Subcontractor Invoice Template

• Subcontractor: business name, address, phone or email and "License no.", with the placeholder "[License no., if required where you work]"
• Invoice details: invoice number, invoice date, payment terms, due date, billing period and "Pay application no."
• Bill to (general contractor): company, "Attention" (such as project accounting), address and email
• Project: project, project address, "Subcontract no.", "PO no." and "Lien waiver"
• Work completed to date: each line of work, with item, details, quantity, unit, rate and amount, and a "Work to date subtotal"
• Approved change orders: each change order with its approval date, and a "Change orders subtotal"
• Totals: "Subtotal", "Retainage withheld" with its rate, "Total less retainage", "Less: previous billings" and "Amount due"
• How to pay: accepted methods, account name, bank details and a payment reference that quotes the invoice and subcontract numbers
• Billing notes: how the quantities were measured, the retainage terms and what the previous billings cover

The sample is pay application 3 from a drywall and ceilings subcontractor on a library renovation, for Nov 1 to Nov 30, 2026:

• metal stud framing, 8,400 sq ft at 3.10 = 26,040.00;
• drywall hang and finish, 12,600 sq ft at 2.45 = 30,870.00;
• acoustical ceiling grid and tile, 3,200 sq ft at 4.20 = 13,440.00;
• change order CO-04, soffits at the level 1 corridor, approved Nov 6, 2026, 2,860.00.

That's 73,210.00 of work to date. Less 5% retainage (3,660.50), the total less retainage is 69,549.50. Less previous billings of 41,800.00, the amount due is 27,749.50, on Net 30 terms, by Dec 30, 2026. The prices are sample figures, not market rates.

Bill only change orders the general contractor has approved, in their own table, with the change order number and the approval date, like the sample's "CO-04: Add soffits at the level 1 corridor", "Approved Nov 6, 2026". Keep work that's still being priced or disputed off the invoice until it's agreed.

"Less: previous billings" is what you invoiced on earlier pay applications for this subcontract, after retainage. The sample's note says: "Previous billings are the amounts invoiced on pay applications 1 and 2, less retainage."

Because the previous billings are net of the same 5%, the 41,800.00 stands for 44,000.00 of work billed before (41,800.00 ÷ 0.95). So this pay application covers 29,210.00 of new work (73,210.00 − 44,000.00), less 5% retainage: 27,749.50, the amount due.

Previous billings are amounts invoiced, not amounts received. If an earlier pay application hasn't been paid in full, that balance is still due on that invoice, so follow it up separately rather than adding it here.

1. Add your business details, then the invoice number, invoice date, payment terms, due date, billing period and pay application number.
2. Enter the general contractor under "Bill to (general contractor)", with the person or team to send it to.
3. Fill in the "Project" block: the project, its address, the subcontract and PO numbers, and the lien waiver line if one applies.
4. Add each line of work with the quantity installed to date, then any approved change orders.
5. Set the retainage rate from your subcontract, and enter the previous billings.
6. Edit the billing notes, replace the placeholders in "How to pay" with your own details, and send the invoice.

The PDF is a blank form for filling in by hand. The Word and Excel files have the same layout with the sample filled in, for you to overwrite.

In the Excel file:

• each line amount is "Qty" × "Rate";
• the work to date and change orders subtotals, the subtotal, the retainage, the total less retainage and the amount due are formulas, and the amount due is the total less retainage minus the previous billings;
• to leave out retainage, set its rate to 0%; to leave out previous billings, set them to 0.00. Don't delete those rows, because the totals refer to them;
• the work table has two blank rows and the change orders table has one. For more lines, insert a row inside the table and copy the amount formula into it, then check that the subtotal includes it.

The template has no sales tax line. If tax applies to your work where the project is, check with the tax agency there and add it. In Word or on the PDF, work out the amounts yourself.

For a general layout rather than a subcontractor one, see the invoice templates for Word, for Excel, as a PDF, for Google Docs and for Google Sheets, or browse all invoice templates.

In Billed, you can save the products and services you bill, such as your unit-priced work, and pull them into each invoice. Clients can pay online by card or PayPal, and Billed automatically sends payment reminders to your customers.