Client progress bills
Bill 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.
PLANSEvery plan
The problem it solves
- Running bills to the client are built in a spreadsheet that never matches the last one.
- An item gets billed past the contract quantity and the client rejects the whole bill.
- Nobody tracks how much retention the client still holds.
How it works
- List the contract items on the project: item number, description, unit, quantity, rate and place. With the BOQ, press Contract Items from the BOQ.
- Set the client's retention %, the mobilisation advance received and its recovery % on the project.
- Open Construction > Projects > Finance > Client Billing > Client Bills > New and press Fill Items. It brings every item not fully billed, with what was billed before.
- Type this bill's quantities, or press Fill from Site Progress to take what the daily reports say is done. Press Work Out Advance Recovery.
- Send for Approval through the Client Progress Bill chain. Billing past a contract quantity is refused: make a variation.
- Approved, the bill becomes a draft customer invoice with your sales tax, and minus lines for retention and advance. Print it from the Print menu.
Everything it does
Contract items
- Item number, description, unit, contract quantity, rate, amount, place, billed so far
- Items from agreed variations are added with the variation named
- Construction > Projects > Finance > Client Billing > Contract Items lists all with what is billed
The bill
- Number, Bill No. per project, date, work up to, Final Bill, notes
- Per item: contract, previous, this bill, up to date, % done, rate, this bill amount, up to date amount
- Gross, retention (the client's %), advance recovered (the project's %, up to what is left), retention released, net before tax, billed up to date
- Lines with no quantity are dropped when sent
- Draft, Waiting for Approval, Approved; a sent bill is changed only after Send Back
Prints
- Progress Bill: each item with contract, previous, this bill and to-date
- Payment Application (Summary and Continuation Sheet): contract sum, agreed variations, completed to date, retention, previous applications, current payment due, balance to finish
- Interim Payment Certificate: work executed to date, retention, advance repaid, certified before and due now, with lines for the Engineer and the Contractor
- These follow the usual layouts; they are not the official AIA or FIDIC forms
Retention and accounts
- Retention Held by the Client on the project
- Ask for Retention Back: a bill for all the retention held, once no bill is open
- Approving makes the draft customer invoice; Make Invoice button too
- Tax from the Entity's default sales tax (GST, VAT); retention and advance on the accounts set in Accounting > Settings > Construction
- Approved bills are revenue in Profitability and money in for the cash flow plan
Who uses it
Quantity surveyorKeeps the contract items, fills the bill and sends it for approval.
Construction ManagerApproves or sends back the bill and asks for retention back.
AccountsPosts the customer invoice and follows payment.
ClientSees approved bills on the portal: gross, retention, net and up to date.
Where you use it
- Web: Construction > Projects > Finance > Client Billing (Contract Items, Variations, Client Bills), Construction Managers
- Client portal: approved progress bills
- Not in the phone app for your staff: bills are made on the web
What you control
Settings
- Client retention %, advance received and recovery % per project
- Sales tax and the Construction accounts per Entity
- The Client Progress Bill approval chain (Construction Managers to start with)
Approvals
- Client Progress Bill: Construction Managers approve to start with; add levels such as quantity surveyor, project manager, accounts
Notifications
- Approvers get each bill in Approvals and as a to-do
- Not built: emailing the bill to the client from the bill; the client sees approved bills on the portal
Questions
Can we bill the way our contract asks?
Each bill carries this bill, previous and up-to-date quantities, retention and advance recovery. It prints as a progress bill, payment application or interim payment certificate. Tax comes from your Entity's set-up.Can the bill take quantities from site progress?
Yes, when contract items come from the BOQ and site staff report progress on BOQ items in the daily report. Fill from Site Progress sets each line to what is done less what is billed.What if the work is more than the contract quantity?
The bill is refused past the contract quantity. Raise a variation; once the client agrees, its items become contract items you can bill.Does it file GST or make e-invoices?
No. The customer invoice carries your GST, but e-invoicing, e-way bills and GST filing are not offered.Related features
MONEYVariations, retention back and bank guaranteesPrice extra or changed work as a variation and send it to the client with its PDF. The client agrees on the portal, by signature or in writing. Then its items become contract items to bill. Ask for the client's retention back in one step, and keep every bank guarantee with a reminder before it expires.MONEYMeasurement book, retention and advancesSite staff measure each item's work by place, as Nos. x length x breadth x depth with photos; a manager certifies it, and only certified quantities reach the running bill. Retention is kept from every bill and released in one step, and the mobilisation advance is recovered bill by bill.SITEDaily site report with auto-submitThe site enters the day once: work done by place, labour, material, plant, weather, issues and photos. A report still in draft at the project's cut-off is submitted by itself, so the company and client updates go out on time.ESTIMATINGBOQ with versionsKeep each project's bill of quantities in the system, item by item, priced and tied to places and cost codes. Import it from the client's Excel, make it final, and when the scope changes start a new version: the old one is kept as Replaced. Site progress, the budget, work orders and client bills all work from the same items.MONEYProfitability per projectOne row per project: value sold, budget, revenue from approved client bills and cost from the building budget. Cost is split CAPEX and OPEX, with committed, margin and budget used.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.