My experience is very similar to CJS. For homeowner work or small commercial where I have control of payments I get a deposit. When run through a title company I get a rough payment and a final payment.
The beauty of going through a title company is that payment is guaranteed, the downside is waiting one to six weeks past rough & final. Sometimes I don't get the rough payment until after I've paid for all the materials and the job is almost finished. The bank won't release money until they see materials installed, so that's just the way it is, but the jobs are bigger. On a $30,000 job, if I don't have $10,000 cash available, I'll be in a bind.
Dave
