Construction Billing Guides
Plain-English answers to how progress billing actually works — written for the subcontractors doing it.
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Pay Application Fundamentals
What pay applications are, what goes in them, and how the documents fit together.
What Is a Pay Application? The Complete Guide
The document that gets subcontractors paid — what's in it, how the math works, and how the monthly cycle runs.
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How to Fill Out a Pay Application, Step by Step
A field-by-field walkthrough — from schedule of values to the payment-due line, with a pre-submission checklist.
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G702 vs G703: What Each Form Does and How They Work Together
The cover form vs the continuation sheet — what goes on each, how totals flow, and when you need the official forms.
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How to Create a Schedule of Values (With Example)
Break your contract into billable line items the GC will approve — with a worked $150,000 example and rules for how granular to go.
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Progress Billing in Construction, Explained
Bill the job month by month instead of all at once — the cycle, the math against your schedule of values, and a three-period example.
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12 Reasons Pay Applications Get Rejected (and How to Avoid Each)
A rejected application costs you a full payment cycle. The twelve most common reasons reviewers kick them back — and how to prevent every one.
Read guideContract money
Retainage & Contract Money
How retainage, stored materials, and change orders affect what you can bill.
What Is Retainage? How It Works and How to Calculate It
The percentage held back from every payment — why it exists, how to calculate it right, and how you get it back.
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How to Bill for Stored Materials on a Pay Application
What stored materials are, the paperwork payers demand, and how to move stored value into work completed without double-billing.
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How to Bill Change Orders on a Pay Application
Only bill approved change orders — how COs change the contract amount, where they go on the schedule of values, and how to avoid disputes.
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How to Get Your Retainage Released
The held-back money is often your entire profit margin. When retainage becomes payable, what closeout requires, and how to bill for it.
Read guideGetting paid
Getting Paid
Lien waivers, notarization, and what to do when the money doesn't show up.
Conditional vs Unconditional Lien Waivers, Explained
Four waiver types, one golden rule, and the fine print to check before you trade lien rights for a check.
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What to Do When a GC Doesn't Pay Your Application
An escalation ladder for unpaid applications — from a polite follow-up to lien deadlines — with the paperwork that keeps you in control.
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Does a Pay Application Need to Be Notarized?
The short answer, why payers ask for it, what the notary actually checks, and what happens when a required stamp is missing.
Read guideReady to bill? Skip the spreadsheet.
Everything these guides explain — the schedule of values, retainage, the roll-forward — is computed for you in the free generator.
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