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Practical knowledge for specialty contractors
Compliance, change management, project controls, and the data discipline that compounds across bids. Written for California specialty subs — owners, PMs, estimators, and the field.
11 of 47 articles in Billing. Clear
All 46 topics
Bill the month — a pay app that doesn't bounce
Open the period, let the G703 build from the SOV, enter percent complete, submit to open the receivable, generate the §8132 conditional waiver, and send one package whose math ties to the SOV.
California lien deadlines — preliminary notice, stop notice, mechanic's lien
The three deadlines that protect your right to get paid on a private California project. Miss one, lose the remedy.
Certified payroll — one run a week, eCPR out the door
Build the week's certified payroll run from approved timecards, generate the eCPR XML DIR takes, print the A-1-131 for the GC's portal, and read the Compliance tab before you leave.
Certified payroll — weekly cadence and DIR submission
When CPRs are due, what "work performed" means, and how STrOp builds the LCPtracker / eCPR export.
Import a DIR wage determination (and keep it current)
Load a California prevailing-wage determination — including its scheduled July-1-style increase — so your projects validate pay against the right floor, and refresh it when DIR reissues.
Lien waivers — the four California forms and when each is safe to sign
Conditional vs unconditional, progress vs final — the §8132–§8138 statutory forms as a two-by-two matrix, and the one rule that keeps you from waiving rights for a check that hasn't cleared.
Migrate your data into STrOp
How a company moves onto STrOp from whatever it runs today — master data first, in-flight jobs at their current state, and the old system's paper trail as a searchable archive. Nothing re-entered, nothing silently dropped.
Pay app submission checklist
What goes in a monthly pay application, what the GC's reviewer looks for, and what STrOp assembles automatically.
PCO vs CO — proposal versus executed change
A PCO is your priced ask. A CO is the executed contract amendment. Until the CO is signed, the work isn't billable on a pay app.
Retainage release — when, how much, and what to chase
Standard 5–10% withholding through the project, partial release at substantial completion, final release after closeout. The clocks and triggers contractors miss.
Where the job stands — read the budget and the business report
Read the job's Budget tab (baseline from the estimate, current adds executed change orders, committed from POs, actuals from approved hours and receipts, by cost code) and the daily, weekly, and monthly business report.
See STrOp in action
Single-pipeline operations for California specialty contractors — bid through warranty.
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