A general contractor's billing problem is time. The job runs for six weeks or six months, the money comes in stages, subs need paying before the client pays you, and the scope changes twice a month. The invoice is not an event at the end — it is a running account.
Toolbelt handles the documents: the deposit, the progress bills, the change orders and the final invoice, all itemised and all sent from wherever you happen to be standing. It is deliberately not a project management platform, and if that is what you need we will point you at one.
What actually goes wrong when general contractors invoice
These are the four billing problems we hear most often from general contractors. None of them is about not knowing how to do the work — they are all about the gap between finishing a job and getting paid for it.
Financing the job out of your own pocket
You pay the subs and the supply house on your terms and get paid on the client's. Every week that an invoice sits unwritten is a week you are lending the client money at zero percent.
Change orders agreed verbally and never billed
This is where GCs lose the most money. A change agreed on site and not documented within the day is a change you did for free, and on a long job there will be a dozen of them.
Progress billing that the client disputes
"Stage two — $18,000" invites a fight. An itemised progress bill showing exactly what was completed in that stage does not.
Deposits that aren't taken, or aren't big enough
The deposit is what stops you funding the materials on your own credit. If it is not on the quote it is very hard to introduce later.
How Toolbelt fits a general contractor's day
Deposits and progress bills as first-class documents
Quote with a deposit line. Invoice each stage as it completes, itemised.
Document the change the day it happens
Speak it into the phone on site and send a revised quote the same afternoon. The discipline matters more than the tool, but the tool is what makes the discipline survive a bad week.
Every document branded and consistent
On a six-figure job the paperwork is part of how the client decides whether you are a real business.
Example general contractor invoice line items
These are example line items with typical US market ranges, to show how a general contractor's invoice breaks down. They are illustrations, not our recommended prices — your rates depend on your market, your licence, your overhead and your reputation, and nobody on the internet should be setting them for you.
| Line item | Unit | Typical range |
|---|---|---|
| Deposit / mobilisation (on signing) | % of contract | 10 – 30% |
| Progress billing — stage completion | per stage | as scheduled |
| Labour — general contractor / PM | per hour | $75 – $150 |
| Subcontractor cost (pass-through + markup) | at cost + markup | cost + 10–20% |
| Materials (pass-through + markup) | at cost + markup | cost + 10–20% |
| Change order — additional scope | per order | priced per change |
| Permit and inspection fees | at cost | at cost |
| Site clean-up and disposal | flat | $300 – $1,500 |
In Toolbelt you save the ones you use constantly, so after a couple of weeks most of an invoice is taps rather than typing. You can read more on structuring a document properly in our invoice template guide, or start from our free contractor invoice template.
Pricing
Toolbelt is free for 3 invoices or quotes a month, with every feature switched on and no card required. Past that it is $14.99/month or $99.99/year — one price, everything included. If you are weighing it against the alternatives, we keep honest comparison pages that tell you where the other apps beat us.
Getting paid: deposits and terms for general contractors
Progress billing is the whole job. A schedule of values agreed before you start — deposit, stages tied to milestones, retainage if applicable, final payment on completion — is what keeps you from financing someone's renovation out of your own line of credit. Agree the stages in writing on the quote, and invoice the moment each one completes, not at the end of the month.
The killer is change orders. On a long job you will have a dozen, each one agreed in a two-minute conversation on site. Every one of them that is not documented and priced the same day is money you have donated. Make it a rule that no change proceeds without a revised quote sent, even a one-line one.
More on this in our guides to deposits and payment terms and getting paid faster.
What to put on a general contractor invoice
The difference between an invoice that gets paid and one that gets a phone call is almost always detail. For general contractors specifically, make sure these are on it:
- The stage being billed and what it covered, itemised
- The original contract value and what remains
- Change orders as separate, dated, individually-priced lines
- Subcontractor costs and whether markup is included
- Permit and inspection fees, at cost
- Retainage held, if applicable
General Contractors FAQ
Can I do progress billing?
Yes — invoice each stage as its own itemised document against the original quote.
Does Toolbelt do formal change-order tracking?
Not as a dedicated workflow. You can document a change and send a revised quote in under a minute, which covers most one- and two-person GCs. If you need a formal change-order register with approvals, Joist's Elite tier or a full PM platform will serve you better — see our Joist comparison.
Can I show subcontractor costs as pass-through?
Yes, with or without your markup shown as a separate line.
Can I take a deposit before starting?
Yes, and you should. Put it on the quote as a line item so it is agreed up front rather than negotiated later.
Related trades
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