A consulting engagement that puts your business credit to work.
Liquid Partners is a professional advisory firm. We help business owners structure, document, and execute a strategic capital engagement against their existing business credit — through a refundable consulting retainer, with real deliverables and a clear scope.
- Refundable retainer · funds held separately
- Documented scope · documented deliverables
- Engagement fee published · no surprises
Liquid Partners is a consulting firm. Here’s what that means.
We don’t move money. We don’t hold a money-transmitter license, and we don’t need one. We are a professional services advisor — paid to structure, document, and execute a strategic capital engagement on behalf of business owners.
What we are
A retainer-based advisory firm delivering a defined scope of strategic capital consulting — entity structuring, processor strategy, capital-deployment playbooks, and ongoing advisory access — to business owners who want to put their existing business credit to productive use.
What we are not
We are not a bank, not a lender, not a money transmitter, and not a cash-advance service. We do not provide legal, tax, or financial advice. Your relationship with your card issuer is governed exclusively by your cardholder agreement.
Why this structure
Professional service firms have used refundable retainers for decades — law firms, accounting firms, management consultants. The structure protects the client (unearned funds are held separately and refundable), protects the advisor (the work is documented and the fee is clearly earned), and aligns incentives toward real value delivery.
A retainer-funded engagement. A documented scope. A real deliverable. The same structure your attorney would use.
Four phases. One signed scope. Zero ambiguity.
Discovery & Engagement Letter
We start with a discovery conversation to confirm fit. If we’re aligned, we send a written Engagement Letter that defines the scope of work, the deliverables, the retainer amount, the engagement fee percentage, and the refund mechanics. You review, sign, and return.
Retainer Funding
You fund the agreed retainer to Liquid Partners by business credit card. The retainer is deposited into a segregated client-funds account, separate from our operating funds, and is held there until earned against documented work.
Consulting Delivered
Our team delivers the agreed scope of work: a documented capital-portfolio audit, an entity-structure consultation, a processor and banking strategy session, a custom Strategic Capital Playbook, and a defined block of advisory access. Every hour is logged. Every deliverable is signed off.
Final Invoice & Refund
At engagement completion, we issue a final invoice itemizing the work delivered against the engagement fee. The earned fee is recognized. The remaining balance of the retainer is returned to your business bank account via ACH within 1–3 business days, alongside a complete engagement summary and deliverables index.
The same structure your attorney would use.
Refundable retainers are how serious professional service firms have operated for a century. The client funds an engagement. The firm performs documented work. The unearned balance is refundable. The fee is earned against the work delivered.
Liquid Partners brings that same discipline to strategic capital advisory.
- The retainer is held in a segregated client-funds account, separate from operating funds
- Every hour of advisory time is logged and reviewable on request
- Every deliverable is documented and signed off before fee recognition
- The fee is published in advance — no markups, no surprises
- Engagement records are retained for 7 years
Every engagement produces real, tangible work.
The Liquid Partners engagement is built around documented deliverables — not opinions. Each item below is part of every standard engagement.
Engagement Letter
A formal letter defining scope, deliverables, retainer, engagement fee, and refund mechanics. Signed by both parties before any work begins.
Capital Portfolio Audit
Written analysis of your existing business credit portfolio — current limits, utilization, issuer mix, capacity, and constraints. The starting point for everything that follows.
Entity-Structure Consultation
Working session on how your current entity structure supports — or limits — your strategic capital options. Recommendations document delivered.
Processor & Banking Strategy
A documented strategy for which payment processors, merchant accounts, and banking relationships fit your business model, volume, and risk profile.
The Strategic Capital Playbook
A custom-bound playbook tailored to your portfolio — covering deployment cadence, velocity considerations, documentation standards, and red-flag monitoring. Yours to keep.
Advisor Access Block
A defined block of advisor access — direct Slack/Discord channel plus scheduled office hours — for the duration of the engagement and for 90 days following completion.
How the retainer model works.
How is the retainer different from a transaction fee?
A retainer is a deposit funded at engagement kickoff to secure advisor time and resources. It is held in a segregated client-funds account, not commingled with our operating funds. As work is performed, a portion is earned according to the engagement fee schedule. The remainder is refundable at engagement completion. A transaction fee, by contrast, is a non-refundable charge applied per transaction — a fundamentally different structure.
What does “earned fee” mean?
The engagement fee is earned proportionally as the agreed scope of work is performed and documented. At engagement completion, we issue a final invoice itemizing the work delivered. The earned-fee portion of the retainer is recognized as revenue; the unearned balance is refunded to your business bank account.
Where is the retainer held?
The retainer is deposited into a segregated client-funds account at a federally insured U.S. bank, separate from our operating funds. This separation is a core element of how serious professional service firms handle client retainers. Earned fees are transferred to the operating account only after the work has been performed and the final invoice has been issued.
Why is the engagement fee a percentage of the retainer?
Retainer size scales with the depth and complexity of an engagement. A client with a small portfolio and a simple structure requires meaningfully less advisor time than a client with a multi-entity setup and a large card portfolio. Pricing the engagement fee as a percentage of the retainer keeps the structure simple and ensures the fee is proportional to the work involved.
How long is a typical engagement?
A standard engagement runs 5–7 business days from retainer funding to final invoice and refund, with a 6% engagement fee on the retainer. A rush engagement compresses the work into 3 business days for an 8.5% engagement fee to reflect the accelerated advisor time and exclusive scheduling. Larger engagements with complex multi-entity portfolios may extend longer; engagement length is always defined in the Engagement Letter before kickoff.
Are you a registered investment advisor or law firm?
No. Liquid Partners is a management consulting firm. We do not provide legal, tax, accounting, or investment advice. We strongly recommend you engage qualified counsel, a CPA, and any other professional advisors as needed in connection with implementing any of our recommendations.
What if I want to end the engagement early?
You may terminate the engagement at any time. The earned-fee portion of the retainer is determined based on work performed and documented up to the termination date. The remaining balance is refunded to your business bank account within 1–3 business days. Full terms are in the Engagement Letter.
What businesses do you work with?
We work with U.S.-organized businesses that operate genuine commercial activity and meet our client-eligibility criteria. We do not work with cannabis, adult, gambling, unlicensed financial-services, debt-collection, or any party prohibited under our Client Eligibility Policy.
Request a discovery consultation.
Tell us about your business and your capital portfolio. If we’re aligned, we’ll send an Engagement Letter within 2 business days.
Request consultation →