Tender Contract Cash-Flow Planner
A won contract month by month: when money comes in, when it goes out, and the gap between.
Try before you buy.
- Free preview: the peak working-capital gap in full, with the first months (up to 3), a watermarked chart and the first step of the working; every other figure is hidden.
- Locked until you unlock it: download and copy.
- Unlock: Premium pass, ₹799 for 30 days or ₹249 for 1 week, a one-time payment that never renews. Unlock: Premium pass, $19.99 for 30 days or $7.99 for 1 week, a one-time payment that never renews.
Ways to unlock shows how to get the full result.
Printing this result is locked in the free preview.
Rules behind the defaults
The contract and the buyer decide: where they set other terms, type those.
Enter the contract value (or try the example) to see the plan month by month.
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Cash month by month
Net money inNet money outCash position
The plan, month by month
Rupees; money out is negative. The cash position starts from your own funds.
| Month | Work done | Bill | Received | Costs paid | GST paid | Securities | Interest | Net flow | Cash position |
|---|
If the buyer pays later
The same contract with other payment days for the running bills.
| Days to pay a bill | Peak gap | Interest | Profit after finance |
|---|
How it is worked out
Reports
The workbook keeps the net flow, the cash position and the totals as live formulas, with every column of each month on its own sheet.
Checks and notes
An estimate for planning, not financial or tax advice: the contract’s payment terms, the buyer’s actual payment days, your bank’s guarantee terms and your tax position decide.
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Results are estimates for general information and planning, not financial advice. Banks and institutions may calculate differently (rounding, fees, rate changes). Confirm figures with your lender or a qualified adviser before deciding.
How this tool is checked
- Based on
- the rules of India, as set out under ‘How the plan is worked out’.
- Sources
-
This guide lists 4 sources under ‘Sources’, among them:
- Tests
- 25 automated tests check its results.
- Found an error?
- Report a problem or write to support@mysmartcopilot.com, with what you entered and the result you expected.
About the Tender Contract Cash-Flow Planner
Winning a Government contract is the start of a long wait for money. The work is done before it is billed, the running bill is paid weeks after it is raised, and the buyer keeps part of every bill: income-tax TDS, GST TDS, retention money and the recovery of any mobilisation advance. Meanwhile the GST on the bill is due by the 20th of the next month, suppliers want paying, the EMD sits with the buyer from the bid, and the performance guarantee blocks margin money at the bank until 60 days after the defect liability period. The gap between money out and money in is the working capital the contract needs — and its interest comes out of your margin.
Enter the contract’s terms and this planner builds it month by month, from the bid to the last retention money back: the work done along an S-curve (or your own percentages), each bill and its deductions, when it is paid, the costs and their credit days, GST net of input tax credit and TDS credited, the EMD, the performance security and the advance guarantee as cash or as bank guarantees with margin money and commission, and interest at your overdraft rate on the gap. It shows the peak working-capital gap and when it comes, what you borrow beyond your own funds, the interest and guarantee costs, the profit after finance costs, and what is still out when the work is complete — and how all of it moves if the buyer pays later.
Without a pass the result stays a free preview: the peak working-capital gap shows in full, with the first months of the plan, the chart as a marked picture and the first step of the working; every other figure, and the Excel workbook, the PDF report, the CSV and the copy, unlock with a Premium pass.
How to use it
- Enter the contract value without GST, the GST rate on your bills, the first month of work and the months it runs, and pick the progress curve (an S-curve suits most works; type your own monthly percentages if you have a programme).
- Set the billing: a running bill every month (or every two or three), the days the buyer takes to pay a bill, and the days for the final bill.
- Set the deductions from each bill (income-tax TDS, GST TDS, retention and its ceiling, the defect liability period) and any mobilisation advance with its interest and the progress between which it is recovered.
- Enter the securities: the EMD and how long before the start you bid, the performance security, and whether each is a bank guarantee (with the bank’s margin money and commission) or cash.
