The G702 and G703 are the two forms at the center of commercial billing. If you bill a general contractor every month, these are the pages that say how much of the job is done and how much you are owed. They look intimidating, and small mistakes on them are one of the most common reasons a pay application gets rejected.
This guide walks through both forms, field by field, from the subcontractor's seat, so you can fill them out correctly and understand what every number means. It is written for the person who assembles the billing, and it is trade-neutral: the forms work the same whether you are electrical, mechanical, plumbing, or any other specialty trade.
Start with the G703, not the G702
It feels backward, but you fill out the detail sheet first, because the summary page is built from its totals. The G703 lists every line item of your job, and for each one you record how far it has come this month. Once the detail sheet is done, its totals flow up into the summary.
Here is what each column on the G703 means, from left to right:
The G703 columns, explained
Item number and description
Each line of work, from your schedule of values (the agreed price list that breaks the job into line items). These should match your approved schedule of values exactly.
Scheduled value
The agreed price for that line item. All the scheduled values added together equal your original contract amount.
Work completed from previous applications
What you had already billed and earned on that line as of last month. This must match last month’s approved to-date figure, it rolls forward.
Work completed this period
The new progress on that line this month. This is the number you are actually adding.
Materials presently stored
The value of materials you have bought and stored on site but not yet installed, if your general contractor allows billing for them (and you have the required backup).
Total completed and stored to date
Previous, plus this period, plus stored. The running total of everything earned on that line so far.
Percent complete
The to-date total divided by the scheduled value, as a percentage.
Balance to finish
The scheduled value minus what is completed to date. What is left on that line.
Retainage
The amount held back on that line (usually 5 to 10 percent), if retainage is tracked per line.
Now the G702 summary, line by line
With the G703 done, the summary page fills in from its totals. The G702 has numbered lines, and here is what each one is:
Original contract sum
Your original contract amount, before any changes.
Net change by change orders
The total of all approved change orders (signed agreements for added or removed work that change the price). Only fully approved change orders go here.
Contract sum to date
Line 1 plus line 2. Your current contract amount including approved changes.
Total completed and stored to date
This comes straight from the bottom of your G703. It is the total of everything you have earned to date across all line items.
Retainage
The amount being held back, calculated on your completed work (and sometimes separately on stored materials).
Total earned less retainage
Line 4 minus line 5. What you have earned, minus what is held back.
Less previous certificates
What you have already been paid (or approved to be paid) in prior periods.
Current payment due
Line 6 minus line 7. This is the number that matters: what you are owed this month.
Balance to finish including retainage
What is left on the whole contract, including the retainage still being held.
The three things that trip subcontractors up
- 1
Earned is not the same as paid. Line 4 (total earned to date) and line 7 (previously paid) are different numbers, and mixing them up is a classic error. Line 4 is everything you have earned. Line 7 is what you have already been paid. Line 8, what you are owed now, is the gap between them after retainage. Keep those three straight and the summary makes sense.
- 2
Retainage has to be consistent. If you calculated retainage one way last month and a different way this month, the numbers will not roll forward cleanly and the package gets kicked back. Apply it the same way every period, exactly as your contract specifies.
- 3
Only approved change orders belong on line 2. A change order you have requested but not yet had signed does not go on the form. Putting pending work into the contract sum makes your numbers disagree with the general contractor’s records. Bill a change order only once it is fully executed.
How your application rolls up into the general contractor’s
One thing that helps everything make sense: your pay application is not the final one. The general contractor collects the applications from you and every other subcontractor, rolls them into their own G702 and G703 to the building owner, and gets paid based on that. This is why the forms and the math have to be exact, your numbers become part of a larger package the general contractor certifies to the owner and the architect. A discrepancy on your form creates a problem several levels up, which is why reviewers are strict about it.
It is also why deadlines matter: the general contractor has to assemble everyone's billing before their own cutoff to the owner, so your late or incorrect form holds up more than just your payment.
Before you submit: the G702/G703 checklist
Resubmission check
- The line items on your G703 match your approved schedule of values.
- Each line’s “previous” figure matches last month’s approved to-date figure.
- No line is billed beyond its scheduled value or shown over 100 percent complete.
- The G703 bottom total equals G702 line 4, to the penny.
- Only fully-approved change orders are included on G702 line 2.
- Retainage is calculated the same way as every prior period.
- Line 7 (previously paid) is correct, so line 8 (current due) is right.
- Any stored materials on the G703 have their required backup.
- You are using the general contractor’s current required form.
The forms are only hard the first time
Once you understand that the G703 does the line-by-line work and the G702 summarizes it, and that the two must tie at line 4, the rest is careful bookkeeping. The subcontractors who never get kicked back are not doing anything clever. They are filling these forms out the same correct way every month and checking the handshake before they submit.