Construction invoice template and generator

A construction invoice is the bill for work that does not go through a pay application: a service call, a time-and-materials ticket, a lump-sum stage on a small job. It has to say what was done, under which contract, what is being held back and when the money is due. Fill this one in, print it or paste it into an email, and send the lien waiver with it.

Pre-filled with two weeks of electrical tenant-improvement work billed to a general contractor. Change any field; the invoice and its totals redraw as you type. Print sends only the invoice.

Your company

Your address

Bill to

Bill-to address

Job name

Job address

Contract, PO or work order number

Use the number on the customer's paperwork, exactly.

Contractor license number (optional)

Billing basis

Invoice number

Invoice date

Work performed through

Line items

TypeDescription, line 1QtyUnitRate$
5,888.00
TypeDescription, line 2QtyUnitRate$
1,728.00
TypeDescription, line 3QtyUnitRate$
3,412.60
TypeDescription, line 4QtyUnitRate$
385.00
TypeDescription, line 5QtyUnitRate$
2,150.00

Payment terms

Retainage withheld

Use the rate in your contract. 0 if none.

Sales tax rate

Your rate, if this job is taxable. 0 hides the line.

Tax applies to

Payments or deposit already received

Late charge, as written in your contract (optional)

Remit to

How to pay

Contact for questions

Note an enclosed conditional lien waiver

Brightline Electric LLC

2210 Foundry Road, Suite 4, Columbus, OH 43215

Invoice

INV-1047

Time and materials

Bill to

Vantage Construction Group

Accounts Payable, 900 Commerce Park Drive, Columbus, OH 43219

Job

Kestrel Avenue tenant improvement, Suite 210

1400 Kestrel Avenue, Columbus, OH

Subcontract SC-2214, PO 7731

Invoice date: 2026-10-16
Work through: 2026-10-15
Terms: Net 30
Due date: 2026-11-15

Invoice line items and totals
Type	Description	Qty	Rate	Amount
Labor	Journeyman electricians, 2-person crew, rough-in	64 hr	92.00	5,888.00
Labor	Foreman supervision	16 hr	108.00	1,728.00
Material	MC cable, boxes and devices, supplier invoice 48817 attached	1 lot	3,412.60	3,412.60
Equipment	Scissor lift rental	1 wk	385.00	385.00
Change order	CO-03, six dedicated circuits in break room (approved 2026-10-02)	1 ls	2,150.00	2,150.00
Subtotal, work billed				13,563.60
Less retainage withheld (5% of work billed)				-678.18
Amount due by 2026-11-15				12,885.42

Retainage of $678.18 is withheld on this invoice and remains owed; it will be billed at the release point stated in the contract.

EnclosedConditional waiver and release on progress payment for $12,885.42, work through 2026-10-15. It takes effect only when this payment is received.

Remit toBrightline Electric LLC, PO Box 31877, Columbus, OH 43231Check to the address above, or ACH on file with your AP department

Questions about this invoiceDana Ruiz, office manager, (614) 555-0148

How to fill it in

1Use the customer's contract or PO number. Type it exactly as it appears on their paperwork; that is what their AP system matches on.
2One line per kind of cost. Labor by the hour with the crew described, materials with the supplier invoice number, equipment by the day or week, and each change order on its own line with its CO number and approval date.
3Show retainage as a deduction. If the contract withholds it, bill the full work and take the retainage off underneath. The invoice then records money still owed to you, instead of making it disappear.
4Pick the terms your contract states. The due date counts from the invoice date. If the contract counts from receipt or approval, the real date is later; the payment terms guide shows how to work the gap.

On the example, five lines come to 13,563.60. Five percent retainage on the work billed is 678.18, so the invoice asks for 12,885.42 by 2026-11-15. Retainage is taken from the work, never from a tax line, and it stays owed until the contract's release point; the retainage calculator tracks the running total across a job. For the date maths behind net terms, read construction payment terms that hold up.

