Schedule of Values Template: Columns, Billing Example, and 6 Costly Mistakes

A schedule of values template divides a construction contract’s value into clear portions of work. It gives the project team a basis for reviewing progress billing. Each line needs a defined scope, a scheduled value, and a traceable record of the amounts claimed over time.

This guide provides a blank structure, a filled payment-period example, and checks for totals, stored materials, and changes. It also explains how to keep the schedule consistent without confusing contract value, internal cost, and cash received.

What does a schedule of values do?

A schedule of values, often called an SOV, allocates the contract amount across work items. Those items may follow trades, work packages, or another accepted breakdown. The total must match the relevant contract value under the project’s process.

Procore’s schedule of values overview explains its role in progress payments and project records. In practice, use the breakdown and format your contract requires. A useful internal workbook may still need a different submission form.

The scheduled value is a share of the contract price, not necessarily the contractor’s actual cost. Also, keep internal job costs in a linked cost record. Otherwise, staff may confuse a billing allocation with a margin or budget report.

Also, keep a payment application separate from cash collection. A claimed amount, a certified or approved amount, and money received are different stages. The schedule can support those records without making them the same measure.

A blank schedule of values construction template

Start with project identity, contract reference, payment period, and version. Then give each work portion a stable line ID. In practice, use the columns below as a planning structure and align the final form with the project’s requirements.

The table is an original worksheet structure, not a reproduction of a licensed contract form. If the project requires a named form, use that authorized form and its instructions. However, do not label a generic spreadsheet as the official document.

The AIA G703 continuation-sheet instructions explain how that particular form handles completed work, presently stored materials, and balances. Next, check those instructions when that form applies. Other project forms can use different layouts.

Choose work lines that reviewers can assess

A line should describe a portion of work with a clear boundary. “Electrical” may be too broad for a large package, while hundreds of tiny parts may make review impractical. Choose a level that fits the contract and progress-review process.

First, identify how the team will verify progress on each line. A reviewer needs evidence of what the claimed amount represents. That might involve measured quantities, accepted milestones, or another agreed method.

Next, check that the lines cover the whole scope without overlap. Two descriptions that both include the same installation can double count its value. A scope item that fits no line can disappear from the payment discussion.

Keep the line IDs stable after approval. If the breakdown changes, keep the old version and the approved mapping. A reviewer should not have to guess where last month’s claimed work moved.

A filled contract-value example

Consider a fictional $100,000 fit-out contract. The accepted starting breakdown uses three work items: enabling works, installation, and finishing. The values below illustrate the arithmetic, not typical construction costs.

For enabling works, $15,000 divided by $20,000 gives 75%. Its balance to finish is $5,000. For installation, $25,000 divided by $50,000 gives 50%, with a $25,000 balance.

The full schedule shows $40,000 completed and stored against $100,000. That is 40% on this value basis. It does not prove that 40% of every physical task or elapsed project time is complete.

Retainage, prior payment applications, and other required adjustments need the separate calculation that applies to the contract. However, do not infer the current payment due merely from this summary table. Keep those steps visible in the payment record.

Handle stored materials without counting them twice

Stored-material claims need the contract’s eligibility and evidence rules. Also, record the material, location, value basis, and source documents that the project requires. Do not assume that buying a part automatically makes it claimable.

In a method that tracks materials presently stored, the column shows the current stored amount. It is not a running total of every material purchase. When previously stored material becomes installed work, the records must reflect that movement.

For example, suppose the installation line’s $5,000 of stored material later becomes part of completed work. The team must not retain that same $5,000 as stored and add it again to work completed. Follow the required form’s method to move and reconcile the value.

Next, inspect the source records before carrying figures into a new period. A spreadsheet can correctly add its columns while carrying the wrong stored balance. Also, keep a review note for any adjustment so the next reader can reproduce it.

Track changes through the contract process

A proposed change should not silently increase the approved schedule total. Also, keep pending items separate from accepted contract changes. Once the appropriate process approves a change, record its reference and effect on the schedule.

