PROGRESS BILLING FOR SUBCONTRACTORS.
Progress billing gets a subcontractor paid as the work gets done, through a schedule of values and monthly pay applications, rather than waiting for the project to finish. Getting it right means a balanced SOV, a fixed billing date every month, and a collections routine that runs on schedule instead of reacting to a cash crunch.
Three things decide whether progress billing works: what the SOV looks like, what day you submit, and what happens when nobody pays. Most subs get the first one half right and never touch the other two. The result is a billing process that runs on whoever has time this week, which pushes every payment 30 to 45 days further out and does it on every open job at once. Fixing it's not a software project. It's a calendar, a clean SOV, and one hour on Tuesdays.
WHAT IT MEANS.
Progress billing is how subcontractors get paid for work as it's completed, using a schedule of values and monthly pay applications instead of waiting for full project completion.
A schedule of values is the line-item breakdown of a contract's total value, used to bill progress payments as work is completed. Every pay application traces back to it. If the SOV lumps too many cost categories into one line, or gets padded early to front-load cash without matching real percent complete, the pay app built on top of it either underbills the work done or invites the GC to push back and slow-pay the whole application over one disputed line.
A clean SOV mirrors the actual cost structure of the job: mobilization, materials, labor by phase, and retainage, broken out clearly enough that a GC or owner's rep can approve it without a phone call. Timing counts as much as the SOV itself. A fixed billing date every month, submitted the same day regardless of how busy the job is, keeps the payment clock running consistently, and subs who bill whenever there's time push their own payment 30 to 45 days further out every time they slip the date.
WHAT SLOWS YOUR OWN MONEY.
An unbalanced SOV
Line items too generic to track, or front-loaded in ways that don't match real percent complete, invite GC pushback on the whole application. One disputed line can slow the entire pay app. The fix is a breakdown that mirrors the job's real cost structure so a reviewer can approve it without calling you.
No fixed billing date
Billing whenever there's time, instead of the same date every month, pushes payment further out on every open job at once. The slip feels small on one job and it's not small across six. A date on the calendar is the whole control.
Slow change order billing
Change orders that sit unbilled for months turn into cash the contractor already spent and hasn't collected. The work is done, the cost is in the job, and the invoice is in a folder. Every week a CO waits is a week added to the payment clock on that money.
Reactive collections
Chasing AR only when cash gets tight, instead of running a weekly collections routine on a fixed schedule, means the oldest invoices get attention last. By the time the balance is low, the calls you need to make are 60 days overdue. A routine on the calendar collects the same money without the adrenaline.
WHAT IT LOOKS LIKE IN DOLLARS.
A turnkey civil contractor doing concrete, earthwork, utilities, and asphalt grew from $500K to $5M in two years and was projecting $12M the next. By the time SPM came in he had two maxed lines of credit, an SBA loan, and a personal guarantee against his house. We built a cash flow forecast, slowed new work for two months to let receivables catch up, and rebuilt the billing process from the bottom up: SOV setup, pay application timing, and a collections routine that runs on a schedule and not on panic. He collected $310K in the first 30 days, cleared both lines of credit and the SBA loan within 90 days, and was approved for a $750K new line of credit he couldn't get before.
WHAT WE BUILD AROUND THE BILLING.
The schedule of values gets built to mirror the job's cost structure before the contract is signed, with mobilization, materials, labor by phase, and retainage broken out. Defensible front-loading is fine and padding isn't, because padding buys one month and slows every application after it. A GC's reviewer should be able to approve it without a call.
Every job bills on the same date every month, submitted regardless of how busy the field is. The date doesn't move for a busy week. That single rule keeps the payment clock running on every open job at the same time.
The AR aging gets reviewed weekly on a fixed day, not when cash gets tight. Anything crossing 30, 60, and 90 days past due triggers a specific follow-up action at each threshold. Nobody has to decide who to call, because the report decides.
Retainage held across multiple jobs adds up fast, and without a tracking system it disappears into money we will get eventually. Every job's retainage balance and release condition gets tracked so the release can be pursued on a date instead of remembered. It's the last money on the job and the easiest to leave behind.
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, and no add-ons.
| Last 12 months revenue | Monthly fee |
|---|---|
| Up to $1M | $1,900 to $2,900 |
| $1M to $3.5M | $2,600 to $3,900 |
| $3.5M to $6.5M | $3,800 to $5,700 |
| $6.5M to $9.5M | $5,100 to $7,100 |
| $9.5M to $12.5M | $6,100 to $8,500 |
| $12.5M to $15.5M | $7,400 to $11,000 |
| $15.5M to $18.5M | $9,400 to $13,500 |
| $18.5M+ | Quoted individually |
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.
You stop guessing.
You get the CFO work. Job costing built against the way you estimate, a 13 week cash forecast, monthly WIP, and a meeting every month that ends in decisions rather than a report.
Your bookkeeper keeps doing the books.
You stop touching the books.
Everything in Core, and we run the bookkeeping and the controllership as well. Nobody in your office is answering coding questions or chasing a reconciliation at month end.
We do the books. No payroll.
Every job shows its margin while it's still running.
Everything in Executive, plus the job costing and WIP platform set up, loaded with your cost codes, and managed for you every month. You never have to learn it.
We do the job costing.
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