Creating G702/G703 pay applications

Pay applications are how money gets out of an owner's pocket and into yours. Buildra generates AIA-style G702 (continuation sheet summary) and G703 (schedule of values detail) pay apps from your budget and schedule of values, without retyping a single line.

Prerequisites

Before creating your first pay application:

• The project budget must be locked (see Building a budget with cost codes).
• You need a schedule of values. Buildra generates one from your budget by default; review it under /projects/<id>/pay-applications → Schedule of Values.
• The owner contract should be configured with the retainage percentage (typically 10%) and the payment terms (Net 30, Net 15, etc.).

Creating a pay application

1. Go to /projects/<id>/pay-applications.
2. Click New pay app. Buildra creates pay app #1 (or the next sequential number).
3. For each schedule of values line, enter the percent complete or the dollar amount completed this period.
4. Add stored materials (materials purchased but not yet installed) as a separate line.
5. Buildra calculates retainage, prior payments, current payment due, and totals automatically.
6. Click Generate G702/G703. The PDF is rendered and ready to email.
7. Send to the owner (and architect, if required for sign-off).

Tip: Save percent-complete amounts as you go, not at end of month. The mid-month save means your forecast (under /projects/<id>/forecast) is always current.

Stored materials

Stored materials are billable, but they are tracked separately from installed work. Add them in the Stored materials tab of the pay app. Buildra moves them out of stored and into completed work automatically once the matching line item shows installation.

Retainage

Retainage is the percent the owner withholds until completion. Buildra computes it per line and tracks the cumulative retainage balance. At substantial completion you generate a retainage release pay app that draws down the held balance.

Architect review

If your contract requires architect sign-off (most commercial contracts), the architect receives the pay app email with a review link. They can approve, partially approve, or return it for revision. Approval populates the architect signature block on the G702.

Owner payment tracking

When the owner pays, log the payment under the pay app's Payments tab. If you have Stripe Connect enabled, the owner can pay online and the payment lands here automatically.

QuickBooks sync

Each pay app creates an invoice in QuickBooks (if QBO is connected). Payments logged in Buildra sync as payments in QBO. The sync is bidirectional: if your bookkeeper records a payment in QBO, it appears here within minutes.

Closing out

The final pay app is generally a retainage release. Click Final pay app, confirm the retainage release amount, and Buildra marks the contract as fully billed.

Common mistakes

• Over-billing. Billing more than physically complete creates a snapback in the next period. The forecast page flags this in red.
• Missing stored materials. If you bought $40K of windows in month 2 but they install in month 4, log them as stored. Otherwise, your cash flow shows a hole.
• Skipping change orders on the SOV. Approved change orders should appear as line items on the schedule of values. Buildra auto-appends them.