AIA Billing in Construction: G702 & G703 Guide | Projul

If you have been in commercial construction for more than a few months, you have dealt with AIA billing. It is the standard language of pay applications on just about every commercial project in the country. Owners expect it. Architects require it. And if you get it wrong, your payment gets kicked back and you wait another 30 days.

The thing is, AIA billing is not complicated once you understand the moving parts. But a lot of contractors, especially those moving from residential into commercial work, treat these forms like a mystery. They copy what the last PM did, hope the numbers match, and cross their fingers that the architect approves it on the first pass.

That approach costs you money. Every rejected pay app, every correction cycle, every late submission means more time between you and your cash. So let’s break this down the way it actually works on a job site, not the way a textbook explains it.

What AIA Billing Actually Is (and Why It Exists)

AIA stands for the American Institute of Architects. Back in the day, every owner, architect, and contractor had their own way of requesting and approving payments. It was a mess. The AIA created a set of standardized contract documents, and the billing forms (G702 and G703) became the go-to format for progress payments on commercial work.

Here is what AIA billing really comes down to: you are showing the owner exactly how much work you have completed, how much you have been paid so far, and how much you are owed right now. That is it. The forms just give everyone a consistent way to present that information so there is no guessing.

On most projects, the billing cycle is monthly. Your contract will specify a cutoff date (say the 25th of each month) and a submission deadline. You fill out your G702 and G703, attach any required backup documentation, and submit the package to the architect for review. The architect certifies the amount, sends it to the owner, and the owner issues payment.

Simple in theory. In practice, there are a dozen ways to mess it up. But before we get into the pitfalls, let’s look at the actual forms.

Breaking Down the G702: Your Application Cover Sheet

The G702, formally called the “Application and Certificate for Payment,” is your summary page. Think of it as the cover letter for your pay application. It is one page, and it tells the story of where the project stands financially.

Here is what you will find on the G702:

Project information at the top: project name, owner, architect, contractor, contract date, and the application number. Every pay app gets a sequential number. Your first billing is Application No. 1, your second is No. 2, and so on. Sounds obvious, but you would be surprised how often these get mixed up on long projects.

The contract sum section is where the money lives. This includes:

• Original contract sum: what you signed the contract for
• Net change by change orders: the total of all approved changes (additions and deductions)
• Contract sum to date: original amount plus or minus changes
• Total completed and stored to date: pulled directly from your G703
• Retainage: the percentage held back from your completed work
• Total earned less retainage: what you have actually earned after the holdback
• Less previous certificates for payment: what you have already been paid
• Current payment due: the bottom line, what the owner owes you this month
• Balance to finish: how much contract value remains

The G702 also has a section for the architect’s certification. The architect reviews your numbers, confirms (or adjusts) the amount, and signs off. Without that signature, you do not get paid.

One thing that trips up newer contractors: the G702 is a summary. All the detail lives on the G703. If your G703 numbers do not tie back to the G702, your application gets rejected. Every time. No exceptions.

For tracking all of these moving pieces, having solid job costing in place makes a real difference. When your costs are organized from the start, filling out pay apps becomes a matter of pulling numbers rather than hunting for them.

The G703 Continuation Sheet: Where the Real Work Happens

The G703 is the backbone of your AIA pay application. This is where you break the project down into individual line items and show exactly how much work has been completed on each one.

Each row on the G703 represents a line item from your schedule of values (SOV). The SOV is basically your contract broken into pieces, and it gets established at the beginning of the project. Common line items include things like:

• General conditions
• Site work and excavation
• Concrete foundations
• Structural steel
• Mechanical rough-in
• Electrical rough-in
• Drywall and framing
• Finish carpentry
• Painting
• Final cleanup

For each line item, the G703 tracks these columns:

1. Item number: sequential reference
2. Description of work: what the line item covers
3. Scheduled value: the dollar amount allocated to this item in the SOV
4. Work completed from previous applications: what was billed in prior months
5. Work completed this period: what you are billing for right now
6. Materials presently stored: materials on site (or off site with proper documentation) that have not been installed yet
7. Total completed and stored to date: columns 4 + 5 + 6
8. Percentage complete: total completed divided by scheduled value
9. Balance to finish: scheduled value minus total completed
10. Retainage: the holdback amount for this line item

The G703 is where most mistakes happen. The math has to be perfect. Every column has to add up. And the grand totals at the bottom of the G703 have to match what is on the G702 exactly. If they do not, you are resubmitting.

This is also where your cost codes pay off. When your SOV line items align with your internal cost coding, you can pull completion percentages from actual job cost data instead of guessing. That means more accurate billing and fewer questions from the architect.

How to Set Up Your Schedule of Values the Right Way

Your schedule of values is the foundation of every pay application you will submit for the life of the project. Getting it right at the beginning saves you headaches for months.

Thousands of contractors have made the switch. See what they have to say.

Here is what experienced GCs know about building an SOV:

Front-load carefully. Every contractor wants to bill as much as possible early in the project. That is just smart cash flow management. But if your SOV is too obviously front-loaded, the architect will push back. The trick is to be strategic without being ridiculous. General conditions, mobilization, and early-phase work items can carry a bit more weight, but they still need to be defensible.

Match your SOV to your subcontractor structure. If you have one mechanical sub, do not split mechanical into fifteen line items unless you need to. On the flip side, if you have a sub handling both plumbing and HVAC, you probably want separate lines so you can bill each trade as work actually gets done.

