# NEMT Cash Reserve Calculator (2027): Cash to Cover Your Bills Until Claims Pay

Canonical URL: https://nemtguide.com/tools/nemt-cash-reserve-calculator/ · Updated 2026-09-30

This calculator shows how much cash your NEMT company needs in the bank to pay payroll, fuel, insurance, and other bills while claims wait to be paid. It turns a month of costs into a daily cost, then multiplies that by the days each payer takes to pay, weighted by its share of your revenue. The example numbers call for $8,640.

- Cash reserve = costs a day × the days it takes to get paid, weighted by each payer's share of your revenue.
- Count the days from the ride to the deposit: the wait until you bill, the payer's terms, and the time for the money to post.
- Payers set the pace. MTM Health's standard agreement pays within 30 days of online submission, and Verida pays Indiana clean claims within 14 days.
- In the example, getting paid 5 days sooner on Medicaid and broker trips frees $720 of cash.
- The reserve covers the wait for payment. Plan separately for the months before your first paid ride and for a payment that is held.

Use the calculator on the web page: https://nemtguide.com/tools/nemt-cash-reserve-calculator/

## What the cash reserve calculator does

Every ride costs you money today and pays you weeks from now. The driver is paid on payday, the fuel card is due on its date, and the insurance comes out on the first, while the claim for that ride is still waiting in the payer's queue. The cash reserve is the money in the bank that carries those bills through the wait.

The calculator works out how big that reserve needs to be. It starts from what a month of running the company costs and what each type of payer brings in: Medicaid programs and brokers, facilities such as clinics and dialysis centers, and riders who pay for themselves. Then it uses how long each one takes to pay you to find the cash tied up in rides that are done but not yet paid.

Use it before you open, before you sign with a new broker or health plan, before you add a van, and any time a payer starts paying slower. The answer is a target balance to keep in the bank on a normal month.

## How to use the calculator

1. Enter what you spend in a month on payroll, fuel, insurance, and everything else.
2. Enter what Medicaid programs, brokers, and health plans pay you for a month of trips, and the days they take to pay.
3. Do the same for facilities and for private pay riders. Leave a payer you do not have at zero.
4. Read the cash reserve to keep, the average days to get paid, and the months of running costs that reserve equals.

The results change as you type. **Reset to example** puts the example numbers back, and **Show the formula** lists every step of the math.

## What each number means

| Box | What to enter | Where to find it |
|---|---|---|
| Payroll a month | Wages for drivers, dispatchers, and office staff, plus payroll taxes and benefits | Your payroll reports. Include the employer's 7.65 percent Social Security and Medicare tax (IRS Publication 15, 2026). |
| Fuel a month | What you spend on fuel | Fuel card statements and receipts |
| Insurance a month | Auto liability, general liability, and workers' compensation | Your premium ÷ the months it covers |
| Other bills a month | Van payments, rent, phones, software, repairs, and your own draw | Your bank and card statements |
| Medicaid and broker revenue a month | What Medicaid, brokers, and health plans pay for a month of trips | Last month's remittances, or trips × your contract rates |
| Days Medicaid and brokers take to pay | Days from the ride to the money in your bank | Your receivables report, or the method in the next section |
| Facility revenue a month | What clinics, dialysis centers, and nursing homes pay you | Your facility invoices |
| Days facilities take to pay | Days from the ride to the deposit, invoicing time included | The payment terms in each facility contract |
| Private pay revenue a month | What riders and families pay you themselves | Your payment records |
| Days private pay riders take to pay | Days from the ride until you are paid | Enter 0 if riders pay when they book or at the ride |

Use a typical month, not your best one. If your costs change with the seasons, run the calculator for your busiest month, because that is when the most cash is tied up.

## How to find the days each payer takes to pay

The days that matter run from the ride to the deposit, not from the claim to the payment:

**Days to get paid = days from the ride until you bill + days the payer takes to pay + days for the deposit to post**

The middle number comes from the payer's rules or your contract. These are published examples:

| Payer | Published payment terms |
|---|---|
| State Medicaid agency | Must pay 90 percent of clean claims from practitioners within 30 days of receipt and 99 percent within 90 days, and all other claims within 12 months ([42 CFR 447.45](https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-42/chapter-IV/subchapter-C/part-447/subpart-A/section-447.45)) |
| Medicaid health plans | The same 30 and 90 day standards, unless the plan and its providers agree to another schedule in the contract (42 CFR 447.46) |
| New York Medicaid fee-for-service (cycle calendar through 2027) | Claims process in weekly cycles from Thursday to Wednesday. Electronic payments are sent on the Wednesday three weeks after the cycle closes, so 21 to 27 days after the claim is processed. |
| [MTM Health](https://nemtguide.com/brokers/mtm-health/), standard agreement (January 1, 2023 version Pennsylvania posts) | Uncontested invoices paid within 30 days after online submission |
| [WellTrans](https://nemtguide.com/brokers/welltrans/), Indiana (agreement revised October 16, 2025) | Paid twice a month, within 30 days after submission. WellTrans may delay payment when its own client does not pay it. |
| [Verida](https://nemtguide.com/brokers/verida/), Indiana fee-for-service (module of August 19, 2025) | Clean claims submitted by Wednesday are paid within 14 days |
| [MediTrans](https://nemtguide.com/brokers/meditrans/), Louisiana (as of September 2026) | Clean claims processed in 7 to 14 business days, paid every other Friday |

