Overbilling Check

A free overbilling check for a pay application

Enter each line's scheduled value, what it was certified at last month, and what this application claims. This works out what the movement actually earns, compares it to the amount being requested, and flags the lines worth asking about.

The three things it looks for

Percent complete going backwards

A line certified at 60% last month and 45% this month. Usually a correction — but it means last month's payment was too high, and it should be acknowledged rather than quietly absorbed.

A jump too large to be plausible

A line moving 5% a month for six months that suddenly moves 40%. It may be real. It is also what billing ahead of the work looks like from the outside.

A request the percentages do not support

The line movements earn one number; the application asks for another. Change orders and stored materials explain some of it — an unexplained gap is the reason to ask.

Why an owner should run this before paying, not after

Once money is out the door, getting it back is a negotiation. The whole point of certifying a pay application is that it happens before payment, and the check that matters is whether the percentages tell the same story as the amount. That takes about two minutes on a schedule of this size, and almost nobody does it.

What it is not

It is not proof of overbilling. Every flag here has an innocent explanation available, and most will have one. It tells you which line to ask about. If the answer is good, you have lost two minutes; if it is not, you have saved a great deal more.

What it does not do

It checks one application against the percentages inside it. It does not compare against photographs, inspections, the schedule, or what previous applications actually certified. That is the paid product — and it is where the comparison stops being arithmetic and starts being evidence.