Contractor payment schedule calculator
Everyone publishes the percentages. Nobody turns them into money. Put in the contract value, the start date and how long the job is meant to take, and this gives you a dated draw schedule: what each stage is worth, what tax goes on it, what retention comes off it, and what actually leaves your account on the day. Free, no sign-up, eleven currencies, and no country’s building or tax rules baked into the arithmetic.
Everything is worked out in your browser. Nothing you type is uploaded, saved or shared. Last updated 8 August 2026.
1. The job
The contract value is the agreed price for the work before any tax is added. If your quote is tax-inclusive, take the tax off first and put the rate in section 3.
2. The stages
Each row is one payment. The share is a percentage of the contract value, and the week is how far into the programme that stage is expected to complete. Week 0 is the day work starts. Change any of it: the percentages below are conventions, not rules.
Worth a look
3. Retention and tax
Retention is money held back from each payment and released after the job, so that defects appearing later still have something behind them. Tax is whatever your contractor is registered to charge where you are: this page does not guess it.
Payment schedule
Dates are a forecast from your start date and programme length. Write the contract so a payment falls due when the stage is complete and inspected, with the date as an expectation.
| Stage | Expected | Share | Value | Tax | Retention | Payable |
|---|
How the draw schedule is worked out
Four lines of arithmetic, done once per stage. The value of this page is not the sums, it is that the sums end up on one dated page instead of in three different emails.
For each stage:
Value = contract value x the stage's share
Tax = Value x your tax rate
Retention = Value x your retention rate (0 on the deposit, if you chose that)
Payable = Value + Tax - Retention
Date = start date + (the stage's week x 7 days)
Retention released = total retention held,
on the last stage date + your release periodWhy tax goes on the value and retention comes off afterwards
Retention is not a discount. The contractor has still earned the full stage value and normally invoices it in full; you are simply withholding part of the payment until the defects period ends. So the tax is calculated on what was earned, and the retention is deducted from what is transferred. That is the ordinary treatment and it is what this page does.
When the tax on a retained sum actually becomes payable to the tax authority is a different question, and the answer genuinely differs by country. If you are holding retention on a job of any size, that is a question for whoever does your books, not for a web page that does not know where you live.
The percentages are a starting point, not a standard
The 10 / 20 / 25 / 20 / 15 / 10 pattern that circulates on renovation blogs is a reasonable shape for a whole-house job: a modest deposit, the heaviest payment at the point where the structural risk is behind you, and a real amount held to the end. It is not a standard, nobody enforces it, and it fits a kitchen refit badly. Every row in the calculator is editable for exactly that reason.
What the calculator will not do
It will not tell you whether the stage has actually been reached. That is the part of the job a schedule cannot automate and the part that matters most. Walk the site, look at the thing the payment names, and pay for what you can see.
A worked example
All of it produced by the calculator above, on the figures it opens with.
A whole-house renovation at €48,300, sixteen weeks, starting on 2 March 2026. Retention at 5%, held from everything except the deposit, released 90 days after the last stage. No tax, because the homeowner’s contractor is below the registration threshold.
| Stage | Expected | Share | Value | Retention | Payable |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Deposit on signing | 2 Mar 2026 | 10% | €4,830.00 | €0.00 | €4,830.00 |
| Strip out and first fix | 16 Mar 2026 | 20% | €9,660.00 | €483.00 | €9,177.00 |
| Structural work complete | 13 Apr 2026 | 25% | €12,075.00 | €603.75 | €11,471.25 |
| Second fix and plastering | 11 May 2026 | 20% | €9,660.00 | €483.00 | €9,177.00 |
| Decoration and finishes | 8 Jun 2026 | 15% | €7,245.00 | €362.25 | €6,882.75 |
| Snagging cleared | 22 Jun 2026 | 10% | €4,830.00 | €241.50 | €4,588.50 |
| Retention released | 20 Sep 2026 | - | - | - | €2,173.50 |
Three things are worth noticing, and none of them is the total.
The first is that the biggest cheque is €11,471.25 and it lands in the middle of April. Homeowners who do not build a schedule almost always discover that number the week it is due, which is the week the savings account has to be raided. Knowing it in early March is worth more than any of the percentages.
The second is the €2,173.50 sitting in the retention column. That is real money, it is yours until the defects period ends, and it is the only leverage you have left once the contractor has driven away. Ninety days of it costs the contractor almost nothing and buys you a phone call that gets answered.
The third is that only €4,588.50 of a €48,300 job is left when the snagging list appears. Ten percent is not much of an incentive to come back and refit a door that has dropped. If you have a choice, weight the last stage more heavily and the deposit less.
