Guide · Invoices
Construction invoicing for small contractors
Most residential jobs need a clear invoice and an easy way to pay. Commercial subcontracting is a different animal.
If you work directly for homeowners, you need a clear invoice with line items, your license number and a pay link, plus progress invoices on longer jobs. Most invoice apps do that. If you subcontract to general contractors on commercial work, they'll often require pay applications in the AIA G702/G703 format, with a schedule of values, percent complete, change orders and retainage. That needs construction accounting or project software, not a simple invoice app.
Which kind of billing do you do?
| Residential, billing the owner | Commercial, billing a GC | |
|---|---|---|
| Document | Invoice with line items | Pay application (often AIA G702 + G703 continuation sheet) |
| How the amount is set | The approved estimate, plus change orders | Schedule of values × percent complete each period |
| Retainage | Rare | Common; a percentage held back until the job closes out |
| Lien waivers | Sometimes, on bigger jobs | Usually with every payment |
| How you get paid | Card or bank via a pay link, or check | Check or ACH on the GC's pay cycle |
| Software that fits | An estimate and invoice app | Construction accounting or project management software with pay-app support |
What a residential construction invoice needs
- Your business name, contact details and license number. See where you have to show your license number.
- The job address and a reference to the approved estimate.
- Line items for labor and materials, and any change orders as their own lines.
- What's already been paid (deposit or earlier progress payments) and the balance due.
- Payment terms and an easy way to pay. See invoice payment terms.
Signs you've outgrown a simple invoice app
- A GC sends you a schedule of values and asks for monthly pay apps.
- Contracts hold back retainage you need to track until closeout.
- Every payment needs a conditional and unconditional lien waiver.
- You need job costing across several crews and many open jobs.
Where Settle fits
Settle is for solo contractors billing homeowners from an iPhone: describe the job, send the estimate, turn it into an invoice, and get paid by card or bank to your own Stripe account. It doesn't produce AIA pay applications, track retainage, or generate lien waivers. If your work is mostly commercial subcontracting, use software built for that.
What is an AIA G702 and G703?
Standard forms from the American Institute of Architects for construction pay applications. The G702 summarizes the payment requested; the G703 continuation sheet breaks it down by line of the schedule of values with percent complete and retainage.
Do residential contractors need AIA billing?
Rarely. Homeowners usually get a regular invoice tied to the approved estimate, with progress invoices on longer jobs.
What is retainage?
A portion of each payment, set by the contract, that the owner or GC holds back until the job is finished and closed out.
General information, not legal or accounting advice.
Bill residential jobs from your phone with Settle.
Free on iPhone. Unlimited estimates and invoices. 7 days of Pro to try the voice drafts, and you cancel in two taps.
Download on the App StoreiPhone, iOS 17 or later. Questions? Text Nina: (818) 945-9686