Collect payments automatically, as soon as work is approved.
Short answer
Invoicing and progress billing software for contractors should bill from work that is finished, not from a blank invoice. In Bolster, estimate items become tasks, and marking a task complete can request payment through the client portal. Clients pay online, and on Pro and up invoices and payments sync to QuickBooks Online. Schedule of values and holdbacks are covered further down this page.
Set the payment terms when you build the estimate: a deposit, then progress or milestone payments tied to the work. The client approves the proposal online and signs and pays the deposit in the same checkout, by card or bank transfer. After that, estimate items become tasks, and marking a task complete sends the next payment request through the client portal, so nobody builds an invoice from scratch. Approved change orders update the payments still to come. Money lands in Bolster Wallet, which works in the US and Canada, and on Pro and up payments sync to QuickBooks Online.
Progress billing splits the contract price into stages that are invoiced as the work is done, instead of one bill at the end. A typical residential schedule is a deposit at signing, then payments at milestones such as rough-in, drywall and substantial completion, with any holdback released at the end. In Bolster the stages come from the estimate itself, so each request matches finished work and the client can see what they are paying for.
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Secure bank transfer (ACH/EFT)
1% per transaction, capped at $15
($2 min. fee)
Cards
2.99% base rate per transaction
up to 3.99% base rate per transaction
$1,440
avg. net savings per job
using percentage-based terms on a $50,000 job (with 25% segments) paid by secure bank transfers, and assuming 1 hour is worth $100.
Automatically collect payments
Gain hours of wasted time back chasing, collecting, and depositing checks, by accepting bank and card payments online.
Never manually create an invoice
Set payment terms at the beginning of your project, and then automatically send payment requests as you complete project work.
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82% of contractors
go out of business due to strained cash flow.
82%
Never go into debt for your customers
You shouldn't be taking on the financial risk on behalf of your customers. Make sure you get paid as work gets completed.
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Progress payments mean deficiencies on one item never slows down cash flow, and stops clients withholding funds.
Never complete work without payment
Work done, payment requested. Keep cashflow high and get paid in smaller chunks during your jobs.
Automation makes things easier for your business, but you're still the one in the driver's seat.
"I was so excited to get off QuickBooks for payments, and move away from my old software to an all-in-one tool that does everything."
Payment requests go out automatically as tasks are completed, and clients pay online.
Get startedProgress billing means invoicing a job in stages as the work gets done, instead of one bill at the end. On any residential job longer than a few weeks it is how you keep cash coming in to cover materials, crew and subs. Done well, every progress payment ties back to a clear list of what was promised and what is finished, so the client knows exactly what they are paying for and nobody argues about the number.
This guide explains how progress billing works, how to build a schedule of values (with a worked example and a free template), what AIA billing is, how holdback is calculated, how lien rights and holdback work in Canada, and how Bolster automates progress payments.
Progress billing (also called progress invoicing) splits the contract price into payments that are released as the job moves forward. A progress payment is one of those instalments. There are two common ways to decide how much each payment should be:
Either way, agree on the billing method in the contract before work starts: what each payment covers, when it is due, how holdback is held and how change orders are added. For background on contract types, see cost plus vs fixed price contracts.
A schedule of values (SOV) is a list of every part of the job with the dollar value assigned to it. The values add up to the contract sum. Each billing period you report how far along each line is, and the payment is the value of the work completed, less holdback and anything already paid. The SOV is agreed at the start of the job and becomes the backbone of every pay application.
A good schedule of values for a residential job:
Here is a $120,000 kitchen and main floor renovation at its second pay application. Demolition and framing are finished, the rough-ins are half done and drywall has started. The owner holds back 10% holdback on each payment.
The math: $36,950 of work is complete to date. Hold back 10% holdback ($3,695), which leaves $33,255 earned. Subtract the $18,000 already paid on the first application and $15,255 is due this period. The $83,050 balance to finish is billed on later applications as each line moves toward 100%.
Free schedule of values template: download the Excel template. It has this example filled in, with the percent-complete, holdback, previous payments and amount-due formulas already built, so you can replace the lines with your own job.
AIA billing is progress billing on the standard pay application forms published by the American Institute of Architects. Two documents do the work. The G702 (Application and Certificate for Payment) is the summary page: contract sum, approved change orders, total completed to date, holdback, previous payments and the current amount due, signed by the contractor and certified by the architect or owner. The G703 (Continuation Sheet) is the schedule of values itself, line by line, with the work completed this period, stored materials and the percentage complete.
AIA billing is standard on commercial work and on residential projects with an architect, a lender or a large general contractor involved. Most homeowners never ask for it. If yours does, the numbers come straight from your schedule of values, so a clean SOV is the hard part. The AIA forms themselves are licensed documents, so buy them from AIA Contract Documents if a contract requires them.
Holdback is the share of each progress payment the owner keeps back until the work is complete, so there is money available to settle liens and finish deficiencies. In Canada it is set by provincial lien legislation rather than just the contract: most provinces require a 10% holdback, including Ontario under the Construction Act, British Columbia under the Builders Lien Act and Alberta under the Prompt Payment and Construction Lien Act. Each province sets its own release timing, so check the rules where the job is.
The calculation is the same as in the example: 10% of the $36,950 completed is $3,695 held back. The holdback is released once the lien period after substantial completion has passed with no liens registered. As a contractor you also hold back from your own subcontractors, and their holdback is released on the same principle.
You will see "lien waivers" mentioned in US guides. In Canada the same protection mostly comes from the holdback itself, plus a statutory declaration in which the contractor declares that all subs and suppliers have been paid before the holdback or final payment is released. Lien periods, holdback release and prompt payment rules differ by province, so treat this as general information, not legal advice, and check your provincial act or a construction lawyer for your contracts.
In Bolster, the schedule comes from the estimate: when a job is booked, each estimate item becomes a trackable task. When your crew marks a task complete, Bolster sends the client an automatic payment request through the client portal, so progress payments follow the work without you building invoices by hand. Invoices and receipts are generated automatically and sync to QuickBooks.
If you want to see what progress billing looks like on one of your own jobs, book a demo and we will set it up with you. For month-end reporting on jobs in progress, see how to calculate work in progress.
Progress billing is invoicing a construction job in stages as work is completed, rather than in one bill at the end. Each progress payment is based either on milestones (such as rough-ins complete) or on the percentage of each line in the schedule of values finished during the period, less holdback and previous payments.
A schedule of values is a list of every part of a construction job with the dollar value assigned to it, adding up to the contract sum. Each pay application reports the percentage complete on each line, and the payment due is the value of completed work less holdback and earlier payments.
Add up the value of work completed to date on each line of the schedule of values, subtract holdback (for example 10%), then subtract the payments already made. In our example, $36,950 completed less $3,695 holdback less $18,000 previously paid leaves $15,255 due.
AIA billing is progress billing on the American Institute of Architects pay application forms: the G702 summary (Application and Certificate for Payment) and the G703 continuation sheet, which is the schedule of values. It is standard on commercial work and on residential projects with an architect or lender involved.
Holdback is the share of each progress payment the owner keeps back until the lien period after completion has passed. Most provinces, including Ontario, British Columbia and Alberta, require a 10% holdback under their lien legislation. Release timing is set by each province.
Yes. Each estimate item becomes a task on the job schedule, and when a task is marked complete Bolster sends the client an automatic payment request through the client portal. Clients pay online by ACH or card, and invoices and receipts sync to QuickBooks.
