The 8 reasons GCs send pay apps back.

Tick each one that has happened at your company in the last 90 days, then check your score. Each reason comes with its fix.

1. Late. It missed the GC’s cutoff, so payment slipped a whole cycle.
Fix One calendar with every GC’s cutoff. Finish two business days early.
2. Overbilled. Percent complete ran ahead of the work in place.
Fix The PM confirms each line’s percent before anything is billed.
3. Missing backup. The GC wanted a certificate, invoice or form you didn’t send.
Fix A backup checklist for each GC, confirmed with its accounting department.
4. Bad math. Totals didn’t tie to the schedule of values, prior billings or retainage.
Fix Formulas, plus a second check that every figure matches across documents.
5. Unsigned change orders. Extra work was billed before the change order was approved.
Fix Bill only signed change orders. Track pending ones on a separate list.
6. The wrong waiver. Wrong form, wrong amount, or conditional and unconditional mixed up.
Fix Match every waiver to the Texas statutory form and the exact amount billed.
7. A missing vendor waiver. One supplier’s waiver was late, and the whole draw waited.
Fix Request every vendor waiver at the start of the period, then chase it.
8. No follow-up. The pay app sat unapproved and nobody asked.
Fix Track each pay app to approval and payment on a set follow-up schedule.

Want your number?

Get a free Cash Snapshot.

Have whoever runs your billing email your AR aging report to [email protected]. Within 48 hours you’ll get one page: what’s open and with which GCs, what’s past due, retainage where your report shows it, and three fixes your office can make this month, with or without me.

Any format works. A phone photo is fine, and names can be blacked out.
No call and no obligation. I review every Cash Snapshot myself.
I’ll sign an NDA if you’d like one, and I delete your file within 30 days. How I handle it

Email your AR aging Book a 20-minute intro call (opens in a new tab)

Fix #1, on paper

Your GC cutoffs.

Fill it in and keep it by whoever does billing.

General contractor	Pay app due	Backup they want

It’s the checklist I’d run on every one of your pay apps before it goes to a GC. Operations help, not legal advice: lien rights, notices and statutory forms stay with you and your attorney.

Questions? Call or text me at (214) 974-3587, book a call (opens in a new tab), or send me a note.