Builder payment schedule template with worked examples

Establish the value and basis

Enter the reviewed agreement value in the yellow cell on Your schedule. Decide what amount that represents and record its tax basis in your supporting information. The stage amounts need to use the same basis so their sum can be meaningfully compared with it.

The example allocates £18,000 across three stages. It does not calculate a tax rate or infer treatment from the work location. Review the actual commercial and tax position before using a value from the worksheet in a customer document.

Keep accepted changes connected to the agreement through your normal process. A proposed extra is not automatically part of the value to allocate. If the agreement changes, review the schedule deliberately rather than adding another stage to a total that no longer matches.

Write a stage that can be recognised

The stage rows ask for a description, payment trigger, evidence or review basis and an owner. Use those fields to explain what makes the stage relevant. "Stage two" alone gives little help to the person preparing the Invoice.

A trigger may depend on a defined agreed activity or commitment. Describe the actual basis established for your project, rather than borrowing a standard phrase whose meaning is unclear. Keep any relevant agreement reference available alongside the worksheet.

Identify how the stage will be checked and who provides that confirmation. A project lead may need to review the defined work before the office takes the next billing action. The worksheet records that responsibility without deciding the technical or contractual requirements itself.

Avoid treating a diary date as proof that a progress stage happened. A planned sequence can change. Confirm the actual trigger through the applicable process before relying on the corresponding billing instruction.

Allocate amounts and read the checks

Enter stage amounts as non-negative pounds in the yellow cells. The cumulative column shows the running allocation, while Unallocated shows the remaining agreement value. A negative figure there indicates that your stages have exceeded the entered value.

The summary separates unallocated value, excess allocation and named stages missing amounts. Check all three. An apparently reasonable subtotal may omit a named row whose amount is still unknown, while a complete set of amounts may simply add to the wrong total.

In the example, £5,000, £6,000 and £7,000 total £18,000, with no unallocated or excess amount. Change one stage to £7,500 and you would allocate £500 more than the agreement value. The sheet flags the difference; it does not authorise a higher bill.

A zero is a known allocation, not a replacement for an unresolved amount. Keep an unknown stage visibly incomplete until the decision is made. Check that every relevant part of the agreement is accounted for without inserting stages merely to fill the six available rows.

Separate Invoice date, due date and receipt

The Invoice date assumption records a date used in planning. Enter the actual agreed calendar-day interval in the next column. The due-date formula adds those days to the entered date; it does not select terms or issue an Invoice.

Expected receipt is a separate editable date. Use it to represent your current expectation of money reaching the account. A due date and a forecast receipt date may differ, and that difference can matter to purchasing or other cash commitments.

Leave dates or intervals blank where they are not established. A computed date based on an invented term would make the schedule look more certain than the agreement. Resolve the missing choice and retain its basis before using it as a commitment.

Keep actual issued documents in the relevant billing record. This workbook can hold an Invoice reference for context, but its example contains planning dates rather than proof that any document was sent.

Follow the worked schedule

The Worked schedule tab uses an illustrative ordering stage of £5,000, a defined intermediate stage of £6,000 and a final defined stage of £7,000. The review descriptions prompt you to identify actual evidence rather than assume the same trigger fits every project.

Its Invoice date assumptions are 5 October, 19 October and 16 November 2026. The example intervals are zero, seven and seven calendar days, producing expected receipt dates of 5 October, 26 October and 23 November.

Those dates map to weeks 1, 4 and 8 in the linked cash check. The example is deliberately simple so the relationship between stages and receipt timing is visible. It does not recommend requesting a particular percentage at any of those points.

Check whether the timing funds the work

The Example cash check starts with £2,000 and forecasts £14,700 cash out over eight weeks. It draws remaining expected stage receipts from the worked schedule, using their dates to place them in the appropriate weeks.

The model finishes with £5,300 but reaches a weekly closing gap of £1,450 before the last receipt. That result shows why adding the instalments correctly is only one part of planning. Money expected later cannot pay an earlier commitment without another arrangement.

Move the intermediate expected receipt later on the worked schedule to inspect the effect. Keep a baseline copy so you can explain what changed. The separate cash-flow template provides a fuller worksheet for reviewing expected outgoings and delayed-receipt scenarios.

Weekly closes can hide a shortfall earlier in the week. Inspect actual payment dates where a supplier bill precedes the expected receipt. Neither the schedule nor cash check grants permission to borrow or changes an agreed payment date.

Record receipts without counting them twice

Received to date records actual cash allocated to that stage. Remaining subtracts it from the stage amount. A negative remaining figure indicates an overpayment or allocation issue to review, rather than silently hiding it with a zero.

If you use the linked cash example after entering a receipt, review opening available cash as well. The model removes received money from future expected receipts, but does not automatically update the starting balance or reconcile a bank account.

Keep the detailed receipt evidence in your normal records. A stage total helps planning but does not explain every payment allocation. Check partial payments and outstanding amounts before asking the customer about another stage.

Review the schedule before sharing

Choose one actual agreement and complete the blank stage descriptions, triggers, evidence and amounts. Resolve the allocation checks, then review the date assumptions against the relevant terms and expected programme.

Discuss proposed changes through the appropriate agreement process. Editing a forecast does not amend customer terms. The useful schedule gives the business and Customer a defined understanding of the stages, while the cash check highlights timing questions still to resolve.