Retainage and Progress Billing Calculator
Figure this period's progress payment from percent complete, subtract retainage and previous payments, and see what's held and still owed.
Obra keeps the agreed price, cash collected, and what's left to collect current on every project — so the next draw is a number you already have.
Start freeHow it works
A progress payment pays you for the share of the job you've completed so far, minus what the client holds back and minus what they've already paid. The contract sum to date is the original contract plus every approved change order; the work completed to date is that sum times the percent complete (or the dollar value of finished work, if you track it that way).
earned = completed × (1 − retainage) · due = earned − previous payments
Retainage is the percentage of each payment the client keeps until the job is substantially complete — commonly 5% or 10% on commercial work, sometimes stepping down once the job passes the halfway mark. It's your money; it just arrives last. The balance to finish is what remains on the contract sum, including the retainage that will be released at the end.
If previous payments exceed what's been earned, the job has been overbilled — the tool says so instead of showing a negative payment. It happens when percent complete was optimistic on an earlier draw; the fix is an honest number this period, not a creative one.
Questions
01 What is retainage? +
02 How do I calculate retainage on a progress payment? +
03 When is retainage released? +
04 What if I was overpaid on the last draw? +
Not ready for an app? Start with our free Excel template.
A ready-made spreadsheet to track costs and income per project — with categories and the totals already set up.