Progress billing, explained
Schedule of values & application for payment
The two documents every general contractor uses to get paid each month — what they are, every column line by line, how the math rolls up, and the mistakes that stall a draw.
What these two documents actually are
If you bill progress draws on a fixed-price or cost-plus construction contract, the schedule of values and the application for payment are how you get paid. They work as a pair: the schedule of values is the detail, and the application for payment is the summary the owner or architect signs.
The schedule of values (SOV) is your contract broken into priced line items — usually by cost code or trade. Foundations, framing, roofing, MEP, finishes, general conditions, fee. Every line carries a scheduled value, and the lines add up to your contract sum. You build it once at the start of the job and bill against it every period. When it lives behind a pay application it is often printed as the continuation sheet.
The application for payment — sometimes called the application and certificate for payment — is the one-page cover sheet that condenses the whole schedule of values into a handful of numbers: how much of the contract you have earned to date, how much is held back as retainage, what was already paid, and what you are owed this period. General contractors send the package up to the owner; subcontractors send the same thing up to the GC.
The continuation sheet, column by column
Every progress-billing format runs on the same handful of columns — it is the industry-standard way to break a contract into a continuation sheet. Here is what each one means and how it feeds the total. For most lines, the only number you type each month is this period; everything else is carried forward or calculated.
| Column | What it means |
|---|---|
| Scheduled value | The dollar value assigned to that line item. All scheduled values added together equal your contract sum. |
| From previous | Work completed and stored on this line in all prior periods. Carried forward from last month’s application. |
| This period | Work put in place on this line during the current billing period. Usually the only column you type each month. |
| Materials stored | Materials bought and on site (or in bonded storage) but not yet installed. Billable even though the work is not done, if the contract allows it. |
| Total completed & stored | From previous + this period + materials stored. The running total earned on that line to date. |
| % complete | Total completed and stored divided by the scheduled value. Shows how far along each line is. |
| Retainage | The percentage the owner holds back (commonly 5% or 10%) until the work is substantially complete. |
| Balance to finish | Scheduled value minus total completed and stored. What is left to bill on that line. |
For a full worked example with two billing periods and a change order, see the step-by-step guide on how to fill out an application for payment.
The cover sheet: six lines that get certified
The line totals from the continuation sheet roll up into the application math. The cover sheet is just a tidy summary of those totals plus the running payment history, in this order:
| Cover sheet line | How it is figured |
|---|---|
| Contract sum to date | Original contract sum plus the net of all approved change orders. |
| Total completed & stored to date | The total column from the continuation sheet — every line’s running total added up. |
| Retainage | The retainage rate applied to the cumulative total completed and stored. |
| Total earned less retainage | Total completed and stored minus retainage held. |
| Less previous certificates | The sum of payments already certified on prior applications. |
| Current payment due | Total earned less retainage, minus previous certificates. |
Get those lines right and the owner or architect can certify the draw without sending it back. The contractor signs the certification, attaches the continuation sheet plus any required lien waivers and stored-material invoices, and submits the package for certification.
How a GC uses this each month
The whole point of a schedule of values is that you build it once and reuse it every period. A typical month looks like this:
- Carry forward. Move last month’s “this period” and “materials stored” into the “from previous” column so the running totals stay honest. This period’s “previous” must equal last period’s “total.”
- Walk the job. Line by line, decide how much of each trade got put in place this period — and what materials are on site but not yet installed.
- Enter this period. Type the current-period amount (and any newly stored materials) on each line. Everything else — total completed, percent, balance to finish, retainage — recalculates.
- Add approved change orders. Net any signed change orders into the contract sum, each as its own line, so the contract sum to date is current.
- Read the bottom line. The cover sheet gives you the current payment due. Sign it and send it for certification.
Done by hand, that is an afternoon of cross-checking that the SOV still ties to the contract, that retainage matches every line, and that you did not bill the same work twice. That is the part FieldsDesk takes off your plate — more on that below.
Common mistakes that stall a draw
SOV doesn’t tie to the contract
If the line items don’t sum to the contract sum, the whole application is suspect. Reconcile it before you bill.
Retainage on the wrong base
It comes off the cumulative total completed and stored — not this period alone, and not the contract sum.
Change orders never hit the SOV
An approved change order needs its own line and an updated contract sum, or your percentages and balances are wrong.
Stored materials double-billed
Move value from “stored” to “completed” as it is installed. Leaving it in both columns bills it twice.
“Previous” doesn’t match last cert
This period’s “previous” column must equal last period’s “total.” Reviewers check this first.
Front-loading the early lines
Padding general conditions to get paid faster invites scrutiny and erodes trust with the owner. Bill what is real.
Let the software build it for you
All of this is bookkeeping a computer should be doing. FieldsDesk builds the schedule of values and application for payment automatically from your budget and approved change events. It pre-seeds the SOV from your approved budget and executed commitments, pulls approved change orders into the contract sum, and carries previous certificates and retainage forward from the last application — so each month you only enter the work completed this period.
The cover and continuation sheets come out ready to certify, retainage and balance-to-finish calculate themselves, and subcontractor pay applications run on the same engine, scoped to each sub’s own commitment. See the billing & pay applications docs for the full workflow.
Flat pricing from $149/mo — no per-user fees. Cloud-hosted or self-host on Docker. The first 25 founding members lock 50% off for three years.
New to FieldsDesk? The built-in import wizard pulls your vendors, contacts, cost codes, and jobs straight from a Buildertrend, Procore, or CoConstruct CSV or Excel export — so your schedule of values is populated on day one.
More guides on the resources page. Switching from another tool? See the Buildertrend alternative comparison, or read how to fill out an application for payment.
Frequently asked questions
What is a schedule of values?
A schedule of values (SOV) is your construction contract broken into priced line items, usually by cost code or trade. Each line carries a scheduled value, and every line added together equals the contract sum. You build it once at the start of a job and bill against it every period.
What is the difference between the schedule of values and the application for payment?
The schedule of values is the detail: a line-item breakdown showing scheduled value, work completed, materials stored, percent complete, retainage, and balance to finish. The application for payment is the one-page cover and certificate that summarizes those lines into the numbers the owner or architect certifies — contract sum to date, total completed and stored, retainage held, total earned less retainage, less previous certificates, and the current payment due.
How does retainage work on a pay application?
Retainage is a percentage the owner holds back from each payment until the work is substantially complete — commonly 5% or 10%. It is calculated on the cumulative total completed and stored to date, not on the current period alone, so the held-back amount grows naturally as the job progresses and is released near completion.
Can I bill for materials stored on site but not yet installed?
Usually yes, if the contract allows it. Stored materials get their own column on the continuation sheet, backed by supplier invoices, and the value moves into work completed once the materials are installed — so the same work is never billed twice.
How are change orders shown on the schedule of values?
An approved change order is added as its own line on the schedule of values, with its own scheduled value so it can be billed by percent complete like every other line. On the cover sheet, the net change-order total is added to the original contract sum to produce the current contract sum.
Does FieldsDesk build the schedule of values and application for payment for me?
Yes. FieldsDesk pre-seeds the schedule of values from your approved budget and executed commitments, pulls approved change events into the contract sum, and carries previous certificates and retainage forward from the last application — so each month you only enter the work completed this period. The cover and continuation sheets generate automatically. Try FieldsDesk free.
Stop hand-building pay applications
Generate the schedule of values and application for payment straight from your budget and approved change events. Flat $149/mo, no per-user fees, cloud or self-host.