- Enter your costs: the margin before finance costs, the cost mix (materials, labour, sub-contracts, plant, overheads) with the days of credit each gets, the mobilisation cost and input GST; then your own funds, the overdraft rate and limit.
- Read the peak gap, the chart and the plan. With a pass, download the Excel workbook (with live formulas), the PDF report for your bank or partner, or the CSV, or copy the summary — in the free preview these unlock with a pass.
Examples
₹10 lakh of cost in month 1 · the bill paid two months after it is raised · overdraft at 12% a year
Peak gap ₹10,15,050 in month 2; interest ₹5,000 in month 1 (1% on half the month’s outflow), ₹10,050 in month 2 and ₹5,150.50 in month 3.
A ₹10 lakh running bill with 18% GST · income-tax TDS 2% · GST TDS 2% · retention 5%
Received ₹10,90,000 (₹11,80,000 less ₹20,000, ₹20,000 and ₹50,000); GST paid the next month ₹1,60,000 — ₹1,80,000 less the ₹20,000 of GST TDS credited.
₹1 crore over 10 even months · advance 10% in two parts at 10% a year · recovered between 10% and 80% progress
₹10 lakh comes in in month 1; ₹1,42,857 is recovered from each bill in months 2 to 8, with interest of ₹41,667 in all.
Common uses
- A contractor deciding whether it can carry a new contract with its current overdraft limit.
- A finance head showing the bank the working capital a won contract needs, month by month.
- Pricing a bid: what the finance cost of slow payment and blocked guarantees takes out of the margin.
- Comparing a contract with and without a mobilisation advance, or with cash instead of bank guarantees.
How the plan is worked out
- Work done each month = the contract value × the month’s share of the progress curve (the S-curve is 3t² − 2t³ of the time elapsed). Bills are raised on the work done since the last bill.
- Received = the bill + GST − income-tax TDS − GST TDS − retention − the advance recovered − its interest, paid the days you set after the bill: each bill is raised on the last day of its month and counted in the month its payment day falls in (a bill raised at the end of November and paid in 45 days is counted in January).
- GST paid by the 20th of the next month = the GST on the month’s bills − input tax credit − the GST TDS credited; credit that cannot be used yet is carried forward.
- Costs = the contract value × (1 − your margin), spent with the progress (the mobilisation cost in the first month), each head paid after its credit days, with input GST on materials, sub-contracts and plant hire.
- Securities: the EMD from the bid to the start (it comes back on receipt of the performance security), the performance security from the start to 60 days after the defect liability period, the advance guarantee on what is still outstanding — as cash, or as margin money plus commission for a bank guarantee.
- Interest each month = your overdraft rate ÷ 12 × the negative cash position (the opening position plus half the month’s flow).
- Peak working-capital gap = the most cash the contract has tied up at once, before your own funds; what you borrow is the part beyond them.
The defaults, and the rules behind them
- Retention: 5% of each running bill as security deposit; half back with the taking-over certificate, half 60 days after the defect liability period (Manual for Procurement of Works, para 5.1.3).
- Mobilisation advance: interest-bearing, 10% of the contract price against a bank guarantee, often in two instalments of 5%, the second after 10% financial progress (para 5.3.1); the manual’s example rate for advances is 10% a year (para 5.3.2). Advances to a private firm are capped at 30% of the contract value (General Financial Rules, 2017, rule 172).
- Payment days: an ad-hoc payment of at least 75% of an eligible running bill within 10 working days and the rest within 28 working days, the final payment within three months of completion (para 5.2) — the plan’s 45 and 90 days leave room for what actually happens; set your buyer’s own.
- Performance security: 3% to 10% of the contract value for works (para 5.1.2), valid 60 days beyond completion of all obligations, the defect liability period included (rule 171).
- GST TDS: 2% (1% CGST and 1% SGST, or 2% IGST) where the supply under the contract exceeds ₹2,50,000, credited to your electronic cash ledger (CGST Act, section 51).
