The Money You Are Holding, in One List
A man turns up two years after his last bill asking for his retention. Somebody loses a day in old files, and the figure you finally give him is the one he suggested.
Retention lives on the bill and nowhere else
A slice comes off every running bill. If the only record of it is the bill it came off, there is no running total for that contractor and no date on which it falls due. That is how the Tuesday afternoon file search begins.
What is being tracked
Retention per contractor
Every deduction across every bill on every site, totalled against his name. It answers a question you will be asked years later.
Retention per client
What your client is holding back from you, on the same footing. Firms chase this far less often than they chase their own contractors.
The release date agreed
When each amount falls due, recorded as it is held rather than worked out afterwards from a contract nobody can find.
Advances, and what came back
The advance paid, the recovery taken on each bill so far, and the balance still outside. Two contractors on the same advance rarely have the same balance.
What the owner asks
Cash sitting in retention is still your cash.
- Retention held per contractor, and when each amount falls due
- Retention your clients are holding from you
- Advances paid, and how much is still to be recovered
- Retention released this quarter, and to whom
- One contractor’s position, across every site he has worked
Frequently asked questions
Does it release the retention?
No. It gives you the amount, the contractor and the date it falls due, and the same page carries the advances still to be recovered from him. Somebody in your office still decides to pay, usually after a look at what was put right since.
What if we hold retention at different rates?
Then the rate differs by contractor or by order, and each bill deducts the one that applies. A different rate for a specialist agency is common, and it is set when the order goes in.
Can we see retention on a site already handed over?
Yes. A closed site keeps its bills and its retention, and the amounts stay on the list until they are released. That is exactly the case where memory fails.
Tell us what you need.
Send a short brief and one of our engineers will come back to you — usually the same day.
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