Draw Schedule for a $120,000 Job
Each progress draw
$24,000.00
10% deposit at signing, four equal progress draws, 10% final payment at completion, no retainage held.
When the figures look right, the payment schedule downloads as a real PDF with your business details on it, built inside your own browser. Nothing you type is uploaded anywhere.
How that number is worked out
These are the figures this page was built with and every line the calculator produces from them. Change anything above and all of it moves.
- Contract amount120000 $
- Deposit at signing10 %
- Number of progress draws after the deposit4
- Final payment at completion10 %
- Retainage held from each draw0 %
Each progress draw$24,000.00
| Deposit at signing | $12,000.0010% |
|---|---|
| Draw 1 | $24,000.00cumulative $36,000.00, 30% of contract |
| Draw 2 | $24,000.00cumulative $60,000.00, 50% of contract |
| Draw 3 | $24,000.00cumulative $84,000.00, 70% of contract |
| Draw 4 | $24,000.00cumulative $108,000.00, 90% of contract |
| Final payment at completion | $12,000.0010% |
The draw schedule this produces
| Deposit at signing | 1 |
|---|---|
| Progress draw 1 | 1 |
| Progress draw 2 | 1 |
| Progress draw 3 | 1 |
| Progress draw 4 | 1 |
| Final payment at completion | 1 |
Number of progress draws compared
More draws means smaller amounts more often, which is usually easier to collect and always easier to survive.
| Number of progress draws | Each progress draw |
|---|---|
| 2 draws | $48,000.00 |
| 3 draws | $32,000.00 |
| 4 draws | $24,000.00 |
| 5 draws | $19,200.00 |
| 6 draws | $16,000.00 |
What else matters here
Twelve thousand at signing, four draws of $24,000, twelve thousand at completion. At six draws each one is $16,000.
A $12,000 deposit lands in the account before a single hour has been worked, and that is exactly what makes it dangerous. It is not income. It is money owed in the form of work you have promised to perform, and it belongs to this job until the material it was collected for has been bought.
The way contractors go under while busy is almost always this: the deposit on the new job pays last month's payroll on the old one, so every job is funded by the next one and the sequence only has to break once. If you cannot start a job without the deposit from the one after it, the business is already insolvent and the calendar is the only thing hiding it. Keep deposits and draws attributable to their job, and if the balance for a job is spent before the job starts, that is the signal, not a cash flow wobble.
What this calculator assumes
- Several states cap the deposit a residential contractor may take, some at 10 percent and some at a flat dollar figure. Check your own state before you write a bigger number here.
- Draws should follow milestones you can point at, not dates. "On completion of rough in inspection" is collectable. "On 15 October" is an argument.
- A final payment under 10 percent gives the customer no reason to sign off, and one over 20 leaves you funding their job.
Questions people ask
What is a normal draw schedule for a $120,000 job?
A 10 percent deposit of $12,000, four progress draws of $24,000 each, and a $12,000 final payment at completion. Six draws of $16,000 suits a longer build better.
Is a deposit income?
No. It is unearned until the work is done, and on many jobs it is legally the customer's money until the material is bought. Using a new deposit to cover costs on a previous job is the most common way a busy contractor becomes insolvent without noticing.
Is a 10 percent deposit allowed?
Usually, but several states cap what a residential contractor may take up front, some at 10 percent and some at a flat dollar figure. Check your own state before writing a bigger number, because an over the cap deposit can be a license issue rather than just a contract dispute.
The payment schedule calculator takes any dimensions you like and hands back the same list.