AIA G702 and G703: how to bill a large project without stalling payment

When the project grows, the way you bill changes. Commercial contracts, large general contractors and public agencies almost always require the AIA billing standard: the G702 and G703 forms. Those who know how to fill them out get paid on time. Those who do not lose the contract or get their payment stalled.

AIA billing is the standard created by the American Institute of Architects to request payment on a project. Two forms go together: the G702 summarizes, the G703 details.

What the G702 and G703 are

G702	The cover sheet. It shows the total contract amount, what has already been paid, the retainage and how much is being requested now.
G703	The detail. It breaks the project into line items, each with the scheduled value, what has been done so far, the work done in the period and stored materials.

Schedule of Values: the base of everything

The G703 comes from the Schedule of Values, which is the project divided into work line items, each with its own value. The sum of all the lines is the contract amount. This map is what justifies each payment request. A well-built schedule is what makes billing flow.

Retainage: the money that is held back

Retainage is the slice of each payment that the client holds until the project is finished. It is usually 5% to 10% of the completed work and stored materials. In the AIA, you apply it line by line on the G703 and total it on Line 5 of the G702, which separates 5a, the completed work, and 5b, the stored materials.

The mathematical handshake happens on Line 4 of the G702: the total completed and stored to date must match exactly the total of column G on the G703. If it does not match, the application is rejected.

The details almost nobody tells you

Stored materials count. You can bill for materials purchased and stored for the project, even before installing them, if the contract allows it. This improves your cash flow.
The order of the Schedule of Values matters. Distributing the value well across the phases helps your cash flow at the start of the project. Do it with judgment: the value must reflect real work, otherwise it becomes an audit problem.
Notarization when the contract requires it. Many G702 forms need to be notarized. Forgetting this is a common cause of administrative delay.
Always attach the G703. The G702 does not stand on its own. Without the detail of the G703, the invoice comes back.

The mistakes that stall payment

Numbers that do not match. If the G703 does not reconcile with the G702, instant rejection.
Wrong retainage. Applied outside the contract percentage, it comes back for correction.
Missing signature or notarization. Small detail, big delay.
Vague schedule. A line item that is too generic gives the client room to question every request.

The forms and the rules can vary by contract and by state. Confirm what your contract requires before sending the first application.

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