Is Your E-2 Business Just a Job? Why Your Bookkeeping Matters

She put $150,000 into a café, hired two part-timers, and paid herself almost nothing. The officer used one word: marginal. John Konrad, the Financial Architect at Numeratus.us, walks through a composite E-2 file: what the books showed, what they hid, and the three numbers that decide whether an E-2 business is more than marginal. What the business can pay you. The payroll. And a five-year plan built from actuals. On an E-2 and your books show a business that cannot pay you? Book a Call at numeratus.us Book a call to get a problem solver: https://www.numeratus.us/ Level up inside the membership community: https://numeratus.org/ Follow our X: https://x.com/Numeratus_us 00:00 Cafe Denied as Marginal 00:43 E-2 Rules Overview 01:16 Substantial vs Cost 01:50 Defining Marginality 03:08 What Officers Verify 04:14 Inside the Cafe Numbers 05:43 Why the File Failed 06:11 Fixing the Hidden Profit 07:30 Three Numbers That Win 07:37 Number One Owner Payroll 08:58 Number Two Jobs Evidence 10:19 Number Three Five-Year Plan 11:58 Five Questions Checklist 12:57 Workflow and DHS Proposal 14:17 Wrap-Up and Next Steps