- GST paid: with the month’s return, by the 20th of the next month for a monthly return, after the input tax credit and the GST TDS credited are used (CGST Act, section 39(7)).
- Income-tax TDS: 1% for an individual or HUF, 2% for anyone else (Income-tax Act, 2025, section 393(1), Table Sl. No. 6(i)). It is a credit against your income tax, so by default the plan does not count it back; you can count it back at the next advance-tax date.
- Bank guarantees: margin money and commission differ by bank and by your limits: 25% margin and 1.5% a year are only starting values. Type your bank’s.
What the plan leaves out
- Price variation and escalation (normally only in contracts longer than 18 months), extra and substituted items, liquidated damages, secured advances against materials at site, and claims.
- Income tax on the profit, and the time value of money beyond the overdraft interest.
- The buyer’s budget and the delays that come with it: the payment days you type are the plan’s only delay — try longer ones in the table below the plan.
Sources
- Manual for Procurement of Works — paras 5.1.2, 5.1.3, 5.2, 5.3
- General Financial Rules, 2017 — rules 171 and 172
- CGST Act, 2017 — sections 39 and 51
- Income-tax Act, 2025 — section 393
Limitations
- An estimate for planning, not financial or tax advice: the contract’s payment terms, the buyer’s actual payment days, your bank’s terms and your tax position decide.
- Costs follow the progress curve; a programme with lumpy purchases is closer with your own monthly percentages.
- Amounts are in rupees and months: each bill is raised on the last day of its month and received in the month its payment day falls in, and the costs are spent through the month and paid after their credit days.
- GST is worked out at one rate on the bills and one on the inputs that carry it; reverse charge and blocked credits are not modelled.
Privacy
On this device; its files download once
Every figure you enter stays in this browser and is kept with the tool’s settings on this device. The PDF and the workbook are made on your device.
Frequently asked questions
What do I get without a pass?
Without a pass, Tender Contract Cash-Flow Planner shows the peak working-capital gap in full, with the first months (up to 3), a watermarked chart and the first step of the working; every other figure is hidden. Until you unlock it, the result can’t be downloaded or copied. A Premium or Ultimate pass, a one-time payment that never renews, unlocks the full result. The pricing page lists the passes and their prices.
How much working capital does a Government contract need?
The most cash the contract ties up at once: the costs paid before the bills are paid, plus the GST paid before the buyer pays, plus the money held back (TDS, retention, the advance recovery) and blocked (EMD and guarantee margin money). How much that is depends most on the buyer’s payment days and on what is held back; this planner works it out from your own terms, month by month, and shows how it grows when payment is later.
When is retention money released?
Under the Manual for Procurement of Works (para 5.1.3), half of the retention comes back with the taking-over certificate and the other half 60 days after the defect liability period ends, or with the final payment if that is earlier. The contract may say otherwise; set its terms.
How is a mobilisation advance recovered?
Through deductions from the running bills, usually between two progress points that the contract names; the planner recovers it in proportion to the progress between them (10% and 80% by default), with simple interest on what is outstanding, and takes any rest from the final bill.
Why does GST hurt the cash flow of a contract?
GST on a bill is due by the 20th of the month after the bill is raised, whether or not the buyer has paid it. Input tax credit on materials and sub-contracts and the 2% GST TDS the buyer deposits for you reduce what you pay, but when the bill is paid two months later the GST has gone out first.
Does GST TDS come back?
Yes, as credit: the buyer deposits the 2% it deducts and it reaches your electronic cash ledger, where it pays your GST (CGST Act section 51). The planner uses it against the next GST payment and shows any credit still unused at the end.
Do I need a pass?
To see the whole plan and every figure, and to download the Excel workbook, the PDF report or the CSV or copy the summary, yes: a Premium pass unlocks every Premium tool. Without a pass you see a free preview of your own contract: the peak working-capital gap in full, with the first months, a watermarked chart and the first step of the working; every other figure is hidden.