Progress billing without the spreadsheet
Progress Draw Schedule & Retainage Calculator
Build a schedule of values, enter what was completed previously and this period, and get the retainage and the payment due on the same column model an architect or lender reviews against, with change orders and stored-materials retainage split out the way the G702 does. Download it as an Excel sheet lettered A to J like the G703, with live formulas. Free, no signup, and nothing leaves your browser.
Your schedule is saved in this browser only. Nothing is uploaded.
The columns, and why they are lettered
A pay application is not reviewed as a total. It is reviewed column by column against the schedule of values agreed at the start of the job, which is why the AIA G703 continuation sheet letters them. A schedule that invents its own columns is one the reviewer cannot check line against line, and that is what gets a draw held.
- C — Scheduled value
- What the line is worth in the contract. These add to the contract sum.
- D — Completed in previous applications
- Work already billed and certified before this period.
- E — Completed this period
- Work put in place since the last application.
- F — Materials presently stored
- Delivered to site and paid for, not yet installed. Billable on most contracts, and the column most often disputed.
- G — Total completed and stored to date
- D + E + F. This is the figure percent complete and retainage are both taken from.
- H — Percent complete
- G ÷ C. Type a percent here instead and column E is worked out from it, for jobs billed by percent complete.
- I — Balance to finish
- C − G. A negative number here means the line is over-billed, which this tool shows rather than hides.
- J — Retainage
- The percentage withheld from completed work as security until substantial completion. Typically 5% or 10%. Where the contract holds a different rate on stored materials, or none, set it separately and the payment summary splits retainage on completed work from retainage on stored material, as G702 lines 5a and 5b do.
- Change orders
- Added to the schedule as their own lines, marked CO, and billed like any other line. The summary shows the original contract sum, the net change by change orders and the contract sum to date, and the Excel file marks them in column K.
Where the arithmetic goes wrong
Two mistakes account for most disputed draws, and both are arithmetic rather than judgement.
The first is taking retainage on the total instead of summing the column. Round each line and add them, and the figure differs from a percentage of the total by a few cents on a long schedule. That difference is small and it is also the one a reviewer finds first, because the column visibly does not add to the box beneath it. This tool sums the column.
The second is applying a retainage reduction line by line. Many contracts halve retainage once the job passes 50% complete — the job, not a line. Releasing retainage on a finished line while the project is a quarter built bills money the contract does not yet owe, and it is the kind of error that gets an entire application returned.
A worked draw
A $200,000 contract, 10% retainage, with $60,000 billed previously and $40,000 this period.
| Line | Amount |
|---|---|
| Contract sum | $200,000.00 |
| Total completed and stored to date | $100,000.00 |
| Less retainage at 10% | −$10,000.00 |
| Less previous certificates | −$54,000.00 |
| Current payment due | $36,000.00 |
| Balance to finish, including retainage | $110,000.00 |
The previous certificate is $54,000, not $60,000: the earlier application was also net of its own 10% retainage. Subtracting the gross figure understates the payment due by $6,000, and it is the single most common error on a second draw.Start next application carries it forward for you: this period moves into previous, and previous certificates becomes the earned-less-retainage figure.
What this is not
This calculates a draw. It is not an AIA document, is not a substitute for the G702 and G703 forms where a contract requires those specific forms, and does not carry an architect's certification. Retainage limits, and whether retainage may be held on stored materials at all, are set by contract and by state law and differ considerably. Check your contract.