Hey I have been operating a rope access maintenance company for just over a year now doing around 300k turn over a year with 3 guys part-time I have still been working on the mines for another company in my downtime . And have recently been approached by a few clients for larger than our normal scale projects $600k> I have only had to deal with $50k< jobs in the past . So this is out of my comfort zone but I love it . For all jobs in the past I just would go out buy the material myself and add it to my quote then invoice at the end .
So one of the clients the materials alone are around 80k this is well out of my capability to cover with out payment first and I would feel stupid even considering that .
Because I have never done this before I’m not sure where to start is it as easy as putting in your terms payment for materials upfront or should I ask for 50% then the other when it’s needed .
What is the correct procedure to follow is the main question .
You should charge more than the material cost up front - and don’t do anything until the money is in your account.
Also, you should charge during the job, when pre-determined milestones are met, with the last payment upon completion.