Worksheet
Enter your pay dates and when customer money is actually expected. The worksheet builds a dated ledger, finds the low point and sizes the bridge, so you request the right amount or none at all.
✓ Checking what you qualify for does not affect your credit score.
Updated October 13, 2026 · Merchant Fund Express
Illustrative arithmetic only. This is not an offer or a quote; real terms depend on your file and the funder.
It sorts every payroll run and every expected collection by date, starts from the cash on hand you enter, and keeps a running balance. The rules it follows:
Payroll here means the full amount that leaves the account on that date: net pay plus the payroll taxes your provider debits. Other bills are not modeled; take them out of cash on hand, or add them as payroll rows if they land on fixed dates.
A staffing-heavy service business has $18,000 in the bank on November 2, 2026, wants to keep $5,000 as a cushion, and runs a $22,000 payroll every other Friday. Customers pay on 30-day terms, so collections arrive on their own schedule.
| Date | Event | Amount | Balance |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nov 6, 2026 | Payroll | -$22,000 | -$4,000 |
| Nov 10, 2026 | Collection | $15,000 | $11,000 |
| Nov 20, 2026 | Payroll | -$22,000 | -$11,000 |
| Nov 25, 2026 | Collection | $20,000 | $9,000 |
| Dec 1, 2026 | Collection | $18,000 | $27,000 |
| Dec 4, 2026 | Payroll | -$22,000 | $5,000 |
| Dec 15, 2026 | Collection | $25,000 | $30,000 |
The account first drops below the cushion on November 6. The low point is -$11,000 on November 20. To cover that and keep $5,000 in the account, the bridge is $5,000 minus (-$11,000) = $16,000. The balance is back above the cushion on November 25, and the business is ahead again by December 15. A $16,000 bridge for 19 days is below the $25,000 minimum we fund, so this owner's better move is to ask one customer to pay early, shift a pay date, or draw on a smaller line of credit.
All figures in worked examples are illustrations of the arithmetic, not offers or quotes. Real terms depend on your file and the funder.
A bridge fits a timing gap: the money is earned and invoiced, and the worksheet shows the balance recovering on a known date. If the gap is $25,000 or more and recovers within the term, a short working capital product or a business line of credit is the usual match. When most of the money owed sits in invoices to other businesses, invoice factoring can turn those invoices into cash without adding a daily payment.
It does not fit a cost gap: if the balance never recovers across the dates you entered, payroll is larger than what the business brings in. Borrowing for that only moves the shortfall forward and adds a payment on top. Fix staffing or pricing first, then test again. The payroll loans guide walks through those options.
Funding ranges from $25K to $5M, decisions are same-day on complete files, and funding can arrive in as little as 24 hours for qualified businesses. That speed helps only if you start before the pay date, not on it. See the funding requirements for the tier rules.
If the bridge is $25,000 or more and the balance recovers, test the payment it would add in the MCA cash flow stress test, then check what you qualify for with a soft credit pull.
Rarely. A zero cushion means one late customer payment or an unexpected debit bounces payroll. Many owners use one week of fixed costs.
Payroll files are usually funded at the start of the day, while customer payments can post late. Treating payroll first is the conservative reading.
Enter them later than you expect. Run the worksheet twice, on time and a week late, and size any bridge from the late version.
Our funding starts at $25,000. For a smaller, short gap, moving a date, collecting sooner or a small line of credit is often cheaper than any advance.
No. It is the cash the account needs. The payments on any funding come out of later balances, so test them in the stress test before you request.
Same-day decision. Applying takes a few minutes and will not affect your credit score.
