How to fill out a G702 and G703: line by line (with stored materials)
Whoever is asking to be paid fills out both forms each billing period, the G703 first. Each G703 row runs from Column A to I, with G = D + E + F and H = C − G. The G702 then takes the totals: Line 4 is the sum of Column G, Line 5 is retainage, and Line 8 is the payment due.
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Type your G703 lines, check the math, download the PDF. Next month carries over. No account.
Who fills out each form, and when
The party asking to be paid fills out both. A subcontractor fills them out for its application to the general contractor, and the general contractor fills out its own set for the owner, with the subcontractors’ work inside its schedule of values. The receiver fills in nothing except the certification: the architect, or the GC’s reviewer, certifies the amount it agrees to pay, which can be less than the amount you applied for.
One application covers one billing period, set by the contract; on most jobs it is a calendar month. Measure the work as of the period end date in the header, and fill in the G703 first: Lines 4 and 5 of the G702 come from its column totals, so the certificate cannot be finished before the continuation sheet. The schedule of values, Columns A to C, is agreed with whoever pays you before the first application. After that it changes only by change order.
The G702 and G703 are AIA contract documents. The forms PayAppCheck makes are styled after AIA G702/G703, with the same columns, lines and arithmetic, and PayAppCheck is not affiliated with the AIA. If your contract calls for the official forms, buy them from AIA Contract Documents; the steps below apply to either.
The G703, column by column
One row per item on the schedule of values. A, B and C are typed once and stay put, D comes from last month, E and F are this month’s figures, and G, the percent and H are arithmetic you can check.
| Column | What goes in it | Rule |
|---|---|---|
| A · Item number | The item’s number on the schedule of values, or a CSI MasterFormat code | Same every month |
| B · Description of work | The work package, worded as on the approved schedule of values | Same every month |
| C · Scheduled value | This item’s dollar share of the contract | Sum of C = Line 3 |
| D · From previous application | Work completed on all earlier applications | Last month’s D + E; 0 on the first |
| E · This period | Work installed during this period, in dollars | Typed each period |
| F · Materials presently stored | Delivered and stored, not yet installed, not in D or E | Typed each period |
| G · Completed and stored to date | Everything billed on the item so far | G = D + E + F |
| % (no letter) | Percent complete | G ÷ C |
| H · Balance to finish | What is left to bill on the item | H = C − G |
| I · Retainage | Only where the contract sets retainage item by item | Sum of I = Line 5; blank otherwise |
Two things trip people up. The percent column carries no letter on the AIA form, so H is the balance to finish. Many vendor forms letter the percent column H and shift the rest along, so read the heading above a column, not its letter. And Column E is dollars, not a percentage: if an item with nothing stored is 40% done, G is 40% of C and E is G minus D.
The G702, line by line
The certificate is nine lines of money. You type Lines 1, 2 and 7 and the retainage rate; every other line comes from those and from the G703 totals.
| Line | What it is | How you get it |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Original contract sum | From the contract; it never changes |
| 2 | Net change by change orders | Approved change orders only: additions minus deductions |
| 3 | Contract sum to date | Line 1 + Line 2, equal to the sum of Column C |
| 4 | Total completed and stored to date | The sum of Column G |
| 5a | Retainage on completed work | Rate × (D + E), on the column totals |
| 5b | Retainage on stored material | Rate × F, on the column total |
| 5 | Total retainage | 5a + 5b |
| 6 | Total earned less retainage | Line 4 − Line 5 |
| 7 | Less previous certificates for payment | Last application’s Line 6; 0 on the first |
| 8 | Current payment due | Line 6 − Line 7 |
| 9 | Balance to finish, including retainage | Line 3 − Line 6 |
Line 8 is the check you are asking for. Line 7 is the line people get wrong: it is the previous application’s Line 6, everything certified so far net of retainage, not last month’s Line 8, which would leave out every payment before it. The rate comes from the contract, commonly 5% or 10%, and the 5a base is cumulative: D plus E across the whole schedule, not this period’s E alone. More on the two bases is in how retainage is calculated.
Stored materials: how they move from F into E
Column F is material delivered and stored for the job but not yet built into it: pipe on a pallet, fixtures in a locked container. Bill it in F in the period it arrives, if your contract pays for stored material, and keep the backup the receiver will ask for, such as the supplier invoice and the delivery ticket.
In the period you install it, move it. Take the installed amount out of F and put it into E, along with the labor to install it. Material still in storage stays in F next month. It does not roll into D, because D is work completed in earlier periods and stored material is not completed work. Paying for it does not reduce F either: F falls only when the material goes in.
Get this wrong and the material is billed twice: E rises by the installed amount while F stays where it was, so G jumps by money you already billed last month. One test catches it on any item with stored material: the new value billed this month equals E plus the change in F. Installing material you already billed adds only the labor. What this does to Line 5b is in retainage on stored materials.
