# Retainage

Retainage is the portion of each payment that the customer holds back until the project is finished. It is standard practice in construction and protects the customer in case work needs to be corrected. ProForge Core tracks retainage automatically on every AIA bill.

## How It Works

On most construction contracts, the customer withholds a percentage of each payment -- usually 5% or 10% -- until the work is substantially complete. This held-back amount is called retainage (sometimes spelled "retention").

For example, if you bill $100,000 and retainage is 10%, the customer pays you $90,000 now and holds $10,000 in retainage. That $10,000 accumulates over the life of the project and is released at the end when all work is done and the customer is satisfied.

ProForge Core calculates retainage automatically on each AIA bill and keeps a running total so you always know how much is being held.

## Steps

### Setting the Retainage Percentage

1. When you set up a **Project**, enter the **Retainage Percentage** (e.g., 10%).
2. This percentage is applied automatically to every AIA bill you create for that project.
3. If different line items have different retainage rates, you can override the percentage on individual lines in the continuation sheet.

### Viewing Retainage on an AIA Bill

1. Open any **AIA Bill** for the project.
2. The **G702 Summary** shows:
   * Total retainage held to date
   * Retainage from this period
   * Net amount due after retainage
3. The **Continuation Sheet** shows retainage calculated per line item.

### Billing Retainage at Project End

When the project is complete and the customer agrees to release retainage:

1. Open the project and click **Create AIA Bill**.
2. In the retainage section, change the **Retainage Percentage** to **0%** for this billing period.
3. The system calculates the retainage release -- the full amount that has been held back across all prior bills.
4. The **Amount Due** on this bill will include the released retainage.
5. **Submit** the bill and send it to your customer.

![retainage release final bill (step 1)](/files/d1ENoEZ98WekvIxXam1o)

## Related Pages

* [Creating an AIA Bill](/project-management/proforge-core/aia-billing/creating-an-aia-bill.md) -- retainage is part of every bill
* [Continuation Sheets](/project-management/proforge-core/aia-billing/continuation-sheets.md) -- retainage is tracked per line item
* [Accounts Receivable Report](/project-management/proforge-core/reports/accounts-receivable.md) -- see total retainage outstanding across all projects


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