What each input means
Plain English, with the number to use if you are guessing.
- Contract value, before tax
- The agreed price for the work itself. Not the budget, not the quote you hope to negotiate down, and not the figure with tax already inside it. If your quote is tax-inclusive, divide by 1 plus the rate to get back to the value, then put the rate in section 3.
- Work starts and programme length
- Only used to turn the week numbers into dates. Sixteen weeks is a fair guess for a full house, four to six for a kitchen, ten to twenty for an extension, but take the number from the contractor’s own programme if you have one. If the job slides, change this and reprint.
- Stage share
- The percentage of the contract value that stage releases. They should total 100. The calculator tells you when they do not, and shows you what is unallocated instead of quietly rescaling your numbers behind your back.
- Due in week
- How many weeks after the start date that stage is expected to be complete. Week 0 is the first day. Changing the programme length rescales every week proportionally, so the shape of the job survives a change of dates.
- Retention held
- A percentage held back from each payment, released after the job. Three to five percent is the ordinary commercial band. On a domestic job it is a negotiation, not a right, and it has to be in the contract before work starts. Set it to 0 if you have not agreed any and the schedule still works.
- Held from
- Holding retention on the deposit is unusual, because the deposit is normally buying materials rather than paying for work done. The default leaves the deposit alone. Change it if your contract says otherwise.
- Released after
- The defects period, counted in days from the last stage. Ninety days is common on small domestic work, six or twelve months on larger builds. This is a contract term, so read it off the contract rather than accepting the default.
- Sales tax or VAT
- Your rate, typed by you, because it varies by country, by the kind of work and sometimes by the age or use of the building. This calculator applies it to the full value of each stage and does not attempt to guess whether a reduced rate applies to you.
The mistakes that cost homeowners money
Almost none of them are about the percentages.
1. Paying to a calendar instead of to the work
A schedule that says “15 April: €12,075” invites you to pay on 15 April whether or not the structural work is finished. Write the trigger as the thing, and put the date next to it as a forecast. The moment payments run ahead of the work, you are funding the contractor rather than buying a renovation, and every subsequent problem gets harder.
2. A front-loaded schedule
Add up the first two payments. If they come to more than about a third of the job before anything structural has happened, you are carrying the risk rather than sharing it. The counter-argument is materials, and it is sometimes true. Ask for the supplier order.
3. A final payment too small to matter
Snagging is unglamorous, unprofitable work that competes with the next job. If the money left at the end is smaller than the cost of coming back for three days, it will not bring anyone back. Ten percent is the floor. Fifteen is better on a job with a lot of finishing.
4. Agreeing variations without repricing the schedule
Extra work gets agreed on site, in conversation, and then arrives as a surprise at the end. Every variation should adjust the contract value and therefore the remaining stages. If you take one habit from this page, take that one: whenever the price changes, the schedule is reissued.
5. No retention and no final inspection
Retention without an inspection at the end is just a delayed payment. Book the walkthrough before the last stage is due, write the list on the day, and agree the date the list has to be cleared by.
The test to apply before every payment
Stand in the house. Point at the thing the payment is named after. If you cannot point at it, the payment is not due yet, whatever the date says.
Stage patterns this calculator starts from
Four shapes, all editable. They are conventions collected from renovation contracts and trade guidance, not a standard anyone enforces.
| Type of work | Stages | Shares |
|---|---|---|
| Whole-house renovation | 6 | 10 / 20 / 25 / 20 / 15 / 10 |
| Kitchen or bathroom fit-out | 4 | 25 / 25 / 35 / 15 |
| Extension or structural build | 7 | 10 / 15 / 15 / 20 / 15 / 15 / 10 |
| Single trade, small job | 3 | 30 / 50 / 20 |
The extension pattern is the one most worth arguing about. It pays 40% before the roof is on, which is when the weather risk and the ground risk are both still live. If you can push a slice of that into the watertight stage, do.
The fit-out pattern looks deposit-heavy at 25%, and that one is usually defensible: units, worktops and appliances are ordered and paid for weeks before anyone arrives to fit them. Ask which supplier and for how much.
What this page does not know
It does not know where you are. Consumer building contracts are regulated differently in every country: what has to be in writing, what a deposit may be, what cancellation rights apply, whether stage payments on domestic work are restricted at all. None of that is in here, and none of it should be inferred from a schedule that this page printed.
It does not know your tax position. The rate is whatever you type. Reduced rates exist in several countries for renovation work, and the conditions are specific enough that guessing would be worse than asking.
It does not know whether your contractor is any good. A perfect schedule and the wrong builder is still the wrong builder.
What it does know is arithmetic, and arithmetic written down before the job starts is worth a surprising amount when the job is halfway through.
