Construction money, explained
Schedule of values
A schedule of values (SOV) is a detailed breakdown of a construction contract sum into individual line items of work, each with its own dollar value, so that progress can be measured and billed item by item as the job advances.
Updated June 2026
What is a schedule of values?
A schedule of values divides the total contract price into portions of the work — for example mobilization, sitework, foundation, framing, electrical, plumbing, finishes, and so on — and assigns each a dollar amount. The sum of all line items equals the contract sum. It is the backbone of progress billing: you bill against the SOV by reporting how complete each line is.
The contractor prepares the SOV at the start of a job, and the owner or architect reviews and approves it. Once accepted, it becomes the agreed yardstick for every pay application. A well-built SOV has enough line items to measure progress fairly but not so many that billing becomes a chore.
How do you build a schedule of values?
Start from your estimate and group costs into meaningful line items that follow the natural sequence of the work. Each line gets a scheduled value that includes its share of labor, material, equipment, overhead, and profit, so that billing a line to 100% collects everything that line is supposed to earn.
Avoid two traps. Don't lump too much into one line — a giant 'general construction' line is hard to bill fairly and invites disputes. And resist front-loading, where early line items are padded to pull cash forward; architects and lenders scrutinize for it and it can stall your pay applications.
On AIA-style jobs the schedule of values lives on the G703 continuation sheet, which lists each line item's scheduled value, work completed previously, work this period, materials stored, total to date, percent complete, balance to finish, and retainage.
How is the schedule of values used in billing?
Each billing period you update the percent complete (or dollar amount) for every line. The form totals the work completed to date, subtracts retainage and prior payments, and produces the current amount due. The total of the SOV must reconcile to the contract sum, and the total completed-and-stored on the detail must match the summary — that reconciliation is what gets the pay app certified.
Simple Contractor CRM keeps this connected: your line-item estimate, with its built-in margin, is the same structure you carry into the contract and bill against as draws. That means the values you priced are the values you bill, instead of rebuilding a separate schedule by hand in a spreadsheet.
Worked example
Imagine a $100,000 contract with five SOV lines: sitework $15,000, foundation $20,000, framing $25,000, mechanicals $25,000, and finishes $15,000. In the first billing period sitework is 100% done and foundation is 50% done.
Earned to date is $15,000 (sitework) plus $10,000 (half the foundation), or $25,000 — exactly 25% of the contract. Apply 10% retainage and you bill $22,500 this period. Every later pay application updates the same five lines and reconciles back to the $100,000 total.
Frequently asked
- Who prepares the schedule of values?
- The contractor prepares it, usually from the estimate, and submits it to the owner or architect for review and approval before billing begins.
- How detailed should an SOV be?
- Detailed enough to measure progress fairly and satisfy the owner or lender, but not so granular that updating it each period becomes unmanageable. Follow the natural phases of the work.
- What is front-loading a schedule of values?
- Padding early line items so you collect more cash up front than the work warrants. It's discouraged and frequently caught, and it can delay certification of your pay applications.
- Is the schedule of values the same as the G703?
- The G703 is the AIA continuation sheet that presents the schedule of values in a standardized billing format. The SOV is the underlying breakdown; the G703 is the form it lives on.
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