For referral partners
Turn clients’ trapped holdback into working capital.
How partners bring Subtrade to clients who need it.
Subtrade Capital Corp. advances against the statutory holdback on completed and paid invoices. Bonded projects only.
Built for accountants, fractional CFOs, and similar advisors who already see holdback tying up a client’s cash. Lien counsel and trade networks are welcome introducers too.
The client problem
10% of every construction dollar is trapped by statute.
On every construction contract, the general contractor holds back 10% of each invoice until the project receives a certificate of substantial completion and the lien period window has expired. Your client has earned that money. They still cannot touch it for months.
For a sub running mid-teens margins, that 10% is often the profit on the job, stuck while payroll, materials, and the next mobilization still need cash now. Banks typically do not include holdbacks in a borrowing base calculation. Factoring companies tend to avoid holdbacks due to their contingent nature.
Subtrade underwrites the receivable and the borrower: the project, the payor, the surety, the lien mechanics, and standing.
What we finance
Statutory holdback on bonded work with completed and paid invoices.
This is not construction lending. We advance after an invoice is paid by the GC less the required holdback and before the certificate of substantial completion starts the release clock. We do not advance against work in progress, estimates, or percentage-of-completion forecasts.
What we finance
- Statutory holdback on completed and paid invoices
- Bonded projects only (performance and labour & material payment bonds from a recognized surety)
- Payment mandated and timed by provincial statute
What we do not take on
- Funding construction or guaranteeing completion
- Unbonded projects
- WIP, estimates, or unbilled forecasts
- Residential or upstream oil & gas
Why it matters for advisors
Holdback often sits longest on the aging.
On an active trade contractor’s ledger, statutory holdback is often a large share of receivables and among the cash that sits longest. You already see it in WIP schedules and A/R aging. Clients feel it when they pass on the next job for cash-flow reasons.
A purpose-built advance against that receivable can free working capital and help your client continue to grow.
Cost structure. Pricing is typically a monthly rate plus a flat fee. The all-in cost is disclosed in writing before the client commits. We do not publish rates or fees on marketing pages; terms sit in a term sheet after we review the file.
Throughput upside
Freed-up holdback can fund the next job.
When cash is not trapped, a demand-rich contractor can mobilize the next bonded job instead of turning it down. Whether financing pays for itself turns on margins, release timing, and real room to grow, not on job size alone.
Our capital tool sketches that question with one or more holdbacks — each with its own amount and months outstanding — plus advance percentage and an illustrative cost-of-capital control in a typical 20–30% annualized range (borrower-specific — not a rate card). Interest is calculated per holdback on the advance, then aggregated; a growth sketch compares that total interest to extra contribution your client believes they could earn from accessing the capital. Results are illustrative only. Not a quote. Not an approval.
Spot a fit
Which clients should we talk to.
You already know which clients are cash-starved by holdback. Align introductions with our public eligibility screen.
Strong fit
- Bonded trades and subcontractors
- Revenue greater than $2 million
- Holdback is a large share of A/R
- Healthy margins, growth-minded, turning down work for cash-flow reasons
- Clean lien and litigation history; willing to document security
Probably not yet
- Unbonded or residential-only work
- Upstream oil & gas
- Very thin margins on incremental jobs, or no additional work to take on
- WIP-only or still ramping a first bonded ICI book
The partnership
You keep the relationship. We do the heavy lifting.
A referral to Subtrade is not a hand-off of your client. You stay the trusted advisor. We solve a cash-flow problem you have already diagnosed.
You stay the advisor
We do not compete for the accounting or advisory relationship. We solve one financing need.
We handle the work
Underwriting, structuring, security, and servicing are on us, from funding to statutory release.
You stay informed
With the client’s consent, we keep you in the loop on referred advances. No surprises.
Referral arrangement
Any referral arrangement is set out in a written partner agreement and is subject to your professional obligations, including any duty to disclose the arrangement to your client.
Interested in becoming one of our referral partners?
Reach out to us and we will walk you through how introductions work, what a strong fit looks like, and how we keep you in the loop.
Getting started
Flag a fit. Make a warm intro. We take it from there.
- Flag a fit Spot a client with bonded holdback tying up cash.
- Make a warm intro Use the Apply form, or set up a short call the three of you join together. Clients can also apply directly and note your firm.
- We take it from there Assessment, terms, and funding, with you kept in the loop throughout (with consent). Subject to underwriting.
Helpful on the intro: rough holdback balance, project location, bonded status, and A/R aging if handy.
Let’s line up your first referrals.
Bring us one or two clients whose cash is stuck in holdback. We will show them, and you, what freeing it up can do.
Reach the team through the Apply form. Note that you are a referral partner and which client you are introducing.