THE BANK SAID NO. HERE'S WHAT THEY SAW.
Revenue is up, the backlog is the strongest it's ever been, and the bank still declined the increase, which feels personal and isn't. Credit declines at growing subs almost always trace to one of three visible signals: a line that never rests at zero, so the statement history reads as funding losses rather than timing, books the bank can't underwrite, meaning cash basis records with no WIP schedule and statements sent in March, or distress markers like MCA deposits, tax liens, and overdrafts, which override everything else in the file.
Banks don't decline companies. They decline what they can see of companies, and that's the part you control. Ninety days is the working window, because the bank reads its own deposit and loan statements before it reads anything you send, and three months is how long it takes for new behavior to become the record. Nothing in the sequence requires a better year or a bigger job. It requires the cash that's already earned to get collected, the books to become underwritable, and the ask to get sized.
WHAT IT MEANS.
A credit line decline at a growing subcontractor is a statement about what the bank can read in your file rather than a judgment about your company.
THE FOUR SIGNALS IN YOUR FILE.
The line never rests
The first thing a lender pulls is your own statement history. A line that draws at mobilization, repays at collection, and rests at zero between jobs is a timing tool, and banks increase those. A line pinned at 90% or more of its limit for months is structural: it's funding an overhead rate nobody measured, margin fade nobody caught, or receivables nobody collected.
Books the bank can't underwrite
Construction lenders underwrite the WIP schedule, because it's where contractor financials match the work. A request supported by cash basis QuickBooks exports with no WIP, no percentage of completion revenue, and no job level margin gives the underwriter nothing to size risk against, and unpriceable risk gets the small number at the high rate.
Distress markers on the statement
Daily MCA draws on the bank statement, tax liens on the search, NSF activity, and suppliers paid in a way that reads as triage all move the file from the relationship manager's desk toward the workout category, regardless of backlog. Banks read MCAs hardest of all, because a contractor paying 60 to 200% effective rates for cash is a contractor whose other options already said no.
The ask itself was unsized
Even clean files get declined when the ask comes in as a feeling, with no specific number, no tie to the working capital math, and no repayment mapping. The request that gets approved is sized and evidenced: backlog up X, mobilization need of $Y per job, cycle of Z days, requesting $N, drawn against these receivables, resting between.
WHAT IT LOOKS LIKE IN DOLLARS.
A verified civil client at $7.1M had two maxed lines, an SBA loan, and was days from an MCA, then used the 90 day sequence: $310K recovered in 30 days, all debt cleared in 90, books rebuilt, and the forecast proving true. The same lenders approved $750K of new capacity. Declines are rarely final, they're feedback.
The seasoning window counts because the bank reads its own statements first. Three months of draws mapped to receivables with full rests between is evidence no deck can fake. Asking again before the behavior changes just refreshes the decline.
A verified electrical client at $2.3M went from maxed and declined to an $80K line resting at zero with $89K in the bank and books closed by the 10th. Banks compete for that customer, and the whole 90 day fix is becoming it.
RESEARCH FROM OTHER SOURCES.
These figures come from another company's survey, not from SPM's clients. Each one cites the report and the page.
Billd's 2026 National Subcontractor Market Report found more than half of subcontractors said their bank line of credit covers less than 10 percent of their annual revenue.
Source: Billd, 2026 National Subcontractor Market Report, page 8 (survey of 623 respondents, published May 13, 2026).
Billd's 2026 National Subcontractor Market Report found 42 percent of subcontractors secured capital before they needed to use it.
Source: Billd, 2026 National Subcontractor Market Report, page 10 (survey of 623 respondents, published May 13, 2026).
THE 90 DAY FIX.
Bill everything billable, push aged AR hard, and find the leak the line has been funding, whether that's the overhead rate, margin fade, or collections drift, then stop it. Recovered cash is what starts the line resting, and the line resting is what the bank reads first.
Percentage of completion books with a monthly close, the WIP schedule reconciled and current, and AR and AP agings with retainage broken out. That's the underwriting file, and until it exists the underwriter has nothing to price your request against.
The line draws and rests on schedule, the 13 week forecast proves true week over week, and financials go out unprompted. All of that accumulates on the bank's own statements, which is the only place it counts, and three months is the shortest honest window.
A specific number, the working capital math behind it, draw to receivable mapping, and the WIP and forecast in the room. Take it through the relationship manager, with a CFO in the meeting if the questions get technical.
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.
