Retainage calculator
Retainage is the slice of every progress payment the owner or general keeps until the job closes out. It is the single largest chunk of a subcontractor's money that is earned, approved, and not in the bank. This works the arithmetic for one pay application and shows what the whole contract leaves behind.
Pre-filled with a realistic subcontract. Change any figure; the statement is instant.
Retainage usually applies to stored materials too — check your subcontract.
Commonly 5% or 10% of each progress payment.
This application
| Work completed to date | 148,000.00 |
| Stored materials | 0.00 |
| Retainage withheld (5%) | -7,400.00 |
| Net payable | 140,600.00 |
Where the job ends up
| Left to bill | 0.00 |
| Retainage held at completion | 7,400.00 |
| Share of contract sitting in retainage | 5.00% |
How the number is built
Retainage is taken from the billing base — work completed to date plus, on most contracts, materials suitably stored on site. It is not taken from the contract sum, which is why the amount withheld climbs with every application instead of appearing at the end. On the worked example below, a 5% rate on a fully billed 148,000 contract leaves 7,400.00 outstanding after the last day of work.
| Application | Billed this period | Retainage 5% | Net payable |
|---|---|---|---|
| No. 1 | 42,000.00 | 2,100.00 | 39,900.00 |
| No. 2 | 51,000.00 | 2,550.00 | 48,450.00 |
| No. 3 | 38,000.00 | 1,900.00 | 36,100.00 |
| No. 4 (final) | 17,000.00 | 850.00 | 16,150.00 |
| Contract total | 148,000.00 | 7,400.00 | 140,600.00 |
Lien deadline
Unpaid retainage is still unpaid money, and the clock on it usually runs from the last day you furnished work — not from the day the retainage was supposed to be released. In Texas the lien on statutorily reserved funds needs an affidavit filed by the 30th day after the work is completed. Do not wait for a release that is late.
Sources
- Tex. Prop. Code § 53.101
Texas requires the owner to reserve 10 percent of the contract price (or 10 percent of the value of the work) during the job and for 30 days after completion — statutory retainage.
Read 2026-09-04
- Tex. Prop. Code § 53.103
A Texas claimant reaches the reserved funds by sending the required notices and filing a lien affidavit no later than the 30th day after the work is completed, the contract terminated, or performance abandoned.
Read 2026-09-04
- 31 U.S.C. § 3903(a)(6)
Retained amounts on a federal contract must be released by the date the contract specifies or, if it specifies none, by the 30th day after final acceptance.
Read 2026-09-04
Related
- What Is Retainage in Construction?Why 5-10% is held, who holds it, and when it must be released.
- Retainage Laws by StateStatutory reserves, release timelines and retainage bonds.
- Retainage vs RetentionSame money, two vocabularies — and the clauses that differ.
- Pay Application GeneratorPut this retainage line into a G702-style application.