What Is a Schedule of Values, and How Do You Build One for a Large Job?#

A schedule of values (SOV) is your contract price split into lines, each with a dollar value, so you can bill a percentage of each line every month. On a large job, split the work by area and by system into lines your foreman can actually measure, keep mobilization and every change order on their own lines, and make each line match a cost code so your billing and your job cost tell the same story. Get the GC to agree to it before your first claim, because it's the document every claim for the rest of the job is checked against.

What does a schedule of values look like?#

Here's an example for a $2.4 million insulation subcontract on a four-storey hospital addition. The numbers are made up for illustration.

Line	Description	Scheduled value
1	Mobilization and site setup	$60,000
2	Hot pipe insulation, Levels 1–2	$420,000
3	Hot pipe insulation, Levels 3–4	$380,000
4	Chilled water pipe insulation, Levels 1–4	$520,000
5	Duct wrap, Levels 1–4	$410,000
6	Equipment insulation, mechanical room	$230,000
7	Aluminum jacketing, mechanical room and exterior	$300,000
8	Firestopping	$80,000
	Contract total	$2,400,000

Every month, you report how far along each line is. If line 4 was 20% done last month and is 35% done now, you bill 15% of $520,000, which is $78,000, for that line this period. Add up every line and you have the month's claim, before holdback and tax.

In the US, the GC's pay application often uses the AIA G703 form, which the AIA titles "Continuation Sheet – Construction Schedule of Values". In Canada there's no AIA form to point to. Expect the GC's own spreadsheet with the same columns: scheduled value, previously billed, this period, total to date, percent complete and balance to finish.

Who writes the schedule of values on a big job?#

You do, for your scope. The GC usually sends a format and sometimes a required breakdown (by floor, by building, by phase) so it can roll your lines into its own SOV to the owner. The owner's consultant or payment certifier then reviews your percentages each month.

That means your SOV has two readers. The GC and consultant want lines they can verify by walking the site. You want lines that match how you estimated and how you track cost. A good SOV satisfies both.

If the GC wants it by floor and you estimated by system, split your cost codes to the intersection: hot pipe on Level 2 is one line and one cost code. Both the GC's SOV and your job cost roll up from the same lines, and nobody has to translate between them at claim time.

How should you split a large job into lines?#

Split by where and by what. On a multi-floor or multi-building job, area times system works well: hot pipe on Levels 1–2, hot pipe on Levels 3–4, and so on. The consultant can walk Level 2 and agree it's 80% done. Nobody can verify "pipe insulation, 40%" across a whole hospital.

Make each line small enough to measure, but not so small it's busywork. If a line will take your crew a year, it's too big to bill accurately. Three hundred lines on a $2 million job is two days a month of updating.

Keep mobilization on its own line. Trailers, the shop setup on site, the first round of orientations and tickets. It's real cost you carry up front, and a separate line lets you bill it early without arguing about percentages on the pipe lines.

Separate labour and material only if the GC asks. If yours doesn't, fewer lines are easier to manage.

Match every line to a cost code. This is the step the generic guides skip. If line 4 and cost code 01-200 (cold pipe) are the same scope, you can compare what you've billed on it (earned) with what it has cost you in labour and material (burned). That comparison is how you find out in month three, not at closeout, that the chilled water lines are bleeding.

What is front-loading, and will the GC let you do it?#

Front-loading means putting more value on the early lines (mobilization, early floors) than the work is worth, so you're paid ahead of your costs. Subs do it because they carry payroll, material and holdback for months before the cash catches up.

GCs and consultants know this and push back. Expect them to question a mobilization line that's a large share of the contract, or early-floor lines priced well above identical later floors. What usually holds up is a mobilization line you can justify with real costs, and lines priced the way you actually estimated them. If your SOV comes straight from your estimate, you can show the GC the math.

How do change orders go on the SOV?#

As new lines, never folded into the original ones. Add "CO-007, reroute chilled water at gridline F" as its own line with its own value once it's approved, and bill it by percent complete like everything else.

If you blend change order money into line 4, two things go wrong. The consultant can't reconcile your claim to the contract plus approved changes, so your claim gets held up. And you lose the ability to see whether the change order made or lost money. Our post on change order documentation covers getting them approved in the first place.

