Schedule of values builder
The schedule of values is the map every future pay application is read against. Get it wrong at the start and you spend the job arguing about percentages; get it right and each application is arithmetic. The one hard rule: it must total the contract sum exactly.
Build the line items, then check the bottom rule: the schedule has to total the contract sum exactly, or the reviewer sends it back.
| Code | Description | Scheduled value | % complete | Earned |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 7,400.00 | ||||
| 26,500.00 | ||||
| 38,200.00 | ||||
| 35,615.00 | ||||
| 9,200.00 | ||||
| 0.00 | ||||
| Total | 148,000.00 | 79.0% | 116,915.00 | |
| Variance against the contract sum | 0.00 | |||
Structure it the way it will be billed
Break the contract into lines whose percent complete somebody can look at and agree with. “Underground rough-in” is assessable. “Labour” is not. Keep a closeout line — O&M manuals, as-builts, final balancing — near the end, because it is the work that stalls final payment, and a line item makes it visible.
Front-loading — weighting early lines above their true cost to improve cash position — is the oldest argument in construction billing. Reviewers look for it, owners' lenders look harder, and an obviously front-loaded schedule slows every application that follows. A modest mobilisation line is normal; a mobilisation line at 15 percent of the contract is a fight you will have every month.
What a reviewer checks first
| Check | What they look at | If it fails |
|---|---|---|
| Total | Sum of lines vs contract sum | Returned immediately, unread. |
| Mobilisation | First line as a % of contract | Negotiated down, often to a fixed figure. |
| Granularity | Lines a super can assess | Percentages become an argument every month. |
| Closeout | Is there a hold-back line | Final payment stalls with nothing to bill against. |
| Change orders | Added as new lines, not folded in | Audit trail breaks; approvals get disputed. |
Approval first
Get the schedule approved before the first application, not with it. An unapproved SOV turns application no. 1 into a negotiation, and application no. 1 is exactly when your cash position is worst.
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 2026-09-04
- 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