CONTRACTOR GLOSSARY · MONEY & BILLING
What is a Progress billing?
Progress billing invoices a job in installments as work completes — typically monthly requisitions against a schedule of values — instead of one bill at the end.
On jobs that run months, nobody waits until the end to bill. The contract value is broken into a schedule of values, and each period you bill the percentage complete per line: rough wiring 80%, fixtures 20%, and so on. Retainage comes off each payment, and the requisition often rides the GC's billing cycle up to the owner.
For subs, the discipline is keeping billed-vs-complete honest in both directions: underbilling finances the GC interest-free; overbilling gets clawed back at the worst time. Materials complicate it further — supply-house invoices arrive continuously, and every receipt that never makes it into a requisition or a change order is margin quietly given away.
Common questions
What is a schedule of values?
The contract amount broken into line items (by scope area or phase) used to compute each progress bill — you bill the completed percentage of each line, minus retainage.
How do change orders interact with progress billing?
Approved change orders add lines (or adjust values) in the schedule of values, and then bill by percent complete like everything else. Unapproved changes shouldn't be silently absorbed into existing lines.
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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