MORE BONDING CAPACITY IS A BALANCE SHEET YOU BUILD.
Bonding capacity is computed. Sureties size programs off a handful of numbers: working capital, where the standing heuristic is roughly 10% of the aggregate program, net worth at a similar ratio, the predictive quality of your WIP schedule, your largest completed job, since new single job limits rarely jump far past it, and the continuity of the team and the backlog. That makes growing capacity a finite engineering problem: build working capital deliberately instead of distributing it, keep equity in the company, run a WIP that proves true quarter after quarter, upgrade statement quality to the level your target program requires, and feed the underwriter the package before they ask for it. A verified marine client at $25M went from unbondable to $10M aggregate on this math.
Every input on that list is something you control, and none of them move on a phone call. Working capital and equity grow by keeping profit in the business. WIP quality grows by running cost to complete every month until the projections stop surprising anyone. The largest job anchor moves one completed job at a time. That's why capacity work runs on a two to four quarter clock rather than a two week one, and why the subs who get the program they want started building for it a year before they needed it.
WHAT IT MEANS.
Bonding capacity is a computed number, sized by a surety off your underwritten working capital, your net worth, the predictive quality of your WIP schedule, and your largest completed job.
THE FOUR INPUTS.
Working capital, and the 10% heuristic
The anchor number is that most sureties want working capital around 10% of the aggregate program, so $700K supports roughly $7M. But it's underwritten working capital: they discount aged receivables, they haircut or exclude related party loans and prepaid items, and they watch retainage quality. Growing it's deliberate, which means retaining earnings instead of distributing them, collecting the aged AR since it's discounted at 50% or more until it becomes cash, and keeping current assets liquid instead of converting them to iron. Every retained dollar is roughly ten dollars of program.
Net worth and the debt picture
The second heuristic runs parallel, with equity around 10% of program and the debt structure read for character. Term debt on equipment is normal, a line that rests is healthy, and MCAs and tax liens end programs. Owner draws that strip equity during growth years are the most common self inflicted cap on capacity in the field: the same dollars taken as distributions rather than retained as equity are the difference between a $3M and a $6M program three years out.
The WIP that proves true
Underwriters read your WIP for one quality above all others, which is whether the projected margins came true. A schedule showing 12% projected that finishes jobs at 11 to 13% builds capacity every quarter it repeats. A schedule that surprises, with fade the WIP never forecast, caps the program regardless of how strong the balance sheet is, because the surety's whole exposure model assumes your numbers mean something. The discipline behind a predictive WIP is monthly cost to complete, built line by line and reviewed after every close.
Track record, statement level, and the ask
Single job limits anchor to your largest successfully completed project, and sureties stretch 1.5 to 2x past it and rarely more, so capacity grows job by job and not by request. Statement level gates program size: internally produced statements work for small programs, compiled statements carry roughly $1M to $2M programs, and reviewed statements cover most programs beyond that. The ask itself is a package: three quarters of predictive WIP, current statements, backlog with margins, and the forecast, delivered through your bond agent 90 days before you need the capacity rather than the week of the bid.
WHAT IT LOOKS LIKE IN DOLLARS.
A verified marine client at $25M that couldn't get bonded on Excel financials secured $5M single and $10M aggregate within weeks of the statement rebuild, and is working toward a $4.5M credit line on the same package. Sureties weren't avoiding the company. They were avoiding the illegibility.
The destination numbers SPM calibrates toward, which are $1.2M of working capital, a $650K cash floor, and a zero bad debt structure, exist to support $7M of aggregate and $5M of single project bonding under the 10% math. The balance sheet gets built to the program on purpose.
Financials, the WIP with a one paragraph variance narrative, and backlog with margins, sent unprompted every quarter. Within a year the renewal conversation changes character, because the surety starts asking what capacity you'll need next, which is the relationship working the way it should.
THE GROWTH PLAYBOOK.
Set a distribution policy that leaves working capital and equity growing toward the next program level, because the 10% math makes the target explicit. Draws come out of what sits above the target and not out of the target itself.
Aged AR and stale retainage count against you until they convert, so the collections push is also a bonding strategy. A receivable at 90 days gets discounted 50% or more in the underwriting, and the same dollar collected counts at full value.
Monthly cost to complete on every job is what makes the WIP predictive, and a predictive WIP is compounding capacity. Three quarters of projected versus actual margins holding within a point is worth more than one strong year.
Moving to reviewed statements before the program requires them removes the gate before you hit it. Compiled statements typically carry programs to around $1M to $2M aggregate, and most sureties want reviewed statements beyond that.
Complete a $2M job cleanly to unlock $3M to $4M singles, because capacity follows demonstrated completion. Sequence the backlog accordingly rather than waiting for one big swing to move the limit.
The unprompted package of financials, WIP, and backlog turns renewal meetings into capacity conversations. Sureties extend more capacity to contractors whose numbers they already know than to contractors they have to re-learn every year.
This is the trade where capacity is the pipeline, because DOT and municipal work runs bonded by default. The civil specific lever is the balance sheet mix: iron heavy current ratios read poorly, so equipment financing structure and genuine working capital liquidity decide the program as much as profitability does.
Bridges, plants, and schools. Concrete capacity grows on WIP predictability, because labor fade is the trade's underwriting fear. Three quarters of projected versus actual margins holding within a point is worth more than any single strong year.
Electrical programs grow fastest on statement quality and receivables strength, because the trade's collateral profile reads well. The common cap is the largest job anchor, so stepping deliberately from $500K to $1M to $2M singles builds the program faster than waiting for one big swing.
Specialty trades face thinner surety appetite and lean harder on the package. The verified marine client's jump from unbondable to $10M aggregate ran entirely on financial legibility: real books, a real WIP, and statements an underwriter could finally read.
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, and no add-ons.
| Last 12 months revenue | Monthly fee |
|---|---|
| Up to $1M | $1,900 to $2,900 |
| $1M to $3.5M | $2,600 to $3,900 |
| $3.5M to $6.5M | $3,800 to $5,700 |
| $6.5M to $9.5M | $5,100 to $7,100 |
| $9.5M to $12.5M | $6,100 to $8,500 |
| $12.5M to $15.5M | $7,400 to $11,000 |
| $15.5M to $18.5M | $9,400 to $13,500 |
| $18.5M+ | Quoted individually |
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.
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 rather than a report.
Your bookkeeper keeps doing the books.
You stop touching the books.
Everything in Core, and we run the bookkeeping and the controllership as well. Nobody in your office is answering coding questions or chasing a reconciliation at month end.
We do the books. No payroll.
Every job shows its margin while it's still running.
Everything in Executive, plus the job costing and WIP platform set up, loaded with your cost codes, and managed for you every month. You never have to learn it.
We do the job costing.
FREQUENTLY ASKED.
