PROTECT YOUR LIEN RIGHTS.
Your mechanic's lien rights are the most powerful collection tool you have, and most subcontractors lose them before they ever need them. In most states a preliminary notice has to be sent within 20 to 30 days of first furnishing labor or materials to preserve your right to file a lien later. Preliminary notice deadlines, filing windows, and enforcement timelines are unforgiving, so the only reliable protection is treating notice as standard operating procedure on every project.
The decision that costs you is the selective one. A sub who sends notice only on the jobs that feel risky is betting he can spot a slow payer before the notice window closes, and that bet loses more often than it wins. Lien law is state specific, so the deadline, the required recipients, and the filing window all change when you cross a line on the map. Send notice on every job as part of setting the job up and the question never comes up again. Skip it once and you find out on the day you needed it most.
WHAT IT MEANS.
Lien rights are your legal claim against the property you improved, and they're the strongest collection tool a subcontractor has when a GC stops paying.
Lien rights are a deadline business. The clock starts when you first furnish labor or materials, not when the GC stops paying, and a late notice can't be cured after the window closes.
That's why the only protection you can count on is a procedure that applies on every project without anybody making a judgment call. Treat it like insurance certificates or safety orientation: it happens at job setup, every time, and nobody has to think about whether this GC is good for the money.
HOW THE RIGHT GETS LOST.
You don't send preliminary notices on every project
In most states a preliminary notice must be sent within 20 to 30 days of first furnishing labor or materials to preserve your right to file a lien later. Most subcontractors only think about preliminary notices once a GC goes slow, and by that point the deadline has usually passed. When the preliminary notice window closes, the lien right closes with it.
You don't know the deadlines in your states
Lien law is completely state specific. The preliminary notice deadline in California is different from Texas, which is different from Florida, and filing windows, required recipients, and enforcement timelines all vary as well. Working across several states without knowing each state's rules means playing lien rights roulette on every project.
You're relying on GC relationships instead of legal rights
Most subcontractors skip preliminary notices because they don't want to seem adversarial. Preliminary notices are standard practice in commercial construction, and most large GCs and owners expect them. A preliminary notice doesn't signal distrust, but the absence of one signals that you haven't protected yourself.
WHAT WE CHANGE.
The right approach is sending a preliminary notice on every project, every time, rather than selectively based on how much you trust the GC. A vetted lien services partner can handle preliminary notices as an automatic program, so your lien rights stay preserved on every job without you tracking the deadlines yourself. You give up the judgment call, and in exchange you stop losing rights to a calendar.
SPM works with a vetted lien services partner so clients operating in more than one state know their preliminary notice deadline by state and by project type. The deadline, and who must receive the notice, changes with the state, with whether the project is private or public, and with your position on the job, sub to GC or sub to sub. Those three variables are why a rule of thumb learned in one state gets contractors in trouble in the next one.
Our vetted lien services partner offers a proactive preliminary notice program that sends notices automatically on your behalf across all active projects. You provide the project information at the start, and they take it from there. This comes with an additional cost and isn't included in the SPM monthly fee.
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Under $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.
