Willowpeak Capital Group in Williston, North Dakota helps service companies, contractors and stores frame a working capital request around the gap between paying the crew and getting paid, then passes it to funding partners who decide.
At a glance
- Support activities for oil and gas operations, Williams County, ND
Support activities for oil and gas operations, Williams County, ND: 137 employer establishments, 4,440 paid employees (CBP 2023)
- Construction, Williams County, ND
Construction, Williams County, ND: 144 employer establishments, $280.2 million in annual payroll (CBP 2023)
- Retail trade, Williams County, ND
Retail trade, Williams County, ND: 144 employer establishments, 2,252 paid employees (CBP 2023)
How to Use a Working Capital Loan While Operator Invoices Sit Unpaid
Working capital money is for costs that come before the revenue: crew wages, fuel, per diem, supplier invoices and insurance premiums. It is not meant for a truck or a building. For an oilfield service company the classic use is the stretch between the field ticket and the day the operator's payment clears.
Use it for a known gap with a known end. If the invoices are approved and the payment date is in sight, a single advance sized to the payrolls in between gives a partner a clear picture. If the gap keeps reopening every month, a business line of credit may fit better, because it can be drawn and paid down again.
Support activities for oil and gas operations had 137 employer establishments in Williams County, ND in 2023, more than any other six-digit industry in the county file, with 4,440 paid employees and $544.5 million in annual payroll (County Business Patterns).
Choosing Between Working Capital Loan and Term Loan at a Williston, ND Retail Shop
A retail shop facing a slow stretch and a supplier bill has a timing problem, which is a working capital question. The same shop buying a second storefront has a purchase that will earn for years, which is a term loan question. Mixing them makes both harder to price.
The test is how long the money is needed. Wages and supplier bills that the next few months of sales will cover suit a short working capital advance. Fixtures, a lease buyout or a second location suit a term loan, where a longer schedule keeps the payment in proportion to what the purchase earns.
Williams County, ND retail employers paid $96.9 million in annual payroll in 2023 across 144 establishments (County Business Patterns), and 46 of those stores had fewer than five employees.
How Is Working Capital Loan Repaid? Notes for Oilfield Service Companies
A working capital loan is paid back in fixed installments, daily, weekly or monthly depending on the partner, over a term the partner sets in the offer. Some partners collect by automatic debit from the business account. The schedule does not wait for the operator to pay, which is the main risk to plan for.
An oilfield service company should line up the payment schedule with its own receivables. If an operator pays at 60 or 90 days, a weekly debit that starts next week draws on cash that has not yet arrived. Ask each offer for the payment frequency, the first payment date, the total of all payments and any fee taken from the funds at closing.
The oilfield services page sets working capital beside equipment financing for service rigs, vac trucks and hot-oil units.
Business Line of Credit for Payroll, Set Against a One-Time Working Capital Advance
A line of credit for payroll sets a limit the business draws on each pay period and pays back as invoices clear, with interest charged on the balance in use. A working capital loan arrives once and is paid back on a fixed schedule whether or not it is all needed.
For a crew whose invoices clear in a regular rhythm, the line is the more flexible tool: it is drawn for one payroll, paid down when the check comes, then drawn again. For a single long gap, such as a large job with one invoice at the end, the one-time advance is sized once and compared offer against offer on a single total.
Counting the Payrolls Between a Ticket and the Check: A Williams County, ND Crew Example
Counting payrolls, not weeks, keeps the request honest. A biweekly payroll falls inside any 70-day wait exactly 5 times (70 divided by 14).
Illustration only, invented figures: a hot-oil service company with a biweekly payroll of $31,500 submits a $96,400 invoice and expects payment in 70 days. 5 payrolls fall inside the wait, $157,500 in all. If it asks for $90,000 over 9 months at an annual rate of 18%, the payment would be about $10,765 a month, $96,884 in total payments and $6,884 in interest.
The example shows why the payroll count and the invoice date, not the invoice total, frame the request; the $90,000 asked for is the part of the $157,500 the company does not expect to carry from its own cash. A partner will want to see both.
Records a Partner Reads Before Pricing a Williston, ND Working Capital Request
A partner pricing a working capital request reads the last three to six months of business bank statements, the most recent business tax return, a current accounts receivable aging, and the owner's credit. For a service company, the master service agreements with operators and the approved field tickets help show that the invoices are real and collectible.
A short note on the gap itself helps: the payroll total, the dates, the invoices that will close it. The request form asks for contact details and three ranges, and the documents come later, if a partner asks for them.
For payroll gaps in more depth, see the articles on who finances pulling units and vac trucks, how contractors carry payroll through a late payment, how a card-sales advance is collected and what lenders read in an application.
By Willowpeak Capital Group ยท Updated
