You won the commercial job. Then the general contractor said to send your billing "on a G702 with a G703," and your normal invoice was not going to cut it. For a contractor coming up from residential work, this is the moment progress billing stops being a simple invoice and becomes a formal monthly process with its own forms, its own math, and a hard rule: get the schedule of values wrong and the whole draw gets kicked back. This guide explains the two forms in plain English and shows how to bill them without the rejection.
BuildCrux is contractor management software built for small GCs and subs moving into commercial work. We have watched contractors lose weeks of cash flow to a rejected pay application that came down to a math error or a missing retainage line. The forms are not complicated once you see how they fit together. The rest of this guide walks through both, line by line, so your first commercial draw goes through clean.
Read: How to write construction invoices that get paid faster
What the G702 and G703 actually are
The G702 and G703 are a standard pair of forms published by the American Institute of Architects, used across commercial construction for monthly progress payments. They almost always travel together. One is the summary, the other is the detail.
G702: the Application and Certificate for Payment
The G702 is the one-page cover sheet. It is your formal request for this month's payment and the place the architect or owner certifies the amount they approve. It carries the headline numbers: the original contract sum, approved change orders, total completed to date, retainage held, the amount already paid, and the current payment due. Think of it as the invoice summary that everyone signs.
G703: the Continuation Sheet (schedule of values)
The G703 is the line-item backup behind the G702 total. It is your schedule of values: the contract broken into work items, each with a scheduled value, the percent complete, the dollar amount completed this period and to date, and the retainage on each line. The G702 total is just the sum of the G703. The architect reads the G703 to decide whether your percentages match what is actually built before certifying the G702.
Where commercial billing goes wrong
A rejected pay application costs a full billing cycle of cash flow, often 30 days or more. Four mistakes cause most rejections.
A schedule of values that does not add up
The total of every line on the G703 must equal the contract sum on the G702, to the penny. Build the schedule of values in a spreadsheet by hand and a single transposed number breaks the reconciliation. The architect cannot certify a G702 whose backup does not foot, so it comes back.
Forgetting or miscalculating retainage
Commercial contracts almost always hold retainage, commonly 5 or 10 percent, on each payment until the job is substantially complete. Bill the full completed amount with no retainage withheld and the application is wrong. Bill retainage at the wrong rate or forget to release it at the end and the math never closes. Retainage is the line small contractors miss most.
Over-billing the percent complete
Front-loading the schedule of values or claiming a line is 80 percent done when the architect sees 60 is the fastest way to lose trust and get the whole application scrutinized. The percentages on the G703 have to match the work in the field. Stored materials not yet installed get their own column for a reason.
Letting change orders drift off the form
Approved change orders change the contract sum, which changes the total the G702 reconciles to and adds lines to the G703. Bill a change as a separate side invoice and the formal application no longer reflects the real contract. Every approved change has to flow onto the forms.
The BuildCrux Method for Progress Billing
Five disciplines make a commercial draw go through clean the first time. The same five-pillar framework runs through every BuildCrux project.
Accurate Estimating
The schedule of values comes straight from the estimate. The same line items you priced to win the bid become the work items on the G703, with their scheduled values already totaling the contract sum. Build the SOV from the estimate and it foots automatically, because it was the contract all along.
- Schedule of values inherited from the winning estimate
- Line totals reconcile to the contract sum automatically
- No hand-built spreadsheet to transpose a number in
Structured Planning
Set the retainage rate and the billing period up front, on the contract, so every application applies them the same way. The retainage column computes on every line and the held total carries from month to month. Planning the billing terms once means you never recompute them under deadline.
- Retainage rate set once at the contract level
- Billing period and terms defined before the first draw
- Held retainage carried forward automatically
Controlled Execution
Update percent complete from the actual progress in the field, line by line, so the G703 matches what the architect will see on a walk. Tie the percentages to real completion instead of to how much cash you want this month, and certification stops being a negotiation.
- Percent complete set from field progress, not cash need
- Stored materials tracked in their own column
- Application matches what the architect inspects
Change Order Management
Approved change orders flow onto the forms. Each approved change adjusts the contract sum on the G702 and adds its line to the G703, so the application always reflects the real, current contract. No change gets billed as a side invoice that the formal paperwork does not know about.
- Approved changes update the contract sum on the G702
- Each change adds a line to the schedule of values
- Formal application always reflects the current contract
Financial Visibility
See billed-to-date, retainage held, and balance to finish on every commercial job at a glance. Retainage is real money you have earned but not yet collected, and it is easy to lose track of across several jobs. Visibility means you actually bill for the retainage release at closeout instead of leaving it on the table.
