G703 doesn’t match the G702? Here’s how to find the error
The short answer: the total of Column G on the G703 and Line 4 on the G702 are the same number by definition, so when they disagree, one of them is wrong and the payment amount cannot be trusted. In practice the difference is almost never spread across the document. It is one bad cell, and the arithmetic tells you which one. Below are the seven causes, in the order they actually occur, each with the check that isolates it.
Start by measuring the gap
Before hunting, write down the difference: Line 4 − total of Column G. That number is a fingerprint. If it equals one line’s value exactly, a row is missing or double-counted. If it is a round percentage of the total, suspect retainage. If it is small and odd, a few dollars across a long sheet, it is rounding. If it is a neat digit swap (900 rather than 90, or 1,200 rather than 2,100), it is a transcription error. Knowing the shape of the gap often skips straight to the cause.
1. A page of the continuation sheet is missing
The most common cause is the most boring one. A G703 runs to several pages, grand totals print only on the last one, and somebody scans or forwards a subset. The gap equals the sum of the missing rows. Check: count the line items you can see and compare against the item numbers. If the sheet jumps from item 14 to item 22, you are missing a page, not looking at an error.
2. A row where G doesn’t equal D + E + F
Every line must satisfy G = D + E + F. In a spreadsheet this breaks when somebody types a number over a formula: the cell looks right and no longer computes. Check: recompute D + E + F per row and compare against the printed G. The row where the difference equals your gap is the culprit. This is also the cheapest check to automate, which is why it is the first rule PayAppCheck runs.
3. The column totals don’t equal the sum of the rows
Distinct from the above: each line can be internally correct while the printed total is stale, because a line was inserted after the total range was set. Check: add Column G down yourself. If your sum matches Line 4 but not the printed column total, the sheet’s total is wrong and the certificate is right, which is the one case where the G702 is the trustworthy document.
4. Retainage taken on the wrong base
Retainage does not come off the contract sum. Line 5a is the rate applied to completed work (D + E) and Line 5b the rate applied to stored material (F), and Line 5 is their sum. The frequent error is applying the rate to Line 4 as a whole when the contract retains at a different rate on stored materials, or continuing to retain after the contract reduced retainage. Check: if your gap is close to 5% or 10% of a subtotal, this is almost certainly it. Note this affects Line 6 and the payment, not the Column G tie, so it produces a document that ties on Line 4 and still pays the wrong amount. See how retainage is calculated for the full chain.
5. Column D doesn’t match last month’s application
Column D is previous work, so this period’s D must equal the prior period’s D + E, line by line. When it doesn’t, either the prior application was revised after the fact or work has been quietly shifted between lines: front-loading, where the early line items bill faster than they are earned. Check: put the two continuation sheets side by side and compare Column D against last month’s D + E. The same rule applies on the certificate: Line 7 must equal the prior application’s Line 6.
6. Stored materials counted twice
Column F is material on site but not yet installed, and it is explicitly not already in D or E. When last month’s stored material gets installed, it has to move out of F and into E. If it is added to E while remaining in F, the line inflates by exactly the stored amount. Check: compare F across periods. A line whose F never falls while E rises is double-counting, and the gap will equal that F.
7. Change orders missing from Line 2
A change order changes the contract, so it has to appear in two places: as a line (or an adjustment to one) on the G703, and in the change-order summary that nets into Line 2. Miss the second and Σ Column C no longer equals Line 3 (Line 1 + Line 2). Check: add Column C down and compare to Line 3. This one shows up as a scheduled-value mismatch rather than a Column G mismatch, and it is the reason to check both totals rather than only the famous one.
8. Rounding drift
Percentages are stored at full precision and printed rounded, so a long sheet can be off by a few dollars with no error anywhere. Check: if the gap is under about a dollar per line item and no single row explains it, it is drift, not a mistake. Most receivers accept a tolerance of about a dollar; anything larger deserves a real answer.
Why the bad cell can always be found
A pay application carries the same figures more than once: down the columns, across each row, and again on the certificate. That redundancy is what makes the document diagnosable rather than merely checkable. A single wrong number breaks a predictable set of identities, and the pattern of which ones broke points at the cell: a row failing only G = D + E + F is a bad cell in that row, while every row passing but the total failing is a bad total.
This is also why extraction alone isn’t enough. A tool that converts the document and hands you numbers has no way to know whether it misread a digit. Recomputing every identity means a misread announces itself, because the arithmetic stops tying, and that is the difference between a converter and a checker. The full pre-certification sequence is in the review checklist, and why pay applications get rejected covers what happens when these go unnoticed.
Questions people ask
Neither is automatically right. The G703 is the detail and the G702 is the summary, so the usual assumption is that the detail is correct and the summary is stale. But the opposite happens whenever a line is inserted without extending the total range, in which case the rows are right, the printed column total is wrong, and the certificate matches the true sum. Add Column G down yourself; whichever number your sum agrees with is the reliable one.
Around a dollar, and only as rounding. Percentages are held at full precision and printed rounded, so a long schedule of values can drift a few dollars with nothing actually wrong. A gap larger than roughly a dollar per line item is not rounding and should be explained before you certify.
Yes, and this is the trap. The Column G to Line 4 tie only proves the two forms agree with each other. Retainage taken at the wrong rate, a Column D that does not carry forward from last month, or work billed beyond a line’s scheduled value all produce a document that ties and still pays the wrong amount. Check the carry-forward and the retainage bases separately.
The arithmetic often recovers it. Because every number appears in more than one relationship, an unreadable cell can be derived from the ones around it. A missing G is D plus E plus F, and a missing line total is the column total less the other rows. If two figures in the same relationship are both unreadable, ask for a clean copy.
By hand, effectively yes, which is why it often is not done. The checks are mechanical rather than judgemental: recompute each row, sum each column, compare against the certificate and against last month. That is exactly the kind of work worth automating. PayAppCheck runs all of them on an uploaded document and flags only the cells that fail.
Upload the pay application and every identity above is recomputed from the extracted numbers: per-line, per-column, across both forms, and against last month, with the gap traced to the exact cell.
Try PayAppCheck freeNo card required. The free tier is the trial.PayAppCheck is software, not a law or accounting firm. Not legal, accounting or tax advice. Verify lien, notarization, and retainage requirements against your contract, your state statute, and your accountant.