Free template
The construction schedule of values template.
Every dollar of the contract, broken into billable lines — so a pay application is arithmetic, not a negotiation. Print the blank template below and fill it in, or skip the spreadsheet and bill by percent complete, per line, straight from the budget.
How builders actually build one.
- 1.Match your estimate's line items, not the contract's paragraphs. A schedule of values built from cost codes you already priced is one page, not a rewrite.
- 2.Break out anything you'll bill more than once. Framing that spans three draws needs its own line, or the second draw has no clean number to bill against.
- 3.Keep the early lines honest. The schedule of values a reviewer trusts is the boring one — mobilization and general conditions priced at what they cost, not padded to get paid sooner.
- 4.Update it once, bill from it every period. A copy kept in a spreadsheet next to the real budget drifts by draw three — keep it next to the number it's supposed to match.
The faster way
The schedule of values shouldn't live apart from the budget.
In Projects, the accepted estimate becomes the schedule of values on its own — same lines, same cost codes, nothing retyped. Each period, mark percent complete per line and the pay application totals itself: amount this period, retention held, balance to finish, all arithmetic against the one number everyone already agreed to.
Also grab the change order template, the daily log template, or the 3-week lookahead template.
Schedule of values questions, answered.
What is a schedule of values?
A breakdown of the entire contract sum into line items — by trade, phase, or scope — each with its own dollar value. It's the document every pay application bills against.
Why does the format matter?
Because a lender, GC, or client checks every draw against it. A schedule of values with padded early line items — an oversized "mobilization" or "general conditions" — is the first thing a reviewer flags, and the fastest way to get a draw sent back.
What should a schedule of values include?
A line number, a description of the work, and its scheduled value, broken out finely enough that percent-complete has an obvious answer for each line — not so few lines that one covers half the job, not so many that billing turns into bookkeeping.
How does it turn into a pay application?
Each period, mark percent complete per line. Multiply against the scheduled value, subtract what's already been billed, hold retention, and the amount due that period is arithmetic — not a conversation.