CONTRACTOR GLOSSARY · MATERIALS & PURCHASING
What is an Extended price?
An extended price is a line item's unit price multiplied by its quantity — the number that actually hits the invoice total, and where pricing errors hide.
Every invoice and quote line has two prices: the unit price (per each, per foot, per box) and the extended price — unit price times quantity — which is what actually adds into the total. Checking an invoice means checking extensions, because a right-looking unit price with the wrong quantity or the wrong unit behind it produces a confidently wrong total.
Units of measure are the classic trap. Trade materials price in eaches, hundreds, and thousands — wire commonly per thousand feet — and in boxes and cases as well as pieces. Misread the unit column and the extension is off by a factor of ten or a hundred in either direction, which is also how a "cheap" unit price on a competing quote turns out to be nothing of the kind. Compare extended prices, not unit prices.
The habit that catches it: match the invoice's quantities to what the packing slip and your count say arrived, and the unit prices to the quote or your account's pricing — then let the extensions prove themselves. It's a minute per invoice, and it's the minute where billing errors actually live.
Common questions
What's the difference between unit price and extended price?
Unit price is the cost per unit of measure — per each, per foot, per box. Extended price is unit price times the quantity on the line, and it's what sums to the invoice total.
Why do unit-of-measure errors matter so much?
Because materials price per each, per hundred, or per thousand, and in boxes or cases as well as pieces. A quantity applied against the wrong unit throws the extension off by orders of magnitude — and only checking the extension catches it.
Related terms
RevnuPros tracks the thing, not just the word
Permits to sign-off, T&M tags to signature, materials to billed through, retainage to released — built for subcontractors. Browse the full contractor glossary or the Massachusetts permit guide.
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