{"id":62,"date":"2026-07-19T00:32:38","date_gmt":"2026-07-19T00:32:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wisegrid.co\/blog\/construction-draw-schedule\/"},"modified":"2026-07-19T01:43:48","modified_gmt":"2026-07-19T01:43:48","slug":"construction-draw-schedule","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wisegrid.co\/blog\/construction-draw-schedule\/","title":{"rendered":"Construction Draw Schedule: Get Paid at Every Phase (2026)"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Ryan Kramer<\/a>, founder of Wisegrid. Last updated July 2026.<\/em><\/p>\n

Here is a number that should scare you: most small construction outfits have, at least once, finished a job and realized nobody invoiced a draw. Ninety thousand dollars of work, and draw two just\u2026 never went out. The work got done. The invoice did not.<\/p>\n

That is not a bookkeeping problem. That is a cash flow problem, and for a two-or-three-person operation, cash flow is the whole game. The fix is boring and five lines long: the draw schedule. The money gets its own plan, sitting right next to the work.<\/p>\n

What a draw schedule actually is<\/h2>\n

A draw schedule breaks the contract price into payments, each one triggered by a real milestone<\/strong> the client agreed to up front. Deposit at signing, progress draws at visible stages, final at sign-off. For a kitchen remodel it looks like this:<\/p>\n

\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Draw<\/th>\nTriggered by<\/th>\nAmount<\/th>\nStatus<\/th>\nDate<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n
Deposit<\/td>\nContract signed<\/td>\n$8,000<\/td>\nPaid<\/td>\nMay 1<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Draw 1<\/td>\nRough-in complete + inspection passed<\/td>\n$12,000<\/td>\nPaid<\/td>\nJun 15<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Draw 2<\/td>\nDrywall complete<\/td>\n$9,500<\/td>\nInvoiced<\/td>\nJul 14<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Draw 3<\/td>\nCabinets + counters installed<\/td>\n$7,500<\/td>\nUpcoming<\/td>\nAug 5<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Final<\/td>\nPunch list signed off<\/td>\n$6,000<\/td>\nUpcoming<\/td>\nAug 20<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table><\/div>\n

Five lines, $43,000, and at any moment one glance tells you where the money stands.<\/p>\n

The status column is the whole game<\/h2>\n

Paid, invoiced, or coming.<\/strong> That third state is the one that saves you.<\/p>\n

Draw 2 up there is invoiced and still outstanding. That is the phone call you make today<\/em>, politely, while the drywall is fresh and everyone is happy. Not the awkward conversation you discover in September when the job is done, the client has moved in, and your leverage moved in with them.<\/p>\n

A draw schedule you check weekly turns collections from an event into a habit. Nothing ages, nothing gets forgotten, and no job ends with money left on the table.<\/p>\n

Rules that keep draws clean<\/h2>\n
    \n
  1. Tie every draw to a milestone the client can see.<\/strong> \u201cDrywall complete\u201d is checkable by anyone standing in the room. \u201c50% done\u201d is an argument.<\/li>\n
  2. Front-load honestly.<\/strong> The deposit and first draw should cover your early materials exposure, so you are never financing the client\u2019s project on your credit card.<\/li>\n
  3. Put the schedule in the contract and keep it visible.<\/strong> When the client agreed to \u201cDraw 3 at cabinets installed,\u201d the invoice is not a surprise, it is the plan happening.<\/li>\n
  4. Never start the next phase with the last draw unpaid.<\/strong> The draw schedule gives you a neutral way to say it: \u201cSoon as draw 2 clears, we order counters.\u201d<\/li>\n
  5. Log extras separately.<\/strong> Change orders get their own lines and their own approvals; see how to handle change orders without losing money<\/a>.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Keep it next to the work<\/h2>\n

    A draw schedule in a drawer is as useful as a permit in a drawer. As a live sheet in the same project as your job schedule and your job cost sheet<\/a>, it is part of running the job: statuses change as invoices go out, and the whole picture (work, extras, money) lives in one place the whole crew can see.<\/p>\n

    Grab the free construction draw schedule template<\/a>: five lines, the trigger and status columns pre-built, in a sheet that is literally just like Excel to use. Pair it with the change order log<\/a> and the job profit calculator<\/a>, and the money side of the job runs itself.<\/p>\n

    Watch: Construction Draw Schedule: Get Paid at Every Phase (2 minutes)<\/h2>\n
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