Invoice or pay application?

The contract decides, not the size of the bill. If your subcontract has a schedule of values and a billing article naming a form, the GC wants a pay application, built with the pay application generator from a schedule of values. Everything else runs on an invoice.

When to send an invoice and when to send a pay application
The work	Send	Why
Service or repair call for an owner or property manager	Invoice	One visit, one bill. There is no schedule of values to bill against.
Time-and-materials extra work	Invoice with signed tickets	The tickets are the backup. Unsigned hours get argued line by line.
Small lump-sum job billed by stage	Invoice per stage	Deposit, rough-in, finish: the stages in the contract are the billing schedule.
Commercial subcontract with a schedule of values	Pay application	The GC rolls your numbers into its own application to the owner. A loose invoice does not fit that form.
Approved change order on a pay-app job	A new SOV line	Bill it on the next application as its own line, not on a side invoice.

What gets an invoice paid on time

Net 30 on the page means little if the invoice misses the GC's billing date or arrives without the papers AP needs. These are the reasons a correct invoice still sits.

It lands before the cut-off. Most GCs collect sub billings by a fixed day each month. An invoice that arrives the day after waits a whole cycle, whatever its terms say.
It quotes their number. Accounts payable matches an invoice to a subcontract or PO. Use their number and their job name, not yours.
It carries the backup. Signed T&M tickets, the supplier invoice behind each material line, the signed change order. Attach them; do not offer them on request.
A conditional waiver rides with it. Many GCs will not cut a check without a waiver for the amount billed. A conditional one takes effect only when the money arrives, so it costs you nothing to send early.
The remit-to matches their file. New bank details on an invoice look like payment fraud to an AP desk. Send any change separately, in writing, and expect a call-back.
Someone answers the phone. Name a person and a number. A question with nobody to ask gets the invoice set aside, not paid.

Draft the waiver with the conditional lien waiver generator for the amount due on this invoice and the same work-through date. Keep the unconditional version until the payment has cleared.

Late charges

The late-charge line prints only what you type. Put one on the invoice when your contract has one, and quote the clause. A charge that first appears on an invoice is a request, not a term. On public work a prompt payment statute may set interest instead; the prompt payment interest calculator works out the amount.

Federal jobs: the proper invoice test

On a federal construction contract the payment clock starts only when the billing office receives a proper invoice. A progress payment is then due 14 days later; an improper one must come back within 7 days with the reasons. FAR 52.232-27 lists what “proper” means, and every item maps to a field above.

FAR 52.232-27(a)(2) proper invoice items and where each goes on this invoice
FAR 52.232-27(a)(2) item	On this invoice
(i)Contractor name and address	Your company, your address
(ii)Invoice date and invoice number	Invoice number, invoice date
(iii)Contract number or other authorization, with order and line item number	Contract, PO or work order number
(iv)Description of work or services performed	Line items
(v)Delivery and payment terms	Payment terms
(vi)Name and address payment is sent to, same as the contract	Remit to
(vii)Person to notify of a defective invoice	Contact for questions
(viii)Substantiation and certification, for progress payments	Attach it to the request; a pay application carries it
(ix)Taxpayer Identification Number, only if the contract requires it	Add it to your address line
(x)EFT banking information	How to pay
(xi)Anything else the contract requires	Read the contract's invoicing clause

Sources

FAR 52.232-27(a)
On a federal construction contract, a progress payment is due 14 days after the designated billing office receives a proper payment request; an improper invoice must be returned within 7 days with reasons.
Read 2026-10-18
FAR 52.232-27(a)(2)
On a federal construction contract a proper invoice carries: contractor name and address; invoice date and number; contract number or other authorization; a description of the work; payment terms; the name and address payment goes to (matching the contract); a contact for a defective invoice; for progress payments, substantiation and certification under FAR 52.232-5; the TIN where the contract requires it; EFT banking information; and anything else the contract requires.
Read 2026-10-18