◆ On Starter · $19.99 a month (CA$24.99)

Progress billing that follows the schedule the client signed.

A four-month job cannot be one invoice at the end. Estiquik puts the payment schedule on the estimate — 50 / 50, 30 / 40 / 30, or your own stages — so the client agrees to it before the deposit, and then turns each stage into its own invoice when you reach it. Holdback, where your province requires it, is kept back from every draw and released at the end.

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✓ No card to start✓ Schedule prints on the estimate✓ Holdback release built in

An Estiquik progress invoice for a 50% deposit, showing the payment schedule panel with the deposit stage being invoiced and the completion stage still to come

Sample progress invoice from the live demo

Stages, draws, holdback

What progress invoicing does

Everything hangs off the schedule on the estimate. Change the stages there and every invoice that follows uses the new split.

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A schedule on the estimate

Under Payment schedule, add the stages and their share of the price, or pick a preset — 50 / 50 or 30 / 40 / 30. The schedule prints on the estimate, so the client agrees to the terms with the price.

Agreed before the deposit

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One invoice per stage

Press Invoice this stage on the estimate, or Create invoice and Estiquik picks the next unbilled stage. Each progress invoice gets its own number, due date and pay link.

Deposit · stage 1 of 2

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The running position

A progress invoice shows the contract value, what was invoiced before, this stage's share and what is left — on the document the client sees, not just on your screen.

No 'what does this cover?' calls

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Holdback

Set a holdback percentage on the estimate and that share is retained from every stage, then billed as a final holdback release invoice when the job is done.

Ontario's Construction Act holdback, handled

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Paid like any invoice

A progress invoice carries the Pay by card button through your own Stripe account, records e-Transfers and cheques, and gets the same overdue reminders on Pro.

See invoicing →

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Counted as it is billed

Job costing and the QuickBooks sync treat each stage as its own invoice, so the job's invoiced total and margin are right mid-project, not only at the end.

See job costing →

Deposit to release

How a staged job gets billed

Four steps, and the client has seen the schedule before any of them.

STEP 1

Set the stages

On the estimate, add Deposit, the draws and On completion with their percentages, and a holdback percentage if the contract or your province calls for one. The estimate shows the schedule.

STEP 2

Invoice the deposit

The client approves the estimate; Invoice this stage creates the deposit invoice with its share of the contract value. Email it with the Pay button.

STEP 3

Draw as you go

At each milestone — foundation, framing, rough-in, drywall — create the next invoice. Estiquik picks the next unbilled stage; the invoice states what was billed before and what remains.

STEP 4

Release the holdback

When the job is done and the holdback period has run, the final invoice bills the retained amount. The client sees the whole sequence add up to the contract value.

Deductive or additive change orders are their own signed documents on Pro; see change orders for how they roll into the revised contract value.

Deposits and holdback

The rules the schedule is built around

Estiquik does not decide your deposit or your holdback — you do, and the estimate states it. What it does is make the arithmetic and the paperwork automatic.

DepositsOntario's consumer-protection guidance recommends a deposit of no more than 10% of the price; common practice on renovations runs higher. Whatever you choose, the schedule on the estimate is what the client agreed to. How much deposit to ask for.

HoldbackUnder Ontario's Construction Act the owner holds back 10% of the value of work until the lien period ends. Set 10% on the estimate and each draw bills 90% of its stage, with the 10% billed as a release at the end. Deposits, draws and holdback explained.

Draws tied to milestonesName the stages after the milestones a client can see — framing inspected, drywall on — rather than dates. The invoice says which stage it is.

One contract valueEvery progress invoice references the same estimate and the same contract value, so the sequence reconciles on the client's side as well as yours.

Progress billing software pricing

What it costs next to the tools that do progress billing

Progress billing is on Starter. Vendor facts below were read from their own sites on 3 September 2026, in US dollars.

Product	Monthly	What that buys
Estiquik Starter	$19.99	CA$24.99 · payment schedule on the estimate, one invoice per stage, holdback release, card payments via your Stripe.
Joist	Free / $17 / $32	Deposits and milestone payment requests on invoices; change orders on the $32 Elite tier, on invoices only.
Jobber	Core $49	Deposits and progress invoicing on jobs; one user, $29 per extra user.
Buildxact	Foundation $199	Progress claims for builders; from buildxact.com/us/pricing, 7 September 2026.

Most estimating apps bill progress from the job, not from a schedule the client signed with the estimate. That difference is the whole feature.

Where it stops

What a progress invoice in Estiquik is

Pick Estiquik if you…

Run jobs that take weeks or monthsKitchens, basements, additions, ADUs. Anything with a deposit and more than one draw.
Work in Ontario or anywhere with statutory holdbackThe holdback is retained per stage and released once, on its own invoice.
Want the client to agree to the schedule up frontIt prints on the estimate they approve, not on the first invoice they receive.
Bill in Canadian dollars with the right taxHST/GST/PST by province on every stage.

Pick Buildxact or a builder's accounting tool if you need…

AIA-style schedule-of-values billingEstiquik bills stages as a percentage of the contract, not a per-line schedule of values with percent complete on each item.
Retainage accounting by line or by tradeOne holdback percentage per estimate. Not per line, not per subcontractor.
Lien waivers and statutory declarationsEstiquik produces invoices; the lien paperwork is yours.
Progress claims on a cost-plus contractThe stages are shares of a fixed contract value. Cost-plus jobs are better billed as one-off invoices from the expenses.

It is a share of the estimate's contract value, invoiced against a stage the client saw when they approved the estimate. Change the schedule on the estimate and the stages that are not yet billed follow the new split; stages already invoiced are not rewritten.

Progress invoices are ordinary invoices otherwise: they print, email with a sent copy, carry the Pay button, record payments, feed job costing and sync to QuickBooks on Pro.

Before you ask

Questions contractors ask

Can I bill a job in stages — deposit, mid-project, completion?

Yes. On the estimate, under Payment schedule, add the stages and their share of the price, or pick 50 / 50 or 30 / 40 / 30. Each stage then becomes its own progress invoice — Invoice this stage on the estimate, or Create invoice and Estiquik picks the next unbilled stage.

What does the client see on a progress invoice?

The contract value, what was invoiced before, this stage's share and what is left, with the stage name and number — plus the same line items, tax, due date and Pay button as any invoice.

How does holdback work?

Set a holdback percentage on the estimate. Every draw bills its share less the holdback; the retained amount is billed once at the end as a holdback release invoice. Ontario's Construction Act sets 10% for the lien period; other provinces and states differ, and the percentage is yours to set.

Can I change the schedule after the deposit is invoiced?

Yes. Stages that have not been invoiced yet follow the new split. Invoices already issued are not rewritten.

Does it handle a deductive change mid-job?

Change orders, on Pro, are separate signed documents that adjust the revised contract value — an extra adds, a credit subtracts. See the change orders page for how they are priced and signed.

Which plan is progress billing on?

Starter, at $19.99 a month (CA$24.99), alongside invoicing, e-signature and card payments. Automatic overdue reminders and the QuickBooks sync are on Pro at $29.99.