Construction forms software is searched for by a small contractor who fills the same five forms on every job and retypes the numbers between them: the estimate, the quote the owner signs, the schedule of values the contract carries, the pay application each draw is billed on, and the change order that moves the sum. Each is a form; each carries money; and each is computed from the one before, which is the whole reason for software over a folder of PDFs. This page says what each form has to compute and how the numbers pass between them, works the chain on the hub's $450,000 example, and points at the free tools on this site that fill the estimate and the draw from the contractor's own figures, with no account.
The estimate and the quote: the first two forms
The estimate computes the building at the contractor's own cost per square foot, the site work, the contingency and the overhead and profit into lines and a total; on the hub's example, $330,000, $25,000, $35,500 and $58,575, $449,075. The quote is the estimate turned to face the owner: the same lines with the scope, the exclusions, the validity and the payment terms added, and a signature line. Construction forms software fills the quote from the estimate rather than asking for the numbers again, and the free construction cost estimator on this site prints the estimate's lines in the order the quote needs them.
The schedule of values and the pay application: the money forms
At signing, the quote's lines become the schedule of values, each part of the contract with its value, summing to the contract sum. Each draw is a pay application computed against it: contract sum, work complete to date by line, total completed and stored, previously billed, this period, retainage held, payment due, balance to finish. On the example's first application, 35% complete with 20% billed before, $12,000 stored and 10% retainage, $71,550 is due and $292,500 remains. The AIA G702 and its G703 continuation sheet are the standard forms those lines are laid out on, and the free schedule-of-values draw on this site computes them from five inputs.
The change order: the form that moves every other form
A change order adds or deducts a stated amount for a stated change, and once signed it changes the contract sum, adds or amends a line on the schedule of values, and therefore changes every later pay application's contract sum and balance to finish. Forms software that treats the change order as a separate document leaves the contractor to re-enter the new sum on the next draw; software that computes from it carries the change through. The record on this site keeps the change orders against the project so the current sum, not the original, is what each draw is computed on.
What the software has to compute, and what it keeps
On every form, the arithmetic the previous form set up: the quote from the estimate, the schedule of values from the quote, each application from the schedule and the last application, and all of them from the current contract sum after change orders. Construction forms software that fills templates has done the layout; software that computes between them has done the job. The free tools on this site compute the estimate and the draw; the paid plan keeps the five forms against the project and the client, exported as the owner or the accountant needs them, and the Small Business Administration's finance guide is the plain-language reference for why the numbers on them have to agree.
Questions people ask about construction forms software
Which construction forms carry money?
The estimate, the quote, the schedule of values, the pay application and the change order. Each is computed from the last, and a change order moves every application after it.
What should construction forms software compute?
The quote's lines from the estimate, the schedule of values from the quote, each pay application from the schedule and the previous application, and all of them from the current contract sum after change orders.
Are the forms free on this site?
The estimate and the draw are computed free with no account. The paid plan keeps all five forms against the project and the client, exported when needed.