BUILDING WEALTH OUTSIDE YOUR CONSTRUCTION COMPANY WITHOUT TAKING WHAT THE JOBS NEED.
Most subcontractor owners have most of their net worth tied up in one company that is personally guaranteed to a surety and a bank. The fix is a written rule for how much cash leaves the company each year, set from the working capital the bonding line needs, and a habit of moving that money into retirement accounts and other assets outside the business. Done slowly and on a schedule, it protects the family without weakening the company.
Owners usually leave everything in the company for good reasons: the surety wants equity, the bank wants working capital and the next job needs a mobilization. Those reasons are real, and they never end, so the money never leaves. Twenty years later the owner has a valuable company that depends on them, a house and very little else. A buyer may pay less than expected, and a single bad job can take years of value with it. Building wealth outside the business is how the owner gets paid for the risk they have been taking.
WHAT IT MEANS.
Net worth outside the business is the part of an owner's wealth held in assets the company's creditors, sureties and job results cannot reach, such as retirement accounts, real estate held separately and personal investments.
This page covers planning and gives no investment advice. The specific accounts and investments belong to your CPA and a licensed financial advisor. This page covers the business side: how much the company can release and how to release it without hurting the bonding line.
WHERE OWNER WEALTH STAYS STUCK IN THE COMPANY.
No rule for what the company keeps
Without a working capital target, every dollar of profit looks like it might be needed, so none of it leaves. The surety and the bank each have a number in mind for working capital and equity. Once the owner knows those numbers, everything above them is money that can be moved outside the business on purpose.
The retirement plan was never set up
Many owners skip a 401(k) or other retirement plan because it feels like a cost for the employees. For 2026 the employee deferral limit is $24,500 and the total defined contribution limit is $72,000 per person, before any catch-up amounts. An owner who never sets one up gives up one of the few places to put money the tax code favors and creditors usually cannot reach.
The building, the yard and the trucks are inside the company
Real estate and equipment owned by the operating company are exposed to every claim against it. When they are owned in a separate entity and leased to the company at a fair rent, they build wealth for the owner and are kept apart from the operating risk.
WHAT IT LOOKS LIKE IN DOLLARS.
$24,500 per person, up from $23,500 in 2025, before catch-up contributions for owners 50 and older.
$72,000 per person across employee and employer contributions, up from $70,000 in 2025.
$290,000 of annual benefit, the ceiling a cash balance or pension plan works toward, up from $280,000 in 2025.
THREE HABITS THAT MOVE WEALTH OUTSIDE THE BUSINESS.
Ask your surety and your bank what working capital and equity they expect at your size, add a cushion for slow pay and retainage, and write the number down. Review it each year with the year-end statements. Profit above that number can leave the company on a schedule, and profit below it stays.
Set up a 401(k) with a profit sharing feature, and look at a cash balance plan once profits are high and consistent. Contributions are planned with the CPA before year end, so the money leaves the company as a deductible expense in place of a taxable draw.
When the company needs a yard, a building or major equipment, talk to your CPA and attorney about owning it in a separate entity and leasing it back at a fair rent. The rent is overhead the company would pay anyway, and the asset builds equity for the owner.
FLAT MONTHLY FEE. NO SURPRISES.
Three tiers, priced by your trailing twelve month revenue. Which one you're in depends on how much of the work you want off your desk. No hourly billing. No payroll. The one-time onboarding fee is right here in the table.
| Last 12 months revenue | Monthly fee | One-time onboarding |
|---|---|---|
| Up to $1M | $1,900 to $3,300 | $1,000 |
| $1M to $3.5M | $2,600 to $5,300 | $1,500 |
| $3.5M to $6.5M | $3,800 to $8,300 | $3,000 |
| $6.5M to $9.5M | $5,100 to $11,800 | $4,500 |
| $9.5M to $12.5M | $6,100 to $14,900 | $6,000 |
| $12.5M to $15.5M | $7,400 to $17,650 | $7,500 |
| $15.5M to $18.5M | $9,400 to $22,400 | $9,000 |
| $18.5M+ | Quoted individually | Quoted individually |
The onboarding fee covers migrating your books back to the start of your last taxable year and getting you fully operational in 60 days. It's billed once, with your first invoice. It's the same for all three tiers. Your first month is prorated, and your monthly engagement starts on the first of the first full month.
Range reflects the three tiers below. Which one you're in depends on how much of the work you want off your desk. No payroll. No hidden line items. The onboarding fee is right here in the table.
You stop guessing.
You get the CFO work. Job costing built against the way you estimate, a 13 week cash forecast, monthly WIP, and a meeting every month that ends in decisions and never in a report.
Your bookkeeper still does the books.
Every job shows its margin while it is still open.
Everything in Core, plus the bookkeeping and bank reconciliations done for you, and the job costing and WIP software set up, loaded with your cost codes, and managed every month. Use your own online software, or move to ours and we cover it.
A bookkeeper we choose does the books and reconciliations. No payroll.
You approve, and the money side gets handled.
Everything in Strategic, plus a controller we choose who handles your bills and receivables for you the way an in-house controller would. They call vendors, pay the bills and keep the accounting current. We plan the cash flow first, and you approve every payment because it is your money.
A controller we choose does the payables and receivables. No payroll, no pay applications, no collections.
FREQUENTLY ASKED.