The 30 and 90 day federal standards are written for practitioners' clean claims. A clean claim is one the payer can process without asking you or anyone else for more information ([clean claim](https://nemtguide.com/glossary/clean-claim/)). A claim that lacks something the payer needs, such as the trip ID, is not clean, so those standards do not cover it.

Here is how the days add up for Verida's Indiana terms. Even billed the same day, a ride on a Thursday misses that week's Wednesday cutoff. It waits 6 days for the next one and is then paid within 14 days, so it can take 20 days plus the time your bank takes to post the deposit. Billing every day moves each ride into the earliest cutoff it can make.

Your own records beat any contract. If you have been running for a few months, take the average days from date of service to deposit for each payer from your [accounts receivable](https://nemtguide.com/guides/nemt-accounts-receivable/) report. The guide to [how long Medicaid takes to pay](https://nemtguide.com/guides/how-long-medicaid-takes-to-pay/) lists more state calendars and broker terms.

## A worked example

The calculator opens with example numbers. They show how the math works. They are not market rates or any payer's terms, so replace them with your own.

| Step | Math | Result |
|---|---|---|
| Costs a month | $4,600 payroll + $900 fuel + $600 insurance + $1,200 other bills | $7,300 |
| Costs a day | $7,300 × 12 ÷ 365 | $240.00 |
| Each payer's share | $6,000, $3,000, and $1,000 of $10,000 in revenue | 60%, 30%, 10% |
| Reserve for Medicaid and broker trips | $240 × 60% × 45 days | $6,480 |
| Reserve for facility trips | $240 × 30% × 30 days | $2,160 |
| Reserve for private pay trips | $240 × 10% × 0 days | $0.00 |
| Cash reserve to keep | $6,480 + $2,160 + $0 | $8,640 |
| Average days to get paid | 60% × 45 + 30% × 30 + 10% × 0 | 36 |
| Months of running costs | 36 × 12 ÷ 365 | 1.2 |

On a normal month, this company has about $8,640 of its own money spent on rides that are done but not yet paid. That is the least it can keep in the bank and still meet every bill on time.

## What moves the answer most

The slowest payer with the most revenue drives the reserve. This table keeps every other box at its example value and changes only the days Medicaid and brokers take to pay.

| Days Medicaid and brokers take to pay | Average days to get paid | Cash reserve to keep | Months of running costs |
|---|---|---|---|
| 14 | 17.4 | $4,176 | 0.6 |
| 30 | 27 | $6,480 | 0.9 |
| 45 | 36 | $8,640 | 1.2 |
| 60 | 45 | $10,800 | 1.5 |
| 90 | 63 | $15,120 | 2.1 |

Every 5 days sooner on those trips frees $720 of cash in the example. Billing daily instead of once a week, and fixing rejected claims the day they come back, are the cheapest ways to get there.

Your payer mix matters too. Here the total revenue stays at $10,000 and the costs stay the same.

| Medicaid and brokers, facilities, private pay | Average days to get paid | Cash reserve to keep |
|---|---|---|
| 100%, 0%, 0% | 45 | $10,800 |
| 60%, 30%, 10% | 36 | $8,640 |
| 40%, 30%, 30% | 27 | $6,480 |

Private pay riders who pay at the ride need no reserve at all, so every private pay trip you add lowers the average. The guide to [NEMT payer mix](https://nemtguide.com/guides/nemt-payer-mix/) covers the other side of that: how much of your revenue should come from one payer.

## How to use the answer

- **Set a floor for your bank balance.** Keep at least the cash reserve on hand. When your balance drops toward it, chase unpaid claims before you spend on anything that can wait.
- **Plan your opening cash.** Round the months of running costs up to a whole month and enter it in the [startup cost calculator](https://nemtguide.com/tools/nemt-startup-cost-calculator/). Its box takes whole months, so the example's 1.2 becomes 2.
- **Arrange credit before you need it.** If the reserve is more than you have, a line of credit can cover the difference. As of September 2026, SBA Express loans go up to $500,000 and can be revolving lines of credit. Apply while your numbers look good, not in the week you run short. See [NEMT business loans](https://nemtguide.com/guides/nemt-business-loans/).
- **Run it again when something changes.** A new broker with slower terms, a health plan that switches brokers, or a new van all change the answer. See the [broker transition checklist](https://nemtguide.com/guides/nemt-broker-transition/).
- **Track it weekly.** The reserve is a target. The 13-week cash flow forecast shows the week your balance will be lowest, and the guide to [NEMT cash flow](https://nemtguide.com/guides/nemt-cash-flow/) covers what to do when that week looks short.

