Draw Schedule for a $30,000 Job
Each progress draw
$6,000.00
10% deposit at signing, four equal progress draws, 10% final payment at completion, no retainage held.
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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 amount30000 $
- Deposit at signing10 %
- Number of progress draws after the deposit4
- Final payment at completion10 %
- Retainage held from each draw0 %
Each progress draw$6,000.00
| Deposit at signing | $3,000.0010% |
|---|---|
| Draw 1 | $6,000.00cumulative $9,000.00, 30% of contract |
| Draw 2 | $6,000.00cumulative $15,000.00, 50% of contract |
| Draw 3 | $6,000.00cumulative $21,000.00, 70% of contract |
| Draw 4 | $6,000.00cumulative $27,000.00, 90% of contract |
| Final payment at completion | $3,000.0010% |
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 | $12,000.00 |
| 3 draws | $8,000.00 |
| 4 draws | $6,000.00 |
| 5 draws | $4,800.00 |
| 6 draws | $4,000.00 |
What else matters here
Three thousand at signing, four draws of $6,000, three thousand at completion. Five draws brings each one down to $4,800.
Even draws assume the spending is even, and on a material heavy job it is not. If $18,000 of a $30,000 contract is one cabinet or window order that has to be paid before it ships, an even schedule has you funding more than half the contract out of your own account in week one and collecting it back over two months.
Shape the deposit and the first draw around the supplier, not around the arithmetic. Find out the supplier's terms before you write the schedule: a deposit sized to the order, or a first draw triggered by material delivered to site, or a direct payment arrangement where the customer pays the supplier and the contract value drops by the same amount. Any of those is better than discovering in week one that your evenly divided schedule was designed for a job with an even cost curve.
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 $30,000 job?
A 10 percent deposit of $3,000, four progress draws of $6,000 each, and a $3,000 final payment at completion.
What if most of the cost is one material order?
Then the schedule should not be even. Size the deposit to the order, or make material delivered to site a draw trigger, so that the payment arrives around the same time the supplier has to be paid rather than a month later.
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.