Questions people ask about contractor payment schedules
What is a draw schedule?
A draw schedule is the list of payments on a building or renovation contract: what triggers each one, how much it is, and roughly when it falls due. It is called a draw schedule because each payment draws down part of the agreed contract sum. On a renovation the trigger is usually a stage of work being finished and inspected, not a calendar date.
How do contractor payment schedules usually work?
A deposit on signing, then a payment as each recognisable stage of work completes, then a final payment when the snagging list is cleared. A common pattern on a whole-house renovation is 10% on signing, 20% at first fix, 25% when the structural work is done, 20% at second fix and plastering, 15% at decoration, and 10% at completion. Those percentages are conventions, not rules, and they are the starting point in this calculator rather than the answer.
What percentage deposit should a contractor ask for?
Enough to cover the materials and plant they have to buy before they can start, which on most renovation work is 10% to 25%. A deposit is not a measure of commitment, it is a purchase order for things. Ask what the deposit buys and ask for the supplier order or invoice. If a contractor wants half the job before a tool comes out of the van, the honest question is why, and the answer is sometimes that they are funding a different job with your money.
Should I ever pay in full up front?
No. Once the money is gone you have no leverage and no incentive left to offer. Keep a meaningful final payment, ideally 10% or more, tied to the snagging list being cleared rather than to a date. The last 5% of a job is the part that gets abandoned, and it is abandoned on the jobs that were paid in full early.
What is retention and how much is normal?
Retention is a small percentage held back from each payment and released a set period after completion, so that defects which only show up later still have money sitting behind them. On commercial contracts 3% to 5% is the usual band, often halved at practical completion and the rest released at the end of the defects period. On domestic work it is less common but perfectly reasonable to ask for, and 5% on a job of any size is not an insult. Whatever you agree has to be written into the contract before work starts.
When is retention released?
At the end of an agreed defects period counted from completion, which is why the calculator asks you for the number of days rather than assuming one. Three months is common on small domestic work, six or twelve months on larger builds. The period is whatever your contract says it is, so take the number from the contract rather than from a calculator.
Do I pay VAT or sales tax on each stage payment?
Usually yes, if the contractor is registered for it, and the rate depends entirely on where you are and what the work is. This calculator asks you to type the rate rather than guessing at it, and applies it to the full value of each stage. The point at which tax becomes due on money held as retention is treated differently in different countries, so if you are holding retention, take that detail from your accountant and not from this page.
What if the contractor asks for money ahead of the schedule?
Treat it as new information rather than as a favour. There are honest reasons, such as a supplier demanding payment before delivery of something expensive and bespoke. There are also dishonest ones. If you agree, agree to it in writing, tie it to the specific thing it is paying for, and ask for the supplier invoice. What you should not do is quietly let the schedule drift, because the schedule is the only record of whether you are ahead of the work or behind it.
How do I tie payments to stages rather than dates?
Write the trigger as something you can stand in a room and see: plaster on and dry, roof watertight, first fix complete and tested, kitchen units fitted and doors aligned. The dates this calculator produces are a forecast for cash-flow planning. The contract should say the payment falls due when the stage is complete and inspected, with the date as an expectation rather than a trigger.
What happens to the schedule if the job runs late?
The amounts do not change, the dates slide. That is the whole reason to separate the two. Come back to this page, put the new programme length in, and print the revised schedule so both sides are working from the same picture. If the money is running ahead of the work, that gap is the single most useful warning sign on a renovation, and you can only see it if the schedule is written down.
Is a payment schedule legally binding?
Only if it forms part of a contract you and the contractor have both agreed to. A schedule you print and keep in a drawer is a planning document. Many countries also regulate consumer building contracts specifically, covering deposits, cancellation rights and what must be in writing, and those rules vary widely. This page does not know where you are and does not pretend to. Get the schedule into the contract, and if the sums are large, get somebody local to read it.
Is anything I type saved or uploaded?
No. The whole calculation runs in your browser. Nothing is uploaded, stored or logged, and there is no account. Close the tab and the numbers are gone, which is why there is a start over button and no save button.
The schedule is the plan. The tracker is what happens next.
This page prints a schedule and forgets it when you close the tab. That is deliberate, and it stays free. What it cannot do is tell you, in month four, whether the money leaving your account still matches the work standing in the house. The Home Renovation Budget Tracker (€13, Excel, Google Sheets or LibreOffice) is the spreadsheet for that half: budget against actual by room and by trade, approved change orders that revise the budget line they hit, a contingency meter that turns amber at 25% remaining, and an invoice log that flags the same invoice paid twice. One payment, no subscription, no account.
See what is in the tracker