Schedule of Values in Construction: What It Is and How to Build One (AIA G703)

A schedule of values is the line-by-line budget that controls how a construction project gets paid. Every progress payment on an AIA contract is checked against it, so a sloppy schedule of values delays draws and triggers architect rejections. This guide explains what a schedule of values is, how it lives on the AIA G703 continuation sheet, how to build one that ties out to the contract, and how general contractors and accounts payable teams pull the line items off a received G703 into a spreadsheet without re-keying every row by hand.

What is a schedule of values in construction?

A schedule of values (SOV) is an itemized list of every portion of work on a construction contract with a dollar value assigned to each line, and the totals must add up to the full contract sum. It breaks the contract price into trackable pieces (foundations, framing, electrical rough-in, finishes) so the contractor can bill for the percentage of each line completed in a given period. The SOV is the backbone of progress billing: the owner, architect, and lender all approve payment based on how much of each line is done, not on a single lump sum.

What is the AIA G703 continuation sheet?

The AIA G703 is the continuation sheet that holds the schedule of values behind an AIA G702 pay application. The G702 cover sheet summarizes the amount due this period; the G703 is where the contractor proves the math, line item by line item. Each row on the G703 carries the scheduled value of one piece of work plus columns that track work completed in prior periods, work completed this period, stored materials, the running total, the percent complete, the balance to finish, and retainage. The G703 is what the architect actually audits before certifying payment.

What columns are on the AIA G703?

The G703 uses a fixed set of columns, and knowing them is the key to reading or filling out the form:

• Column A: line item number.
• Column B: description of work for that line.
• Column C: scheduled value, the dollar amount budgeted for that line. All of Column C must equal the contract sum.
• Column D: work completed from previous applications.
• Column E: work completed this period.
• Column F: materials presently stored (bought and on site but not yet installed).
• Column G: total completed and stored to date (D plus E plus F).
• Column H: percent complete (G divided by C).
• Column I: balance to finish (C minus G).
• Column K: retainage held on that line.

How do you create a schedule of values?

Build a schedule of values by breaking the total contract sum into line items that match how the work is actually sequenced and billed, then assigning a realistic dollar value to each so the column totals equal the contract amount. Start with the contract documents and your estimate, group costs into categories the owner and architect will recognize, and avoid burying overhead in a single line. The standard steps:

1. Gather the original contract amount, approved change orders, and your cost estimate.
2. Break the scope into line items, usually by CSI division or major trade activity.
3. Assign a scheduled value to each line, including a fair share of general conditions, overhead, and profit.
4. Confirm the sum of all scheduled values equals the adjusted contract sum. That tie-out is non-negotiable.
5. Submit the SOV for the architect's approval before the first pay application.

Many contractors front-load early line items slightly to improve cash flow, but an obviously unbalanced schedule of values invites scrutiny and rejection, so keep each line defensible.

What is the difference between the G702 and the G703?

The G702 is the one-page application and certificate for payment that summarizes the draw; the G703 is the continuation sheet that itemizes the schedule of values behind that number. The G702 shows the contract sum, total completed and stored to date, retainage, previous payments, and the current amount due. The G703 supports every one of those figures with a per-line breakdown. You always submit them together: the G703 totals flow up into the G702 cover sheet.

How do you read a schedule of values on a received pay application?

To read a received schedule of values, start at Column C to see what was budgeted per line, then compare Column G against Column C to see how far along each line is, and check Column K for retainage held. A general contractor reviewing a subcontractor's G703, or an owner's rep reviewing the GC's, is really verifying three things: that the scheduled values still tie to the approved contract sum, that the work-completed columns are supported by what is actually built, and that retainage and stored materials are calculated correctly. Errors almost always show up as a Column G that exceeds Column C, or a percent-complete that does not match site progress.

Pulling the schedule of values into a spreadsheet automatically

If you are on the receiving side, reviewing dozens of subcontractor pay applications a month, the slow part is not the math, it is re-typing every G703 line into your accounting system or a tracking spreadsheet. That is the job AIA pay application OCR handles: upload a scanned or PDF G702 and G703 and DocuOCR reads each schedule of values line, the scheduled value, the work completed this period, stored materials, and retainage, and returns it as structured rows you export to Excel or your AP system. To convert just the G703 itself, our schedule of values OCR reads the line items straight into a spreadsheet. Instead of keying a 40-line continuation sheet, you check the values DocuOCR flagged for review and move on. It works across the formats subcontractors actually send, not just clean AIA templates, which is the broader strength of our construction document processing software.

The same approach covers the rest of the AIA draw package. If retainage is where your draws get kicked back, see how to bill retainage on an AIA G702 and G703, and if you are still confused about which form does what, read the G702 vs G703 difference.

Schedule of values mistakes that delay payment

The four mistakes that get a schedule of values rejected: scheduled values that no longer tie to the contract sum after change orders, front-loading aggressive enough to look like overbilling, stored-materials values claimed without backup invoices, and retainage math that does not match the contract percentage. Catch these before submission and your draws clear faster. Once the SOV is approved and stable, each month's billing is just updating Columns E and F and letting the totals flow.

Whether you build schedules of values or process them by the dozen, the data is the same: a structured list of line items, values, and progress. Getting that data out of paper and PDFs and into a system you can actually track is where construction billing teams save the most time. The same is true of the weekly compliance paperwork that rides alongside a draw, which is why teams on Davis-Bacon jobs also automate extracting data from a certified payroll report. For teams that also send signed change orders and lien waivers back and forth, pairing this with an electronic signature workflow through SignSend keeps the paperwork moving, and AP groups that route the approved draws into payment runs often connect them to AutoPayables so certified amounts post without a second round of data entry.