A worked example: three items, two months
A $120,000 plumbing subcontract with three items, no change orders, and 10% retainage on completed work and on stored material. In month 1 the underground is mostly in, rough-in has started, and $12,000 of fixtures has been delivered and stored.
| A, B · Item | C · Sched. | D · Prev. | E · This | F · Stored | G · To date | % | H · Balance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 · Underground plumbing | 30,000 | 0 | 24,000 | 0 | 24,000 | 80% | 6,000 |
| 2 · Rough-in plumbing | 50,000 | 0 | 10,000 | 0 | 10,000 | 20% | 40,000 |
| 3 · Fixtures and trim | 40,000 | 0 | 0 | 12,000 | 12,000 | 30% | 28,000 |
| Totals | 120,000 | 0 | 34,000 | 12,000 | 46,000 | 38.3% | 74,000 |
Read item 3: nothing installed yet, so D and E are 0 and the fixtures sit in F. That gives 0 + 0 + 12,000 = 12,000 for G, 12,000 ÷ 40,000 = 30% complete, and 40,000 − 12,000 = 28,000 left to finish. Column C sums to 120,000, which is Line 3. Column G sums to 46,000, which is Line 4.
How next month starts
Start month 2 from month 1, never from a blank form:
- Column D is last month’s D + E on every item. Item 1: 0 + 24,000 = 24,000. Item 2: 0 + 10,000 = 10,000. Item 3: 0 + 0 = 0.
- Column E clears, and you type this period’s work.
- Column F keeps what is still stored. Material installed this month leaves F.
- Line 7 is last month’s Line 6, here 41,400, and the application number goes up by one.
In month 2 the underground finishes, rough-in moves on, and 8,000 of the 12,000 in stored fixtures is set, with 2,000 of labor to set them. Item 3’s E is 10,000, the 8,000 out of storage plus the 2,000 of labor, and its F drops to the 4,000 still in the container.
| A, B · Item | C · Sched. | D · Prev. | E · This | F · Stored | G · To date | % | H · Balance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 · Underground plumbing | 30,000 | 24,000 | 6,000 | 0 | 30,000 | 100% | 0 |
| 2 · Rough-in plumbing | 50,000 | 10,000 | 25,000 | 0 | 35,000 | 70% | 15,000 |
| 3 · Fixtures and trim | 40,000 | 0 | 10,000 | 4,000 | 14,000 | 35% | 26,000 |
| Totals | 120,000 | 34,000 | 41,000 | 4,000 | 79,000 | 65.8% | 41,000 |
Item 3’s G rose by 2,000, not 10,000: the 8,000 of fixtures was billed last month as stored, and installing it only moved it from F to E. Column D totals 34,000, the D + E total from month 1. Both certificates, side by side:
| G702 line | Month 1 | Month 2 | Where it comes from |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 · Original contract sum | 120,000 | 120,000 | The contract |
| 2 · Net change by change orders | 0 | 0 | None approved |
| 3 · Contract sum to date | 120,000 | 120,000 | Line 1 + Line 2 |
| 4 · Completed and stored to date | 46,000 | 79,000 | Sum of Column G |
| 5a · Retainage, completed work | 3,400 | 7,500 | 10% × (D + E): 34,000, then 75,000 |
| 5b · Retainage, stored material | 1,200 | 400 | 10% × F: 12,000, then 4,000 |
| 5 · Total retainage | 4,600 | 7,900 | 5a + 5b |
| 6 · Earned less retainage | 41,400 | 71,100 | Line 4 − Line 5 |
| 7 · Less previous certificates | 0 | 41,400 | Last month’s Line 6 |
| 8 · Current payment due | 41,400 | 29,700 | Line 6 − Line 7 |
| 9 · Balance to finish, with retainage | 78,600 | 48,900 | Line 3 − Line 6 |
Two proofs that month 2 ties. Line 9, 48,900, equals the Column H total of 41,000 plus the 7,900 held in retainage. And Line 8, 29,700, is 90% of the new value billed this month: Column E of 41,000 plus the change in Column F, 4,000 − 12,000 = −8,000, gives 33,000, and 90% of 33,000 is 29,700.
The mistakes that get a pay app sent back
- A carry-forward that does not match. Column D is not last month’s D + E, or Line 7 is not last month’s Line 6. The receiver has your last application open beside this one.
- A number typed over a formula, so an item’s G is no longer D + E + F, or the sum of Column G no longer equals Line 4.
- Stored material billed twice: left in F after it was installed and billed in E.
- An item over 100%, so H goes negative. Extra scope needs an approved change order on Line 2 and the schedule of values, not a bigger E.
- Retainage on the wrong base: 5a taken on this period’s E instead of D + E, or 5b left off.
- A change order on Line 2 that is not approved yet.
Each one is arithmetic the receiver recomputes before certifying. The full list, with how a reviewer spots each one and the paperwork gaps that bounce an application with perfect math, is in why pay applications get rejected.
Fill it out without a spreadsheet
The free G702/G703 builder does all of the above in your browser. Type your schedule of values once, then each month only Columns E and F. G, the percent, H and Lines 3 to 9 calculate themselves, and the check runs the same identities a receiver runs, showing each one that fails with the figure it should be. Download the G702/G703 as a PDF or an Excel file. Next month, press Start next month: each item’s D + E becomes its new Column D and this Line 6 becomes Line 7. No account needed.
Rather work in a spreadsheet? The free G702/G703 Excel template has the same columns and lines wired up as formulas, built for Excel and Google Sheets with no macros. Rather fill it in by hand? Print the blank G702/G703 PDF.
Fill out this month's G702/G703 free and download the PDF.
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