Include stored materials as a separate consideration. Some owners and architects do not like paying for stored materials. Others are fine with it as long as you provide documentation (invoices, photos, insurance certificates). Know the rules on your specific project before you build your SOV around storing materials.

Keep line items manageable. A 200-line SOV is a nightmare to maintain. A 15-line SOV does not give enough detail. Most commercial projects work well with somewhere between 30 and 60 line items, depending on project size and complexity.

Your SOV also needs to account for change orders as the project progresses. When a change order gets approved, it gets added as a new line item (or modifies an existing one) on the G703. The contract sum on the G702 adjusts accordingly. Keeping change orders organized from day one prevents billing chaos later.

Common Mistakes That Delay Your Payment

After years of watching pay apps get rejected, here are the issues that come up over and over again:

Overbilling. This is the number one reason architects reject pay applications. If you say concrete is 80% complete but the architect visited the site and the forms are not even stripped yet, you have a problem. Bill what you can defend. Period.

Math errors. It sounds basic, but a single column that does not add up will get your entire application kicked back. Double-check your totals. Then check them again. If you are doing this in a spreadsheet, make sure your formulas are right and nothing got accidentally overwritten.

Missing backup documentation. Most projects require supporting documents with your pay app. This can include sub payment requests, material invoices for stored materials, updated project schedules, and lien waivers from subs and suppliers who were paid in the previous cycle. If it is missing, the app comes back.

Late submission. Your contract says the pay app is due on the 25th. If you submit on the 26th, many architects will not process it until the next billing cycle. That is a whole month of waiting because you were one day late. Mark your billing dates on the calendar and treat them like they are written in stone.

Retainage tracking errors. Retainage seems simple at first. Hold back 10% (or whatever the contract says) from each payment. But once you start dealing with partial retainage releases, reduced retainage rates at 50% completion, or different retainage percentages for different scopes, the tracking gets complicated fast.

Not reconciling with your subs. Your pay app to the owner is built from your sub pay apps. If a sub overbills you and you pass that through without catching it, the architect will catch it. Now you are resubmitting and your sub is resubmitting. Use your progress billing process to verify sub requests before rolling them into your application.

Ignoring WIP reports. Your WIP (work in progress) reports should tell you whether you are overbilled or underbilled on each project. If your WIP says you are overbilled and you keep pushing billing higher, you are setting yourself up for a cash flow cliff at the end of the project. Check your WIP before you submit every pay app.

Getting Paid Faster: Tips from the Field

Knowing how to fill out the forms is only half the battle. Here is how experienced contractors actually speed up the payment process:

Build a relationship with the architect’s project manager. The person reviewing your pay app is a human being with a stack of other pay apps on their desk. If they know you, trust your numbers, and can call you with a quick question instead of sending a formal rejection, your apps get processed faster. It is not about cutting corners. It is about making their job easier.

Submit early, not just on time. If the deadline is the 25th, submit on the 20th. This gives the architect time to review, ask questions, and certify before the end of the month. When you submit on the last day, you are already behind.

Pre-walk the job with the architect. Before you submit your billing, walk the site with the architect or their rep. Agree on completion percentages before you put them on paper. This eliminates 90% of the back-and-forth that delays payment.

Use a consistent format every single month. Do not change your SOV line items, column formatting, or file naming conventions from month to month. Consistency makes it easy for the reviewer to compare against last month and spot what changed.

Keep a billing checklist. Every month, use the same checklist: collect sub pay apps, verify percentages, update stored materials, calculate retainage, check math, attach backup, get signatures, submit. When billing becomes a repeatable process, errors drop.

Go digital where you can. Tracking all of this in paper forms or disconnected spreadsheets is a recipe for errors. Having your invoicing and billing connected to your job cost data means the numbers flow from one place instead of being re-entered three times. If you want to see how that works in practice, check out a demo and see how your billing process can run tighter.

Track your payment timeline. Know exactly when you submitted, when the architect certified, and when the owner is supposed to pay. Most contracts specify payment terms (often 30 days from certification). If the owner is late, you need to know it immediately, not when your accountant notices six weeks later.

Stay on top of change order billing. Approved change orders should show up on your very next pay application. Do not let them pile up. Every month a change order sits unapproved or unbilled is a month your cash flow suffers.

Putting It All Together

AIA billing is not glamorous. Nobody got into construction because they love filling out G702 forms. But getting this right is directly tied to getting paid, and getting paid is how you keep your crews working and your business running.

Here is the honest truth: the contractors who bill accurately and on time every single month are the ones who have the best relationships with owners and architects. They get invited back for repeat work. They have fewer disputes. And they spend less time chasing money and more time building things.

The process comes down to a few basic principles:

1. Set up your schedule of values carefully at the start of the project
2. Track actual completion percentages based on real job cost data
3. Reconcile sub billing before you submit your own
4. Double-check every number on the G702 and G703
5. Submit early with complete backup documentation
6. Track retainage and change orders from month one

If you are still managing this process with spreadsheets and paper forms, you are spending more time on billing than you need to. The math does not change, but the tools you use to do that math can save you hours every billing cycle. When your job costing, change order tracking, and invoicing all live in the same system, pulling together a pay app becomes a straightforward process instead of a monthly fire drill.

Want to put this into practice? Book a demo with Projul and see the difference.

AIA billing is just the language of getting paid in commercial construction. Learn it, respect it, and build a process around it. Your cash flow will thank you.