CONSTRUCTION / BILL PAY

Retainage for Bill Pay

Can we build it on what already exists?

The Bill Pay gap in construction

39%

Non-construction
Bill Pay attach

24%
Construction
Bill Pay attach

Construction processes $2T+ in AP invoices every year. We have the right to win —
but construction-specific workflows are blocking adoption.

What we're hearing from the field

Accordant (5,000 construction clients) — retainage support is a non-starter for referring customers to Ramp
Concrete Placement ($12K CP/mo) — "Ramp has everything we need, but without retainage we won't be able to move forward"
Wipfli — retainage would let us replace Textura, GCPay, and legacy construction bill pay tools

9 customers in the Construction Alpha actively eager to use this if we build it.

What is retainage?

Example: GC hires an electrical sub for a $100K contract at 10% retainage

Invoice	Billed	Retained (10%)	Paid
#1	$25,000	$2,500	$22,500
#2	$25,000	$2,500	$22,500
#3	$25,000	$2,500	$22,500
#4	$25,000	$2,500	$22,500
Release	—	—	$10,000

5-10% of every invoice is withheld until the work is done, then released in bulk.

Problem statement

Customers need to withhold a percentage of an invoice payment, then release that percentage at a later date.

PROTOTYPE — SETUP

Select the liability account

Needs review (4)

Scheduled (12)

Paid

Awaiting release 8

#VendorAmount

4521ABC Concrete Inc$45,000

8834Steel Supply Co$12,400

2201Midwest Electric$8,750

Retainage Payable Account

Withheld retainage amounts will be posted to this account until released.

One-time setup: pick the GL account where retainage lands.

PROTOTYPE — PAY

Paying an invoice with retainage

Invoice #

4521

Amount

$45,000

Invoice Date

Jan 28, 2026

Due Date

Feb 15, 2026

Matched Purchase Order

PO-2024-0892

Foundation concrete - Phase 2

PO Amount

$50,000

Retainage: 10% $5,000 withheld to date

Default Coding

Project

Hudson Yards Tower A

GL Account

5000 - COGS

Cost Code

02-100 Concrete

Location

New York

Invoice

Lien Waiver

📄

Invoice PDF Preview

Retainage

10% ($4,500) will be withheld

Inherited from PO · Override

Payment amount

$40,500

Retainage % inherited from the PO. Controller can override per invoice.

PROTOTYPE — RELEASE

Releasing retainage

Needs review (4)

Scheduled (12)

Paid

Awaiting release 8

8 invoices across 3 projects · $18,050 withheld

3 selected · $10,440

Hudson Yards Tower A 5 invoices

$11,850

ABC Concrete Inc PO-2024-0892 $4,500

Steel Supply Co PO-2024-1105 $1,240

ABC Drywall PO-2024-0147 $4,700

ProBuild Materials PO-2024-1221 $320

Smith Plumbing PO-2024-0961 $1,090

Riverside Office 2 invoices

$4,350

Select invoices by project, bulk release when the work is done.

What we know

✓

Approval for invoice and retainage release are separate

Standard bill pay approvals for the invoice. Separate approval chain for releasing retainage later.

✓

Retainage is usually on the PO, but a PO isn't always required

Some invoices with retainage won't be matched to a PO.

✓

Some ERPs have retainage-specific modules

Intacct has a retainage release object. Customers have said they'd be okay without perfect sync to it, but it's something to keep in mind.

→

Document compliance is often required for release, but out of scope

Lien waivers, COIs, etc. Thinking about this separately.

→

Releases often tie to project phases completing

Could automate release triggers later. Right now: focus on the fundamental workflow.

How do we build this?

1

Can we do this with partial payments?

Model retainage as "pay 90% now, pay 10% later." What in the current partial payment flow supports this, and what breaks?

2

What's easy vs. what's hard with existing infra?

Help us narrow down what a realistic MVP looks like. Where can we lean on what Bill Pay already has, and where do we need something new?