- Billed-to-date and balance-to-finish per job
- Total retainage held visible across all jobs
- Retainage release billed at closeout, not forgotten
How to fill out the G703 schedule of values
Fill the G703 first, because the G702 total is just its sum. Each row is a work item with these columns.
| Column | What goes in it | Example |
|---|---|---|
| A: Item | Line number for the work item | 03 |
| B: Description | The scope, from your estimate | Framing and drywall |
| C: Scheduled value | Contract value of this line | $64,000 |
| D: From previous application | Completed and billed before this month | $16,000 |
| E: This period | Completed this month | $24,000 |
| F: Stored materials | On site but not yet installed | $0 |
| G: Total completed and stored | D + E + F | $40,000 |
| %: Percent | G divided by C | 62.5% |
| H: Balance to finish | C minus G | $24,000 |
| I: Retainage | Held on this line (e.g. 10% of G) | $4,000 |
Bill commercial draws without the spreadsheet
BuildCrux builds the schedule of values from your estimate, computes retainage on every line, and tracks billed-to-date per job. Start free with a 30-day money-back guarantee.
Get StartedHow to fill out the G702 application
Once the G703 is done, the G702 cover sheet rolls up its totals into the payment math. The numbers flow top to bottom.
| Line | What it is | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Original contract sum | The starting contract | The signed contract |
| Net change by change orders | Approved changes, plus or minus | Sum of approved COs |
| Contract sum to date | Original plus net changes | Add the two above |
| Total completed and stored | Column G total from the G703 | The G703 |
| Retainage | Total held to date | Column I total from the G703 |
| Total earned less retainage | Completed minus retainage | Subtract retainage |
| Less previous payments | What you already collected | Prior G702s |
| Current payment due | This month's draw | Earned less retainage less prior |
Case study: a clean first draw on a $480K buildout
A small GC moving up from residential won a $480,000 retail buildout under a GC who required AIA billing with 10 percent retainage. The first instinct was a spreadsheet G703 copied from a template online, which is exactly how first draws get rejected.
Instead the contractor built the schedule of values from the same 41-line estimate that won the job, so the C column summed to $480,000 by construction. At the end of month one, $96,000 of work was in place. Each G703 line got its real percent complete, the retainage column held 10 percent ($9,600), and the G702 rolled up to a current payment due of $86,400. The architect walked the site, the percentages matched, and the certificate was signed at the requested amount. No revision, no lost cycle.
Why contractors bill commercial work in BuildCrux
BuildCrux turns the estimate that won the job into the schedule of values that bills it. The line items carry over, the totals reconcile to the contract sum automatically, retainage computes on every line, approved change orders flow onto the forms, and billed-to-date and retainage held show on the dashboard for every job. You get clean progress billing without rebuilding a spreadsheet every month and without the rejected draw that costs a billing cycle. Pricing starts at $39 per month for solo contractors and $149 per month for crews.
BuildCrux Feature
Contractor Invoicing Software
Send invoices and get paid faster
Learn moreBuildCrux Feature
AI Blueprint Estimates — Multi-Pass Pipeline
Senior-estimator output, every time, in twelve minutes
Learn moreFrequently asked questions
What is an AIA G702 form?+
The G702 is the Application and Certificate for Payment, a one-page cover sheet used in commercial construction for monthly progress payments. It summarizes the contract sum, change orders, total completed to date, retainage, prior payments, and the current amount due, and it is where the architect or owner certifies the approved payment.
How do I fill out an AIA G702?+
Fill the G703 schedule of values first, because the G702 total is just its sum. Set each line's percent complete from the work in place, compute retainage on each line, then roll the completed total and retainage up to the G702. Add approved change orders to the contract sum, subtract retainage and prior payments, and the result is the current payment due. Sign and notarize, then submit for certification.
What is the difference between the G702 and G703?+
The G702 is the summary cover sheet with the headline payment numbers. The G703 is the continuation sheet, also called the schedule of values, that breaks the contract into line items showing scheduled value, percent complete, amounts billed, and retainage. The G702 total is the sum of the G703.
What is a schedule of values?+
A schedule of values is the contract sum broken down into individual work items, each assigned a dollar value. It lives on the G703 and is how progress is measured: each month you report what percent of each line is complete. The line values must total the full contract amount.
How does retainage work on an AIA payment application?+
Retainage is a percentage, commonly 5 or 10 percent, withheld from each progress payment until the work is substantially complete. On the forms it is computed on each G703 line and totaled on the G702, reducing the current payment due. The held retainage is billed and released at the end of the job.
Do I need AIA software to fill out a G702 and G703?+
No. The forms can be completed by hand or in a spreadsheet, and the official documents are available from the AIA. The risk with a manual approach is reconciliation errors and forgotten retainage. Software that builds the schedule of values from your estimate removes those errors and computes retainage automatically.
Why was my pay application rejected?+
The most common reasons are a schedule of values that does not total the contract sum, missing or miscalculated retainage, percent-complete figures that do not match the work in the field, and approved change orders that were not reflected on the forms. Fixing those four issues clears most rejections.
The bottom line
The G702 and G703 look intimidating the first time a GC asks for them, but they are just a summary and its line-item backup. Build the schedule of values from your estimate so it reconciles to the contract sum, hold retainage on every line, set your percentages to the real work in the field, and keep change orders on the forms. Do that and your commercial draws get certified on the first pass, which means the cash shows up on schedule instead of a month late.
Get started
Turn your estimate into a clean schedule of values and bill commercial draws without the rejection. 30-day money-back guarantee.
Get Started