Set up billing schedules

Create a contract on a project, choose its billing type, and populate either a Schedule of Values or a list of Billing Stages so you can claim against it.

When to use this

After a project is created and the estimate is approved, before any claim can be raised. This is a one-time setup per contract — once a Main contract is Approved, structural changes go through a Variation rather than an edit.

Prerequisites

  • Project Financials installed and configured — see Install & configure
  • An active project with the correct Billing Type set on the project record
  • An approved estimate on the project (for Progress billing with a Default Schedule of Values) — or the list of stages / line items ready to enter manually
  • Permission to create contracts on the project

Walkthrough

Walkthrough coming

A step-by-step Scribe walkthrough for this task is being recorded. Track its status in the Scribe register (internal).

  1. Open the project record.
  2. On the Project Financials subtab, click Create Contract.
  3. The contract form opens with header fields pre-populated from the project — confirm the Billing Type matches the contract. The billing type drives which structure (Billing Stages or Schedule of Values) you'll populate below.
  4. Build the billing structure:
    • Stage billing — enter each milestone as a Billing Stage row with a description, percentage and expected date. Stage percentages must add to 100%.
    • Progress billing — Default SoV — confirm the auto-generated Schedule of Values that mirrors the approved estimate's line items.
    • Progress billing — Custom SoV — add SoV rows manually, each with a description, value, and (optionally) a quantity and unit.
    • T&M, Drawdown, Capital — there's no upfront billing schedule; you'll claim directly off transactions or the capitalisation worksheet when the time comes.
  5. Save. The contract is created in Draft status.
  6. Submit the contract for approval when it's ready. Once Approved, the contract is locked from edit.

What success looks like

  • A Contract record on the project in Draft status, with the Billing Type and contract amount populated.
  • The project's Contracts sublist shows the new contract.
  • For Stage billing — the Billing Stages sublist totals to 100%.
  • For Progress billing — the Schedule of Values sublist totals to the contract amount.
  • Once submitted and approved, the contract status moves to Approved and the Create Claim action becomes available.

Gotchas

  • Billing Stages must total 100%. Save will reject otherwise — the running total is visible at the bottom of the stages sublist.
  • Default vs Custom SoV. Default auto-syncs from the linked estimate — edit the estimate to change the SoV. Custom is hand-edited and ignores the estimate. You pick this once at contract creation; switching later is not supported.
  • Changing the project's billing type after a contract exists does NOT retro-update the contract. The contract holds its own billing type snapshot. If you've created the contract under the wrong billing type, cancel it and start again rather than editing the project setting.
  • Approved contracts are locked. You cannot edit an approved contract directly in the UI. Any change of scope or value goes through a Variation.
  • A SoV line cannot be deleted (or its value reduced below the claimed-to-date amount) once claims have been raised against it. The system blocks this to prevent retroactive over-billing.
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