How does holdback work on each claim?#

In Ontario, the Construction Act requires each payer to hold back 10% of the price of the services or materials as they are actually supplied (section 22). So on the $78,000 you billed on line 4, $7,800 is held back and released later, after the lien period. The same act sets the payment clock: proper invoices go monthly unless the contract says otherwise, the owner pays the GC within 28 days of a proper invoice, and the GC pays you within 7 days of being paid, unless it gives a notice of non-payment.

In the US, the equivalent is retainage, and the percentage comes from your contract and state law. Either way, your SOV should show holdback to date so you know how much of your money is sitting with the GC. Our guide to retainage for ICI subcontractors goes deeper.

What goes wrong with SOVs on large jobs?#

1. The SOV doesn't match the estimate. The estimator bid by system; the PM built the SOV by floor from scratch. Now nobody can tell which part of the bid is off.
2. Percentages come from the office, not the field. The PM guesses at 35% on Thursday. The consultant walks the floor, sees 25%, and cuts the claim.
3. Change orders are approved but never billed. They're in an email, not on the SOV.
4. The claim misses the GC's cut-off. Gathering numbers from five foremen takes a week, and the claim slides to next month.
5. Holdback release is forgotten. Nobody puts a date on it, and it sits with the GC well after it's due.

Where is Appello not the right fit?#

Appello is built for ICI trade contractors, often union, with about 20 to 400 field staff. It isn't built for:

• General contractors who need document control and submittals for the whole building.
• Residential builders and renovators.
• A one-person shop with no field crew.

Where does Appello fit?#

In Appello each SOV line is a cost code, so what you've billed on a line and what it has cost you sit on the same row.

• Estimate to SOV. Estimates are itemized, with sections, markup, overhead and tax. When the estimate is won, it becomes the job, and each estimate line becomes a cost code on the job's schedule of values. Estimates and cost codes can also be imported through Appello's MCP connector from ChatGPT, Claude, Microsoft Copilot or any MCP-enabled AI assistant.
• Templates for big jobs. SOV templates carry area, system, phase and component on each line, and you can copy the SOV from a similar job.
• Percent complete from the field. The foreman can submit progress per line from the phone; the office approves the number that gets billed.
• The claim. Set this period's percent per line and the progress invoice drafts itself, with previously billed carried forward, holdback and tax (HST, GST, PST or QST) calculated. Approved change orders come in as their own lines. Holdback is released on its own invoice with its own terms. Any progress invoice exports to an Excel workbook laid out like the G702/G703.
• Earned vs burned. Labour lands on the cost code as timesheets are approved, so each SOV line shows billed against actual cost. The WIP report shows over and under billings as of any date.
• The books. Invoices push to QuickBooks Online, and a payment there marks the invoice paid in Appello.

Bring an SOV from a job you're running to a demo, and we'll build next month's claim from it.

FAQ#

Is a schedule of values the same as a budget?
No. The SOV is what you bill the customer, line by line. The budget is what you expect each line to cost you. They should use the same lines, so you can compare them.

How many lines should an SOV have?
Enough that each line can be checked on site within a month or two of work. For a sub on a large job, that's often a few dozen lines, not a few hundred.

Can I change the SOV after the job starts?
Only with the GC's agreement, and usually only by adding change order lines. Re-pricing original lines mid-job invites a dispute. Get the split right before the first claim.

Can I bill for material stored on site?
It depends on your contract. Some GCs pay for material delivered and stored on site, often with proof of delivery and insurance; others pay only for installed work. Ask before you build the SOV, because it changes how you split lines.

What happens if the consultant cuts my percentages?
You're paid on their number this month and the difference rolls into next month. Percentages submitted by the foreman who walked the floor, with photos, are much harder to cut.

Sources#

All accessed October 14, 2026.

• Ontario, Construction Act, R.S.O. 1990, c. C.30: sections 6.3, 6.4, 6.5 (prompt payment) and 22 (holdback)
• AIA Contract Documents, G703 Continuation Sheet – Construction Schedule of Values and G702 Payment Application and Certificate for Payment
• Appello documentation, Cost Codes & Schedule of Values and Progress Reports

Related reading#

• How Progress Billing Works for ICI Subcontractors
• Progress Billing for Subcontractors: Maximizing Cash Flow
• Understanding Retainage for ICI Subcontractors
• How Job Costing Works for ICI Subcontractors
• Appello Progress Billing and Job Financials