If you try to count a Texas lien deadline the way you'd count a payment term — “90 days from the invoice” — you'll get the wrong date. Texas counts in calendar months, and it anchors almost everything to the 15th.
Months, not days
The statute doesn't say “within 90 days.” It says things like “by the 15th day of the third month after the month in which…” So the clock starts at the end of a whole calendar month, then you count forward that many months, and land on the 15th.
The weekend-and-holiday roll-forward
If a deadline lands on a Saturday, Sunday, or legal holiday, it rolls forward to the next business day. That sounds contractor-friendly — and it is — but it's also a trap: people assume a date is a day earlier or later than the roll-forward actually puts it, and build their whole schedule off the wrong anchor.
Why “close enough” is dangerous
Lien deadlines are hard cutoffs. A notice that's one day late for a given month doesn't get a grace period — that month's money simply falls out of your claim. The safe move is to treat the computed date as the last possible day and aim to send several days early.
Let the math be automatic
This is exactly the kind of arithmetic software should own. Enter the work dates, your role, and the project type, and the deadline chain — including the roll-forward — computes itself. That's what our free lien calculator does, and what RevnuPros runs on its own clock for every job.
This article is general information for Texas trade contractors, not legal advice. Statutes change and every project is different — confirm the exact deadlines and requirements for your job with a licensed Texas attorney. RevnuPros provides deadline tracking and document preparation, not legal representation.
Let RevnuPros track this deadline for you.
Enter a job once and every Texas notice and filing date computes on its own clock — with the documents staged and ready to send.