through spreadsheets and email.

The survey found that 92 percent of subcontractors floated payroll from their own pockets in the past year while waiting for payment, and 28 percent do it most months. For a trade that's first on the job and last to be paid, the company itself becomes the lender—without any of the protections a real bank would require. And as the business grows, so does the amount of cash it has tied up in the work.

The squeeze is especially tight around retainage, where 43 percent of subcontractors wait more than 90 days to collect final payment and retainage, compared with just 15 percent of general contractors—and nearly one in five waits six months or more. Because the amount withheld is often the entire margin on a job, a sub can finish the work and still wait half a year to see its profit while fronting the costs of the next one.

“Retainage puts subcontractors in a difficult position. It keeps us from money we’ve already earned while we still have employees, suppliers, and vendors to pay,” said Martin Press, founder and president of Press Mechanical Contractors and Secretary/Treasurer of the American Subcontractor Association (ASA). “ASA is working to expand options such as retainage bonds that give subcontractors access to those funds sooner, while still providing appropriate protection for the project. At the same time, subcontractors need to manage the parts of the payment process they can control—billing accurately and on time, staying ahead of requisitions and change orders, and knowing exactly where their money stands.”

The report shows there's plenty of room to improve on that front. Subcontractors named pay applications submitted with errors or omissions as the single biggest internal driver of their own late payments. Sixty-seven percent spend 11 or more hours per month preparing, submitting, and tracking pay apps—the equivalent of a part-time job. And 56 percent missed a critical mechanic's lien deadline in the past two years, putting one of their strongest payment protections at risk.

“Subcontractors have become the construction industry's bank, and it's a role no one asked for,” said Claire Wilson, co-founder and CEO of Siteline. “We can’t control how the industry pays, but our report shows that the better handle subcontractors have on their billing and A/R, the less time and money they lose to delays they can prevent. That’s exactly why Siteline exists: to give subs visibility into their cash flow so they can properly plan, get paid faster, and shorten the time they’re left financing the work.”

There's appetite to fix it, too: 73 percent of subcontractors are optimistic about their financial outlook, and a majority are ready to invest in the tools to get there. The State of Subcontractor Billing in 2026 breaks down where the delays start, what they cost, and what subcontractors can do to close the gap between the work they perform and the cash they collect. Click here to download The State of Subcontractor Billing in 2026.

About Siteline

Siteline is the first billing and collections software created for commercial trade contractors, enabling subcontractors to focus on building, rather than chasing A/R. It simplifies the payment application process, manages compliance and lien waivers, automates billing workflows, and eliminates common rejection points so subcontractors get paid faster. To learn more, visit www.siteline.com.