How-To Guides

Submittals are shop drawings, product data, and samples that subcontractors submit to the GC and design team for approval before installation. Rejected submittals cause rework costs that rarely get captured in job costing — here's how to fix that.

A practical guide for specialty trade subcontractors evaluating job costing software. How to list requirements, calculate real costs, check for trade-specific features, and avoid lock-in.

Change orders document scope additions and authorize extra work on construction contracts. Here's the five-step process specialty subs use to get paid for every change.

The G702 is the pay application cover page. The G703 is the line-item backup that supports it. This guide explains every field, common mistakes that delay payment, and how to get GCs to approve your billings without revision requests.

A practical change order template for specialty trade subcontractors. Covers scope, cost impact, schedule impact, and approval signatures. Free Google Sheets download.

Construction accounting for specialty trade subs has three requirements standard accounting doesn't. This guide covers job cost ledgers, percentage-of-completion, retainage, WIP schedules, and when QuickBooks stops being enough.

Cost control in construction means comparing actual costs against estimates in real time. Learn the three levers specialty trade subs use to catch overruns before a job closes in the red.

An RFI clarifies existing scope — it doesn't authorize extra work. This guide explains when to submit an RFI, how to write one, and how unanswered RFIs support change order claims.

A practical guide to AIA billing for specialty trade subcontractors. Understand G702 and G703 forms, how to fill them out correctly, and how retainage and change orders affect your pay applications.

A plain-English guide to the construction work-in-progress (WIP) schedule. Learn what a WIP report is, how to calculate percent complete and over/under-billings, and why your bonding company requires it.

A step-by-step guide for specialty trade subcontractors billing in AIA format. How to set up your Schedule of Values, complete the G702 and G703 forms, hit billing cutoff dates, and handle short payments.

Construction accounting differs from standard bookkeeping in three critical ways. This guide explains the monthly accounting cycle for specialty trade subs — chart of accounts, WIP, retainage, and revenue recognition.