How Do Scaftra's Pay Applications Work?

How do you bill for work in progress without the math drifting from the contract?

Scaftra builds each pay application from the schedule of values against captured field progress, applies retainage by the contract, and certifies it before generating the invoice, so the billing matches the work.

The problem it solves

A construction contract is billed in periodic progress draws as the work is completed. The AIA pay application is the standard way to do it: each period the contractor claims the percentage of each schedule-of-values line earned, retainage is withheld, change orders are accounted for, and an owner or architect certifies before payment. Rebuilt by hand in a spreadsheet each month, the pay app drifts from the contract and invites rejection.

Why it matters

The pay app is where the money meets the work. If its math does not reconcile to the schedule of values, or it bills progress the field did not complete, it gets rejected or overpays and creates a clawback. Getting paid on time depends on a clean, certified pay app every cycle, computed from the contract rather than re-typed.

Common mistakes

How it works

1. Bill against the schedule of values

   Each pay app line references a schedule-of-values line; you can only bill what the contract authorizes.
2. Apply field progress

   Percent complete per line reflects actual field progress, not an estimate.
3. Withhold retainage and apply change orders

   Contract retainage is withheld per line and executed change orders are reflected in the line values.
4. Certify, then invoice

   Certification runs the gate chain and generates the invoice; only on success do the billed-to-date and retainage figures advance.

How Scaftra does it

Scaftra computes the pay application from the schedule of values, copying contract lines into immutable pay app lines and calculating retainage per line. Certification runs a gate chain: a billing-spine reconciliation check, a proof and reconciliation gate, and a lien-release clearance check, then generates the sales invoice first and only on success advances each line's billed-to-date and retainage-held figures. The pay app flips to certified and stores the invoice link as the lineage. Application numbers are sequential per scope section, so one building can be at a different application number than another. Certified pay apps, their lines, and invoice lineage are immutable; a correction reverses the persisted deltas rather than overwriting. This is built and live.

Key capabilities

• Computed from the schedule of values: Each pay app is built from the contract lines, so the math reconciles instead of drifting from a re-typed sheet.
• Gate chain at certification: Reconciliation, proof, and lien-release clearance all run before the invoice is generated.
• Per-section application numbers: Application numbers are sequential per scope section, so multiple buildings bill independently.
• Immutable certified billing: Certified pay apps and their invoice lineage are frozen; corrections are additive reversals, never overwrites.

Benefits

• Pay apps reconcile to the contract every cycle because they are computed, not re-typed.
• Certification cannot proceed past unmet proof, reconciliation, or lien-release requirements.
• Every progress invoice traces to exactly one certified pay app, so there are no orphan invoices.

Who it's for

• Commercial GCs and finish subs.Contractors billing AIA-style progress draws against a schedule of values.
• Controllers and accounting roles.Finance staff who need certified billing to reconcile to the contract and the field.

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