Halfway through a job, how did we get here? (the job record)

It's month five of a job. The GC calls about the numbers. Someone asks why the drywall line is $1,500 more than the contract said, and you're not sure. You think a change was approved. You think the line was re-split. You're fairly sure it was on the second pay app, but you can't find the email.

That's the moment a billing record earns its keep. Every job has a history: what the contract said on day one, every change to it, every pay app sent and when, every amount the GC certified, every hold, every short payment, every payment received. The question is whether you can see all of it in one place.

A useful record answers five things:

• What did we agree at the start? The original contract sum, the retainage rate, and the date the contract was locked.
• What changed, and who said so? Each change order, with its number, date, reason, and the name of the person who recorded it.
• Where did money move between lines? When a line was re-split to match a new plan, the move should show what was taken from where, and why, with the contract total unchanged.
• What was billed, certified and paid, and when? Each pay app with its sent date, what the GC certified, any hold or short payment and the reason for it, and when the money arrived.
• What's still open? Holds not yet fixed, short payments still carried, retainage not yet released.

When all of that is in one place, the call about the drywall line takes two minutes. You open the record, find the change order, see who recorded it and why, and you're done.

This isn't the same as a legal audit, and it isn't an opinion on whether a change was right. It's a dated, plain record of what happened, which is exactly what you need when a question comes up.

NailMyPay keeps this record for every job. The job page shows the price history, with each change and its reason. The job record can be downloaded as a PDF that shows everything to date, so you can print it or send it when someone asks how the job got here. It's worth looking at one job's record in your first pay app, even before you decide anything else.