Invoices that know which job they belong to
Bill a deposit up front, progress claims as the work completes, and a final invoice at the end — each one raised against the project, with the province's tax applied and every partial payment recorded against the balance.
The problem
Invoicing from a generic accounting tool detaches the money from the job. The invoice knows a client and a total; it does not know the budget it is billing against, the province whose tax applies, or how much holdback is still being carried. Reconciling that at month end is guesswork with a deadline.
How BuildersBridge solves it
Deposit, progress and final
Three invoice kinds, because construction does not bill in one shot. Each one is raised against the project so the billing history reads as a sequence rather than a pile of documents.
Tax by province, applied once
Set the job's province and GST, HST or PST is applied at the right rate — 5% in Alberta, 13% in Ontario, GST plus PST where both apply. US jobs carry the statewide sales tax rate, or the combined rate you set for the workspace.
Partial payments, not just paid or unpaid
An invoice can sit at partial with the amount received recorded against it, so a client who paid half is not filed the same way as one who paid nothing.
You can see when it was opened
Invoices sent to the client portal move to viewed when the client actually opens them, which is a more useful thing to know before chasing than the send date.
Worked example: three draws, a partial payment and the holdback
The fictional ensuite renovation in Edmonton from our estimate-to-invoice article, on 10 May 2027: two progress draws issued against a revised contract of $12,550.26, the first paid, the second part-paid. Alberta GST at 5% and holdback at 10% of the amount before tax. Every figure is worked by the same billing functions the app uses.
| Invoice | Before tax | GST | Total | Holdback | Paid | Balance due | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Progress draw 1 | $2,622.08 | $131.10 | $2,753.18 | $262.21 | $2,490.97 | $0.00 | Paid (holdback retained) |
| Progress draw 2 | $2,091.08 | $104.55 | $2,195.63 | $209.11 | $1,000.00 | $986.52 | Partial |
| Item | Amount |
|---|---|
| Invoiced, including tax | $4,948.81 |
| Paid | $3,490.97 |
| Outstanding now | $986.52 |
| Holdback retained | $471.32 |
| Contract left to bill, before tax | $7,837.10 |
Invoiced always equals paid plus outstanding plus holdback retained, so nothing disappears between invoices. When the job finishes, the final draw bills the rest of the revised contract ($7,837.10 before tax), and once the holdback period has run a release invoice bills the $1,255.03 retained across all three draws, with no new tax. Over the job the client pays $13,177.77.
What it does today, and what it does not
- Works todayDeposit, progress and final invoices against the job, a holdback release invoice, partial payments, and GST/HST/PST by province or the statewide US rate.
- You do thisYou record each payment as it arrives (e-transfer, cheque, card taken elsewhere); the balance and receivables update from those records.
- Works todayAn issued invoice is locked. To correct it you void it and issue a new one, so the record of what was sent stays intact.
- Not yet builtClients paying invoices online through Stripe, QuickBooks and Xero sync, and line-by-line schedule of values billing are in development.
Frequently asked questions
- What is construction invoicing software?
- Billing built around a project rather than a customer: deposit, progress and final invoices raised against the job, with the contract's tax jurisdiction applied and payments tracked against the budget the work was quoted from.
- Does it handle progress billing?
- Yes. Progress is the default invoice kind, billed against the job as work completes, with previous invoicing on the same project visible so the running total is never in question.
- How is sales tax handled?
- By the job's province in Canada — GST, HST or PST at the correct rate — and by the statewide sales tax rate for US work, or a combined rate you set. The rate comes from the province set on the project, so it is applied once rather than looked up per invoice.
- Can clients pay online?
- Not yet. Online payments are on the public roadmap and are not live, so invoices are issued and payments recorded as they arrive. We would rather say that than imply a capability you would find missing on day one.
- What about holdback?
- Holdback is carried per project rather than netted silently off a total, so the amount still owed to you stays visible until the statutory period has run and it is released on a later invoice. In the worked example below, three draws retain $1,255.03 that one release invoice collects, with no new tax.
- Does it charge tax on the holdback?
- Tax is charged on each draw in full, holdback included, and the release invoice carries none, so tax is never charged twice. When tax on holdback becomes payable depends on your province and the CRA's rules; confirm the treatment with your accountant.
See construction invoicing software done right
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