SCHEDULE OF VALUES MEANING IN CONSTRUCTION.
A schedule of values, or SOV, divides the contract sum into lines such as mobilization, submittals, material, installation and closeout. The lines add up to the contract sum. Each month the pay application reports how much of each line is complete, and the amount billed is that percentage times the line value, less retainage. The subcontractor usually drafts the SOV and the general contractor approves it before the first pay app. After that, the approved lines set how fast money can be billed for the rest of the job.
The schedule of values looks like paperwork, and it works as a billing limit. A line cannot bill more than its value, so the way the contract is cut into lines decides how much can be billed in month one, month two and month three. This page defines the term and shows what it does to cash. Writing the schedule, negotiating it and billing against it are covered in the schedule of values hub.
WHAT IT MEANS.
A schedule of values is the breakdown of a construction contract into line items, each with a dollar value, that a pay application bills against as the work is completed.
A schedule of values is also called an SOV, a schedule of values and pay items, or the continuation sheet when it is printed on the AIA G703 form. All of those terms describe the same list of lines.
WHAT THE LINES DO.
What it means on a pay app
On the standard AIA continuation sheet, form G703, each row is one SOV line. The columns show the scheduled value, the work completed in earlier applications, the work completed this period, the material stored, the total completed and stored to date, the percent complete, the balance to finish and the retainage. The summary page, form G702, adds the rows and shows what is due. A pay app on any other form works the same way: a list of lines, a value for each line and a percent complete for each line.
Who writes it and who approves it
The subcontractor usually drafts the schedule from the estimate and submits it before the first pay app. Some general contractors give the subcontractor their own template with the lines already set. Either way, the general contractor, and often the owner or architect, approves it before the first payment. After approval a line changes only with written agreement, so the time to fix a schedule is before it is approved.
Why the line values set your cash
A pay app can bill a line only as the work in that line is completed. A line with a small value bills a small amount regardless of how much money the work has already cost. Mobilization, submittals, shop drawings and the first deliveries of material are paid for early. If those lines have a small value, the cost appears in month one and the billing appears months later, and the difference is paid out of the contractor's own cash.
Matching cost timing is normal, moving profit forward is not
A schedule that follows the way money is spent, with real value on mobilization, submittals, material and the early installation, is a fair breakdown. A schedule that values early lines above the cost of that work so profit is collected sooner is called front loading. Many contracts prohibit it, and owners and general contractors reject schedules that look padded. The test is whether each line's value matches the cost and effort of the work in that line.
The lines that cause the most trouble
Mobilization, submittals and shop drawings are usually underweighted in a general contractor's template. Stored material has no line unless one is added, so material that is bought and delivered cannot be billed until it is installed. Change orders added mid-job need their own lines, or the extra work is billed against lines that are already full. A single line called labor and material does not show which part of the work is done, and that invites an argument about percent complete. Closeout should be a real line, because it is billed last and held longest.
WHAT IT LOOKS LIKE IN DOLLARS.
Take a $600,000 subcontract. The general contractor's template values mobilization and submittals at $12,000, material at $180,000, installation at $348,000 and closeout at $60,000. In month one the subcontractor bills the $12,000 of mobilization and finishes 5 percent of installation, $17,400, for $29,400 before retainage. A schedule written from the estimate values mobilization and submittals at $36,000, material at $210,000, installation at $318,000 and closeout at $36,000. The same month bills $36,000 plus 5 percent of installation, $15,900, for $51,900. The work is identical. The second schedule bills $22,500 more in month one, and after 10 percent retainage it pays $20,250 more.
Subcontractors wait 56 days on average after submitting a pay application, per Billd's 2025 State of Subcontractor Payments. During that wait the job keeps spending. On a job that costs $90,000 in month one and $180,000 in month two, a first bill of $26,460 after retainage leaves $243,540 of cost unpaid when the first check comes in. A first bill of $46,710 after retainage leaves $223,290.
Every line is a dollar value, and the lines must total the contract sum. Both schedules above total $600,000: 12,000 + 180,000 + 348,000 + 60,000 and 36,000 + 210,000 + 318,000 + 36,000. Change orders are added as new lines, so the total of the lines grows when the contract grows.
WHAT WE CHANGE.
SPM builds the schedule from the estimate's cost codes before the general contractor sends a template. Each line has a cost behind it and a date when that cost is paid, so the schedule can be defended line by line.
When a schedule line and a cost code describe the same piece of work, the pay app and the job cost report can be read against each other. Percent complete on the pay app and cost to date on the job agree, or the difference is visible the same month.
Stored material, submittals, shop drawings, mobilization and closeout each get a line. Change orders get new lines as they are approved, so no line is billed past its value.
The review compares the template to the cost timing of the job and sends the difference to the general contractor in writing before the first pay app, while changing a line is still a request.
FLAT MONTHLY FEE. NO SURPRISES.
Three tiers, priced by your trailing twelve month revenue. Which one you're in depends on how much of the work you want off your desk. No hourly billing. No payroll. The one-time onboarding fee is right here in the table.
| Last 12 months revenue | Monthly fee | One-time onboarding |
|---|---|---|
| Up to $1M | $1,900 to $2,900 | $1,000 |
| $1M to $3.5M | $2,600 to $3,900 | $1,500 |
| $3.5M to $6.5M | $3,800 to $5,700 | $3,000 |
| $6.5M to $9.5M | $5,100 to $7,100 | $4,500 |
| $9.5M to $12.5M | $6,100 to $8,500 | $6,000 |
| $12.5M to $15.5M | $7,400 to $11,000 | $7,500 |
| $15.5M to $18.5M | $9,400 to $13,500 | $9,000 |
| $18.5M+ | Quoted individually | Quoted individually |
The onboarding fee covers migrating your books back to the start of your last taxable year and getting you fully operational in 60 days. It's billed once, with your first invoice. It's the same for all three tiers. Your first month is prorated, and your monthly engagement starts on the first of the first full month.
Range reflects the three tiers below. Which one you're in depends on how much of the work you want off your desk. No payroll. No hidden line items. The onboarding fee is right here in the table.
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