Draw Schedule for an $80,000 Job
Each progress draw
$16,000.00
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 amount80000 $
- Deposit at signing10 %
- Number of progress draws after the deposit4
- Final payment at completion10 %
- Retainage held from each draw0 %
Each progress draw$16,000.00
| Deposit at signing | $8,000.0010% |
|---|---|
| Draw 1 | $16,000.00cumulative $24,000.00, 30% of contract |
| Draw 2 | $16,000.00cumulative $40,000.00, 50% of contract |
| Draw 3 | $16,000.00cumulative $56,000.00, 70% of contract |
| Draw 4 | $16,000.00cumulative $72,000.00, 90% of contract |
| Final payment at completion | $8,000.0010% |
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 | $32,000.00 |
| 3 draws | $21,333.33 |
| 4 draws | $16,000.00 |
| 5 draws | $12,800.00 |
| 6 draws | $10,666.67 |
What else matters here
Eighty thousand gives $8,000 at signing, four draws of $16,000 and $8,000 at completion. Five draws brings each to $12,800.
A change order is not a draw and must never be folded into one. The habit of adding an approved extra onto the next progress payment feels tidy and it destroys the one thing the schedule was built to give you, which is a payment whose amount nobody has to think about. A draw the customer expected to be $16,000 that arrives at $21,400 gets read, questioned, and held, and the original $16,000 sits unpaid while the argument is about the extra.
Bill the change order on its own document, at the point it is approved, with its own payment term. Signed before the work, invoiced separately, paid separately. The progress draw stays the number in the contract for the whole job, which means it can be paid without a discussion, and the extras get discussed on their own timeline where a delay costs you a few hundred dollars rather than blocking the whole schedule.
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 an $80,000 job?
A 10 percent deposit of $8,000, four progress draws of $16,000 each, and an $8,000 final payment at completion.
Should change orders be added to the next draw?
No. Bill each approved change order separately with its own payment term. Adding it to a progress draw changes an amount the customer already agreed to, which invites a review of the whole payment and holds up money that was not in dispute.
Should draws be on dates or on milestones?
Milestones you can point at. On completion of rough in inspection is collectable because either the inspection happened or it did not. On 15 October is an argument, because the customer will say the work is not where it should be and they will sometimes be right.
The payment schedule calculator takes any dimensions you like and hands back the same list.