Use the project’s required treatment for new or revised lines. Some schedules list changes separately; other approved formats may adjust the breakdown. Preserve the version history whichever method applies.

Also, reconcile the revised scheduled total with the approved contract amount. If the two differ, stop and find the reason before issuing the payment application. A rounding adjustment should not hide an unapproved scope value.

Our guide to construction management records discusses keeping related project information connected. The SOV should link to the change decision without replacing that decision’s source record.

Build spreadsheet checks before submission

Separate editable inputs from calculated outputs. Protect totals and balance formulas so a user cannot overwrite them accidentally. Also, keep numeric values as numbers and use a consistent currency basis.

Useful checks can flag duplicate line IDs, missing descriptions, negative balances, and totals that do not match the contract. A percentage above 100% also needs review. However, the workbook should explain the problem rather than silently changing the value.

Use a separate reconciliation for the previous period. Next, check that the starting figures match the accepted prior record and that any correction has a reference. This helps prevent a copied workbook from becoming a new, unexplained baseline.

Then test the formulas with a small known example. Also, include a line with no progress, one with partial progress, and one with stored materials. A reviewer should be able to calculate the same totals by hand.

Keep internal cost and billing views linked

The project manager may want to compare billed value with actual job costs. Also, link the views through work-package IDs, but keep their definitions. Billing progress is not the same as cost incurred or cash received.

Our article on job costing software explains how labor, parts, and other costs attach to jobs. In practice, use that record to investigate cost performance rather than replacing it with the scheduled-value percentage.

Likewise, a work schedule and an SOV may use different levels of detail. A billing line can cover several tasks. Also, keep the mapping clear so a change to one task does not automatically rewrite a whole line’s claimed progress.

Our guide to construction scheduling programs covers task dependencies. Connect the relevant milestones while keeping billing evidence under the required review process.

A practical payment-period review

First, agree the reporting cutoff and collect the source evidence. Next, ask the work owners to confirm which records belong to the period. Late information should follow a clear adjustment process rather than appearing in two submissions.

Next, review line values, stored materials, changes, and prior-period figures. Also, assign unresolved items to a named person. Keep disputed or pending amounts visible under the project’s rules.

Finally, retain the submitted version and its attachments. Later revisions should not overwrite the record of what the team actually sent. Also, store the review or certification result as a separate linked stage.

A custom reporting system can show these stages across projects. Label submitted, approved, and received amounts separately so a summary does not turn a billing claim into cash.

Six common schedule-of-values mistakes

1. Using internal cost figures as though they were contract-value allocations.
2. Letting line values drift away from the approved contract total.
3. Counting installed materials again as presently stored.
4. Adding proposed changes before the required approval.
5. Changing line IDs without keeping the prior-period mapping.
6. Reporting billed value as though it were money received.

Before standardizing the template, test one real completed period. Next, ask a reviewer to trace a line to the contract, source evidence, and prior submission. That test reveals gaps that a neat total row can conceal.

Check rounding and corrected submissions

First, use the required currency precision in the submitted form. Calculate with a consistent method and review the rounded totals. A few cents of rounding should not lead someone to alter a work value without a clear reason.

Next, keep the amount and percentage linked. Staff should not enter a rounded percentage and a separate dollar amount that disagree. In practice, use the accepted form’s rules and show which value drives the calculation.

For example, a $30,000 line with $10,000 completed has a one-third value ratio. A displayed 33.33% is a rounded view, not an instruction to replace the exact $10,000 with a new amount. Also, keep that distinction clear in the workbook.

Also, retain both the original submission and any corrected version. Record the correction reason, author, date, and affected lines. This helps the reviewer understand why the figures changed without assuming that the later file was the first claim.

Finally, check how a correction affects the next period’s starting figures. In practice, use the accepted prior record under the project’s process. If the workbook carries forward an unreviewed correction, the mismatch can spread through every later application.

Start with a reconciled contract breakdown

A useful schedule of values template keeps scope, value, and payment-period history. Next, check the starting total, test the stored-material treatment, and retain each submitted version. Then build a review routine that can trace every claimed line to its evidence.