Delayed Project Starts and the Cash Schedule

A project start delay can move customer receipts, supplier work, and delivery capacity by different amounts. Simply shifting the whole project one month later assumes every payment is equally flexible. In practice, some costs may already be committed while others depend on actual work beginning. Build the delayed scenario from those dependencies rather than moving a single net-profit total.

Establish the base cash schedule

Assume a hypothetical project begins in April. It receives $4,000 in April and $6,000 in May. Project payments are $2,500 in April and $3,500 in May. The two-month project net cash movement is $4,000. With $3,000 of opening project cash allocated to this plan, the closing balances are $4,500 after April and $7,000 after May.

Now assume the start moves to May and both customer receipts move one month later. Of April's $2,500 payment, $1,000 remains due for an entered nonmovable reservation, while $1,500 follows the work into May. The original May payment of $3,500 moves to June. The reservation is part of the original $6,000 total cost, not an additional charge.

The eventual balance remains $7,000, but the plan temporarily reaches $2,000 instead of increasing immediately to $4,500. If the business's separately chosen cushion is $2,500, the delayed case falls $500 below it. The cushion is a comparison target, not a payment to subtract again from the schedule.

Test whether delay also changes the total cost

Suppose the actual entered reservation terms require a further $600 extension payment in May. That is an additional scenario, not an automatic consequence of delay. It reduces the eventual balance to $6,400. A start delay can therefore have both a timing effect and a cost effect; keeping the two visible prevents a later receipt from being mistaken for lost revenue.

Check displaced work and revised availability

Confirm whether the team and supplier can perform the work in the new weeks. Another accepted project may already occupy May or June. Released April time may remain unsold, so do not add replacement revenue merely because the calendar opens. If an actual alternative job is feasible, model its contribution and cash dates separately.

Track the readiness condition that controls the start, such as approved inputs or site access, and update the receipt schedule from the agreed billing triggers. This example assumes no legal right to a reservation fee or extension charge. It uses supplied terms to reveal which dates move, which commitments remain, and whether the revised operating schedule can still support the work.

Method references: OpenStax: Prepare Financial Budgets. Accessed October 22, 2026. All dollar figures are hypothetical worked examples.