Monthly · by 497 Systems
Retainage and Audit Statement
$349a month, month to month
$400 to set up: we map your books, load your open jobs and read every crew certificate.
For commercial subcontractors in Kansas and on the Kansas City, Missouri side
Who owes you, and when.
On most commercial jobs, your general contractor holds back part of each payment until the work is done. The law says when that money has to come back. Your books may track it, but they don't say when the law makes it due, so it waits months, money that is already yours. We count it, date it from the law, and draft the letter that asks for it, in your name.
One flat monthly fee. No cut of anything you collect.
Retainage and Audit Statement
Example Drywall Co · as of November 1, 2026
$162,000held by your GCs on 7 jobs
$56,000past the legal release date
$1,018Kansas interest so far, at 18% a year
| Job | Held | Due by law | Interest |
|---|---|---|---|
| School additionOlathe USD · Builder A62 days late | $24,000 | Aug 31, 2026 | $734 |
| Medical office shellOverland Park · Builder A18 days late | $32,000 | Oct 14, 2026 | $284 |
| City libraryWichita · Builder CDue in 18 days | $13,000 | Nov 19, 2026 | $0 |
The problem
Two places money quietly leaks
Held-back money, called retainage
Your GC keeps 5 to 10 percent of every payment until closeout. In Kansas, the owner has 30 days after the job is substantially complete to release it. On private jobs your GC then has 7 business days after it is paid to pass your share down once you've billed it; on public jobs everyone down the chain has the same 30 days. After that, Kansas adds 18 percent a year in interest on money that isn't in dispute, and your contract can't waive it. On the Kansas City, Missouri side, your GC owes your share 7 days after it receives it on private jobs, 15 days on public jobs, once your subcontract's conditions for release are met.
Subs wait three to five months on average anyway, because nobody is counting and nobody asks.
The insurance audit
Once a year your workers' comp insurer checks who you paid. If you paid a crew while its workers' comp had lapsed, the auditor can add that payment to your own payroll and bill you for it.
Often the crew was insured all along and only the certificate in your file was out of date; a certificate for the policy that was in force on those payment dates clears it. A real gap in coverage usually stays charged, so the trick is catching an expired certificate at the next payment, well before the audit.
What you get
One short statement by the 10th of every month
Page 1
Money owed to you
Every job's held-back money by GC, the date the law says it's due, how late it is and the interest so far, in the order to ask for it.
The letters
The ask, already written
For every late job, a release-request letter in your name, ready to send from your own email. Read it, change it, send it, or don't. Kansas letters cite the statute. Kansas City, Missouri letters state the facts and dates.
Page 2
Insurance surprises to fix now
Every payment to your crews checked against their insurance dates, what an auditor could add, and the certificates to ask for while there's still time.
- Runs off the QuickBooks reports you or your bookkeeper already have. No new software to learn.
- One email when a job finishes: is it done, and on what date?
- We never contact your GC. Every letter goes from your email, under your name.
- Your files stay in a folder you own. We never ask for passwords, bank numbers or Social Security numbers.
Price
A flat fee, always
The price never changes with letters sent or money collected.
One time · by 497 Systems
Audit-Prep Packet
$395once
Audit coming up? Your last policy year's crew payments checked against each crew's insurance dates, the likely audit bill, and the certificates and records to have on the table.
If you sign up for the monthly statement within 60 days of getting it, the $395 counts toward setup.
Who it's for
Commercial subs who bill GCs and pay their own crews
Drywall, electrical, concrete, roofing, framing and the other trades that bill general contractors with retainage held, pay smaller crews of their own, and keep their books in QuickBooks. The monthly statement pays for itself from roughly 33 to 51 people up, depending on the trade. Smaller shops start with the packet. For now we serve specialty subcontractors only; general contractors and road, water and sewer contractors come later.
Where
- Johnson County
- Kansas City, both sides
Wichita and Topeka come later.
That’s where your office is. Your jobs anywhere in Kansas go on the statement.
Based in Lawrence, Kansas.
Not taking clients yet
Opening soon
When 497 Systems opens, this is where you'll find a phone number and an email address.