Schedule of values example: reconcile previous, current and remaining work

Use the SOV as a consistent progress structure

A schedule of values divides a defined project value into identifiable portions of work. The useful structure lets the team connect a progress entry to the scope it describes and the records supporting it. Without consistent line identities, a reviewer can struggle to tell whether a new number represents current work, a revised allocation or something already included in a previous period.

Begin with the project's required format, authorized value and review process. Confirm the line descriptions and the amount basis before entering progress. A contractor's internal cost estimate, a customer-facing contract value and a payment application can serve different purposes. Do not assume that a cost-code export can be used unchanged as the agreed billing structure.

AIA Contract Documents describes its subcontractor continuation sheet as a line-by-line breakdown associated with a subcontractor payment application. That is publisher context for the relationship, not a license to reproduce its form. The tables here are an original generic practice worksheet with explicitly defined columns; use the actual required documents and authorized process on a live project.

Sources: AIA Contract Documents: G703S subcontractor continuation-sheet description

Give each work line an identity and a clear basis

Use a stable line ID, scope description, assigned value, current version and source reference. Choose descriptions specific enough to support review without splitting the project into unmanageable fragments. If a line covers several activities, identify the supporting breakdown your reviewer needs rather than relying on an unexplained percentage.

Reconcile the line values to the authorized project total under the actual process. If approved changes revise that basis, retain their source and the resulting version. A pending request should not silently become an authorized value merely because it has been added to a planning spreadsheet. Keep the proposed and accepted structures distinguishable.

Record who prepared and reviewed an allocation change. Moving value between lines can alter the interpretation of progress even when the grand total remains unchanged. Preserve the before-and-after structure and the required decision so the next period's reviewer can understand why a line balance changed.

Define the practice worksheet’s columns

For this article's exercise, previous installed means the cumulative value of installed work through the prior period. Current installed means additional installed work recorded this period. Presently stored means the current value of eligible material not yet included in installed work, under the fictional example's assumptions. These definitions are deliberately separate from any particular licensed form's instructions.

The practice cumulative value equals previous installed plus current installed plus presently stored. The practice remaining balance equals assigned value minus that cumulative value. All figures use the same dollar basis. These calculations organize the example; they do not establish whether a material is eligible for billing or whether a reviewer must accept a submitted amount.

Do not mix a prior period's total including stored material with a column defined as prior installed work. That mismatch is a common route to counting stored value twice after installation. Read the actual application's instructions and map its fields through the responsible billing owner rather than assuming every system uses this practice worksheet's labels.

Worked example: three lines totaling $250,000

The following project and figures are fictional, in US dollars. The assigned line values total $250,000. Line A has $30,000 of previous installed work and $10,000 of current installed work, with no presently stored material. Its cumulative value is $40,000 and remaining balance is $60,000 against a $100,000 assigned value.

Line B has $20,000 previous installed, $15,000 current installed and $5,000 presently stored. Its cumulative value is also $40,000 against $90,000 assigned, leaving $50,000. Line C has $5,000 previous and $5,000 current installed against $60,000 assigned, leaving $50,000. The stored-material eligibility is an explicit exercise assumption, not a conclusion about a real agreement.

Across the three rows, previous installed totals $55,000, current installed $30,000 and presently stored $5,000. Cumulative value is $90,000 and remaining balance is $160,000. The two totals reconcile to $250,000. This is a gross progress example only; no payment-due amount, tax, retainage or other adjustment is calculated.

Move stored value without creating new gross progress

Continue the fictional line B into the next period. Its prior installed amount is now $35,000: the earlier $20,000 plus $15,000. The $5,000 previously stored material is installed this period. Assume no other work or newly stored material. Current installed is $5,000 and presently stored becomes zero, so cumulative value stays $40,000.

The installed category changed, but the total value already represented in the prior record did not increase. Under the practice basis, the gross cumulative change for this line is $40,000 minus the prior $40,000, or zero. Current installed of $5,000 is therefore not automatically a new $5,000 payment request.

Do not carry the earlier $5,000 stored amount forward and also include it in current installation. That would produce $45,000 in the practice total and count the same value twice. The actual billing team should apply the required form and agreement treatment; this example simply makes the transfer visible so a reviewer can inspect the basis.

Connect each progress figure to supporting records

Record the source for the progress reported on a line. Depending on the project, that may include an agreed measurement, a reviewed field record, a delivery or storage packet, or another required basis. The coordinator should identify the evidence and reviewer, not manufacture a percentage from a photograph or an optimistic update.

