Site finance

Operating capital for research sites: how much runway is enough

By TrialNotice · Updated
Research team planning around a table with charts and notes after reviewing a recovery plan
Short answerSites at the 2025 SCRS summit recommended keeping at least three months of working capital at all times. Research sites need runway because sponsor payments lag the work, holdbacks are paid at closeout, amendments delay payments, and study volume swings. SCRS data shows 34% of sites saw operating capital decline, and some sites are described as one late payment away from leaving the industry.

Why do research sites need extra runway?

  • Payments lag work. Startup, screening, and visits happen months before payment arrives; many invoices run past 90 days (SCRS via Clinical Leader).
  • Holdbacks. The most common holdback in 2023 was 10% to 14% of earned revenue, paid at closeout (IntuitionLabs, citing SCRS).
  • Amendments and cancellations interrupt revenue (Bourne Partners).
  • Big wins need cash too. Sites at SCRS described cash crunches when a large study arrives (Bourne Partners).

How much is enough?

At least three months of working capital, per best practice shared at SCRS (Bourne Partners). Yet 34% of sites saw operating capital decline and 33% held it flat (SCRS via Clinical Leader), and 38% saw profits fall in 2023 (SCRS).

How do you calculate your runway?

  1. Add up monthly fixed costs: salaries, rent, systems, insurance.
  2. Add average monthly variable study costs.
  3. Divide cash on hand by that monthly total. The result is months of runway.
  4. Stress test it: what if your largest sponsor pays 60 days late?

How do you build runway?

  • Negotiate startup fees paid at activation and monthly payment terms.
  • Invoice promptly and chase receivables early. See late sponsor payments.
  • Keep relationships with banks for short term financing, and with staffing partners for temporary capacity (Bourne Partners).
  • Update a weekly forecast that risk adjusts your pipeline for cancellations, screen failures, and dropouts (Bourne Partners).

What is the best long term fix?

Steady enrollment. A site whose studies enroll on schedule generates invoiceable visits every month, which is the most reliable source of working capital. Sources the site controls, its records and local referring physicians, make enrollment more predictable than relying on ads alone.

Get your study in front of the right local physicians

TrialNotice builds a physician referral pipeline around one active study. We identify relevant local physicians within driving distance of your site, send study aligned direct mail, follow up by email and LinkedIn, track engagement with recipient level QR codes, and route warm responses into your site team's workflow.

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Sources

  1. Bourne Partners, "Update on the Fundamentals of Clinical Trial Sites" (SCRS Global Site Solutions Summit takeaways, October 2025)
  2. Clinical Leader, "The Results Are In: Survey Reveals Barriers and Opportunities In Site Sustainability"
  3. IntuitionLabs, "Clinical Trial Site Payment Benchmarks 2026" (citing the SCRS 2023 Site Landscape Survey)
  4. Society for Clinical Research Sites, Site Finances White Paper (2024)

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