Cash Flow Guide for Irish Tradespeople

You can be fully booked, doing great work, and still run out of money. It happens to tradespeople all the time. The jobs are there, the invoices are out, but the cash isn’t in the bank when you need it.

Why cash flow matters more than profit

Profit is what your accounts say at the end of the year. Cash flow is whether you can pay your suppliers, your subbies, and yourself this Friday. You can be profitable on paper and still broke in practice, usually because money is owed to you but hasn’t landed yet.

Get paid faster

The single biggest thing you can do for cash flow is shorten the gap between doing the work and getting paid. That means invoicing on the day you finish, not the following week. It means setting clear payment terms (7 days, not 30). It means taking deposits on bigger jobs before materials are ordered.

Know what’s coming

Every month, list out what you expect to earn and what you know you’ll need to spend. Include VAT, Revenue payments, insurance renewals, and any big purchases. If the numbers don’t add up, you have time to adjust. Chase an invoice, delay a purchase, or line up an extra job.

Build a buffer

Aim to have at least one month’s expenses sitting in your account as a cushion. It takes the pressure off quiet weeks and means you’re never making business decisions out of panic.

Cash flow isn’t complicated. It just needs attention. Fifteen minutes a week looking at what’s in, what’s out, and what’s coming will save you from most of the stress that trades business owners carry around.