Where progress is disputed or uncertain, retain the submitted amount and the review question separately. A reviewer may accept part of a submission or request a correction. Preserve the response and the revised value rather than overwriting the original in a way that makes the earlier submission impossible to reconstruct.

Keep receipt of backup separate from acceptance of the underlying amount. A delivery ticket can be present while the required eligibility or valuation review remains unresolved. The SOV row should point to that open decision and its owner. A complete folder should not automatically become a financial approval.

Roll the period forward from a reviewed basis

Before starting the next period, identify which prior record the team is using and what it includes. A draft, submitted application and accepted application may carry different amounts. Record the chosen basis and its source under your process. Do not use whichever spreadsheet was last emailed without checking its status.

Preserve current-period changes and adjustments explicitly. If a prior entry is corrected, show the correction and its effect rather than hiding it inside a new current-work amount. The reviewer needs to distinguish actual progress from a bookkeeping repair. Keep the explanation close enough to the row that another person can follow the reconciliation.

Check every row and the grand totals. A correct project total can conceal a duplicated amount on one line and an omitted amount on another. Conversely, correct row arithmetic can still use the wrong authorized project basis. Review identity, definitions and sources alongside the calculations.

Keep progress, acceptance and payment separate

The gross cumulative value in this exercise is not the amount currently payable. Real payment processes may require prior certifications, retainage, taxes, deductions, credits or other adjustments under the applicable documents. Assign those calculations and decisions to the authorized billing and commercial owners, using the actual required format.

Track the submission reference, review outcome and actual payment or cash-application record separately. An accepted progress line can still wait for a billing step or payment. A bank receipt covering several applications needs the accounting allocation before it can close a specific balance. Do not mark a line paid solely because progress reached a particular percentage.

Use a next-action field to expose the handoff. Missing backup belongs to the person obtaining it; an unresolved review belongs to the designated decision owner; a payment allocation question belongs to accounting. One generic outstanding status makes it harder to act on the actual blocker.

Use the original SOV practice worksheet

The free CSV above includes project, period, work-line ID, scope, authorized basis, assigned value, previous installed, current installed, presently stored, cumulative value, remaining balance, source records, review status and next action. It is an original blank practice register, not a replacement or reproduction of a proprietary payment form.

Enter the three sample lines and check that $90,000 cumulative plus $160,000 remaining equals $250,000 assigned. Then test the line B transfer. The next-period cumulative value should remain $40,000 when stored value moves to installed and no other value is added. If the result changes, inspect the column definitions before changing a formula to match an expected answer.

Use a real project only after the appropriate owner has mapped its required format and agreement treatment. Add a clear reference to the actual application and its version. The practice worksheet is useful for explaining a reconciliation, while the authorized project records remain the basis for submission and payment decisions.

Check aggregate progress using dollars, not an average of row percentages

The example also provides a useful percentage check. Row A has a cumulative gross basis of $40,000 against $100,000 assigned, or 40%. Row B is $40,000 against $90,000, approximately 44.44%. Row C is $10,000 against $60,000, approximately 16.67%. These percentages describe the worksheet's stated dollar basis, including the stored amount where shown. They do not independently establish physical completion, approved billing eligibility or payment due.

For the aggregate check, divide the $90,000 cumulative gross basis by the $250,000 assigned total: 36%. Do not average the three row percentages. An unweighted average gives each row equal influence even though the assigned values differ. Preserve the dollar inputs as the reconciliation basis, then calculate the displayed percentage from those inputs with an agreed rounding convention.

If someone reports a different overall percentage, first compare the included rows, assigned values and stored-material treatment. A number from a field progress report may answer a different question. Record that difference and its owner instead of adjusting this worksheet to make two unlike measures agree.

Coordinate missing billing inputs with Buildalytic

Buildalytic's custom-workflow page describes information requests, response logging, waits and named approval steps. Bring a redacted SOV line with missing backup or an unresolved review response to a demo. Ask how the next request reaches the responsible person and how the reply stays linked to the line and application reference.

Keep the financial calculations, contract basis and payment decisions in the authorized systems and review process. Confirm which connections and permissions are supported for your setup. Do not assume a follow-up workflow supplies a licensed payment form, certifies progress or automatically determines entitlement.

Use the line B stored-to-installed case to test whether the source and unresolved question remain clear. A useful walkthrough should expose the evidence and next owner, including a response that requires human review. The fictional figures are a teaching example, not a customer result or a promise of faster payment.

Sources: Buildalytic custom construction workflows