It took me a while (about a year) to get to the point that I was paying everything forward of the pay application every month. In other words, I have everything paid for except for large material or trucking bills, as I go. When we turn in a pay app for that cycle, usually everything on that pay app has been paid already - labor, fuel, equipment, subs and material. Of course a $30K storm tech system or large pipe bill is not, can't float that much.
The 30 to 45 day cycle will force you to watch your cash flow that's for sure. In the past I have "robbed Peter to pay Paul" and won't do it again. I was working in a different segment of the construction industry and the depression that hit us in 2008 taught me a lifetime of lessons in a very short time.
I research not only the GC's I work for but the owners as well, I want to know where the money is coming from and the economic strength of the owner. When I land a job, it's me interviewing the GC. I am frank and to the point about progress payments and the timeliness of getting paid. More often than not, I give them the old adage - " I am here to make money, i don't need the experience."
That's why I like the commercial market, profit is not a dirty word like other segments of the industry. When I worked primarily in the residential market, the term/word profit was liking dropping the "F" bomb at church on Sunday.