## What the reserve does not cover

The calculator sizes the cash tied up in unpaid rides on a normal month. Four things need cash on top of it.

1. **The months before your first paid ride.** Insurance and van payments start while you wait for enrollment and credentialing, and MTM Health's standard agreement pays nothing for trips run by drivers or vehicles it has not credentialed. The startup cost calculator adds these one-time costs.
2. **The months while your trips build.** Until enough trips run to cover your fixed costs, every month loses money on top of the wait. The [break-even calculator](https://nemtguide.com/tools/nemt-break-even-calculator/) shows how many trips that takes.
3. **A payment that is held.** Payers hold payments for reasons you do not control. As of 2026, Medi-Cal holds fee-for-service payments due on the last two payment dates of its fiscal year, in late June, until the first payment date in July. Two more weeks of costs, $240 × 14 = $3,360 in the example, is a sensible cushion for a held or denied batch.
4. **Bills that come all at once.** The calculator uses monthly averages. An insurance down payment, a registration renewal, or a quarterly tax payment needs its own cash on the day it is due.

Growth adds to the reserve even when every new trip is profitable. In the example, a new van that adds $2,000 a month of costs raises costs a day to $305.75. With the same payer mix, the reserve rises to $11,007, about $2,367 more, before the van's first ride is paid.

Payroll and payroll tax deposits come first when cash is short, because a slow payer does not move a payday or an IRS deposit date. Build them into your plan before anything else.

## Frequently asked questions

### How much cash reserve should a NEMT company keep?

At least your costs a day times the average days it takes to get paid. In this page's example that is $240 a day for 36 days, or $8,640, about 1.2 months of costs. On top of that, hold a cushion for a batch that is denied or held, such as two more weeks of costs, and a new company needs cash for the months before its first paid ride.

### How long do Medicaid and NEMT brokers take to pay?

Federal rule 42 CFR 447.45 makes a state Medicaid agency pay 90 percent of clean claims from practitioners within 30 days of receipt and all other claims within 12 months. Brokers pay on their contract terms: MTM Health's standard agreement within 30 days of online submission, WellTrans in Indiana twice a month within 30 days, and Verida in Indiana within 14 days for clean claims sent by Wednesday.

### Why does the calculator weigh each payer's days by its revenue?

Because each payer's trips use a share of your costs, and that share waits as long as the payer does. The calculator assumes your costs follow your revenue, so a payer that brings in 60 percent of revenue ties up 60 percent of a day's costs for its days to pay. If one payer's trips cost much more to run, enter all your revenue under its days to see the worst case.

### Should I count my own pay in the costs?

Yes, if you pay yourself on a schedule. Put it in payroll if you are on the payroll, or in other bills if you take a set draw each month. If you leave it out, the answer is the cash the company needs to pay everyone except you.

### Can I sell my Medicaid claims instead of holding a reserve?

Not when the state pays you. Federal rule 42 CFR 447.10 bars state Medicaid payments to or through a factor, a company that buys your receivables for a fee. Broker payments follow your contract: MTM Health's standard agreement requires written notice, with proof, at least 30 days before any payment you assign to someone else. A line of credit keeps the payments coming to you.

### How does this calculator work with the startup cost calculator?

The startup cost calculator adds your one-time costs to a reserve of monthly running costs, and asks how many months to hold. This calculator answers that question. Its months box takes whole months, so round up: the example's 1.2 months becomes 2.

### What does "Not reachable" mean here?

It means every revenue box is at zero, so there is nothing to weigh the days to get paid by. Enter what each payer pays you in a month. A payer you do not have stays at zero and adds nothing to the reserve.

## Official resources

- [SBA: Manage your finances](https://www.sba.gov/business-guide/manage-your-business/manage-your-finances)
- [SBA: Types of 7(a) loans, including lines of credit](https://www.sba.gov/partners/lenders/7a-loan-program/types-7a-loans)
- [eCFR: 42 CFR 447.45, Timely claims payment](https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-42/chapter-IV/subchapter-C/part-447/subpart-A/section-447.45)
- [IRS: Publication 15, Employer's Tax Guide](https://www.irs.gov/publications/p15)
- [eMedNY: Cycle Processing Calendar (New York Medicaid payment dates)](https://www.emedny.org/hipaa/news/PDFS/CYCLE_CALENDAR.pdf)