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Client payment plans with milestones

Give a contract job its payment plan. For example: 10 % on signing, 15 % at foundation, 10 % per slab and 5 % at handover. Each milestone falls due by hand, on a date or after a number of days. With Growth also at a stage or when the slab casting is done. The client is told the amount and the date to pay by.

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The problem it solves

The slab is cast, but the stage payment is raised a week later because nobody told accounts.
Each villa client has a different schedule, kept in a spreadsheet only one person understands.
The client says nobody asked for the payment, and you have no record of when it was asked.
Work moves into finishes while the last two stage payments are still outstanding.

How it works

An administrator sets up payment plans under Construction > Projects > Configuration > Costs and Payments > Payment Plans. Each line is a % of the project's value or a fixed amount, with a note for the client.
Each line says when it falls due: By Hand, On a Date or Days After the Start. With Growth also When a Stage Starts, When a Stage Ends or When a Key Event Is Done, such as each Slab Casting.
On the project's Payments tab a manager picks the plan. The milestones are made with their amounts from the contract value, and can be changed for this job.
A milestone falls due by itself (dates are checked every day, stages and events as they happen) or when a manager presses Make Due. The client and the client's people on the team are told the amount and the pay-by date by email, WhatsApp and in the app.
When the money comes in, a manager presses Received and types the amount, the date and the cheque or transfer number. With accounting, a draft customer invoice can be made and the milestone closes when it is paid.
With stages (Growth), a due milestone marked Stops Moving On holds the job in its stage until it is received.

Everything it does

Payment plans

Any number of plans, for every Entity or one; the plan shows its Total %
Each line: name, % of Value or Fixed Amount, Falls Due, Days, Stops Moving On
Falls Due: By Hand, On a Date, Days After the Start. With Growth also When a Stage Starts, When a Stage Ends, When a Key Event Is Done
Days: days after the start, or the days the client has to pay once due
A note for the client kept with the plan

Milestones on a project

Made from the plan; picking another plan replaces the planned ones and keeps those due or received
Amount from the % of the contract value or the fixed amount, and it can be typed
Due On (Planned), Due By, Received, Received On, Reference, Notes
Status: Planned, Due, Received, Cancelled; overdue lines in red
Due Now and Received totals on the Payments tab
Buttons for managers: Make Due, Received, Back to Planned, Cancel; Make Invoice with accounting

When it falls due

Due By is the day it falls due plus Days, or its date for a dated milestone
A key event milestone waits for that event, or the next event of its type, such as the next Slab Casting
With the project feed, the milestone due and the payment received are posted for the team and the client

Invoices

With accounting: a draft customer invoice when the milestone falls due, or with Make Invoice. It uses the sales journal income account and the Entity's default sales taxes (GST or VAT)
Every hour, milestones whose invoice is paid are marked received
Without accounting, payments are recorded by hand with the date and reference

Lists

Construction > Projects > Finance > Payments Due (managers): Due to start with; filters Overdue and Received; group by project or status; list and pivot

Who uses it

Project managerPicks the plan for the job and makes milestones due when the work is reached.

AccountsWorks from Payments Due, records what came in and follows up the overdue ones.

Construction AdministratorSets up the payment plans.

ClientIs told each payment as it falls due, with the amount and the date to pay by.

Where you use it

Web: the project's Payments tab (managers) and Construction > Projects > Finance > Payments Due
Configuration: Construction > Projects > Configuration > Costs and Payments > Payment Plans
Not on the client portal: portal clients see their approved progress bills, not the milestones
Not in the SmartMy Construction app yet

What you control

Settings

Payment plans and their lines: % or amount, when due, days to pay
Stops Moving On per line: off to start with (works with stages, Growth)
Each project's own milestones, changed after the plan is applied

Approvals

Stage Override (with stages, Growth): passing a stage held by an unpaid milestone; project managers approve to start with

Notifications

Project Payment Due: to the client and the client's people on the team, by email, WhatsApp and in the app. It gives the amount and pay-by date
Project Update: the payment received, to the client with the feed link (Growth)
Sent at once, at any hour: these are work messages, so quiet hours do not hold them back

Questions

Is this the same as progress bills?

No. Payment plans ask for agreed instalments, such as 10 % per slab. Client progress bills bill measured quantities against contract items with retention and advance recovery. A job usually uses one or the other.

Can a milestone fall due when a slab is cast?

Yes, from Growth. Set the line to When a Key Event Is Done and pick the Slab Casting type. Each milestone waits for the next slab casting event to be done.

Can a client pay a milestone in parts?

A milestone is received once. Split it into two milestones, or type the amount actually received before you press Received; the milestone is then closed.

What about payment plans for flats we sell?

Unit sales have their own sale payment plans, demands and receipts in the developer features. This page is for contract jobs.

Which plan has it?

Every plan, Starter included. Stage and key event triggers and holding a stage come with Growth.

Related features

PROJECTS AND SET-UPStages you leave only when the checks passEvery job moves through your stages, from Planning and Approvals to the Defects Period. A stage lets go only when its checks pass, such as the key events done or the client's stage payment received. Passing anyway takes an approval with the reason on record.PROJECTS AND SET-UPKey events: slab casting, handoverBhoomi pooja, foundation pour, slab casting, topping out and handover run as key events. Each has readiness checks counted back from the day, bookings for ready-mix and pump, and invitations the client answers from a link. Curing and cube results follow by themselves.MONEYClient progress billsBill the client on the contract items. Each bill shows this bill, previous and up to date per item, the retention the client keeps and the advance taken back. It is approved inside first, prints as a progress bill, payment application or interim payment certificate, and becomes the customer invoice.PROJECTS AND SET-UPProject feed for the team and the clientOne timeline per project where stage changes, key events, payments due and your own posts land. Each item says who it is meant for: your team, the client, subcontractors, the bank or buyers. People outside are told on WhatsApp or by email with a link to their own view, and confirm important items with Seen.ACCOUNTINGFull accounting with GST returnsKeep the books in the same system as your sites. Approved client progress bills, subcontractor bills, wage runs and hire bills reach accounts as drafts, with retention, advances and TDS on their own accounts. Scale adds the full accounting screens and reports, from ledgers to cash flow, and GSTR-1 and GSTR-3B for Indian entities.

See your next site report on it.

Tell us what you build, how many sites you run and how your client hears about progress today. We will set up a project with you and send your first daily update.

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