Getting paid, 29 October 2026
A per-job tracker: PO, invoiced, outstanding and final account
A per-job tracker is one row per job showing the order value, approved variations, what you've invoiced, what's been paid and what's held back. From those you get three numbers that matter: work not yet billed, money billed but unpaid, and retention to recover. A spreadsheet with eleven columns does it, updated once a week.
Why track invoices per job instead of per invoice?
Because your accounting software shows invoices, and you run jobs. Xero's aged debtors report tells you who owes you money. It doesn't tell you that a £48,000 care home job is £14,000 behind on billing, or that £2,400 of retention is due back in March.
An electrical and fire alarm contractor in London we work with, with project managers running about ten live commercial jobs at once, asked for exactly this: a tracker per job showing PO, invoiced, outstanding and final account. With ten jobs in flight, nobody can hold those numbers in their head.
What columns does the tracker need?
Eleven, plus notes. Copy these into a spreadsheet, one job per row. The formulas assume row 2.
A Job / site | e.g. Care home rewire, Block B B Client and PO number | e.g. PO 40318 C Original order value (£, ex VAT) | from the PO or signed quote D Approved variations (£) | only those with a PO or written instruction E Unapproved variations (£) | submitted, not yet agreed F Contract value (£) | =C2+D2 G Invoiced to date (£) | gross, before any retention H Retention held (£) | =G2*retention % I Paid to date (£) | from your bank feed J Outstanding (£) | =G2-H2-I2 K Unbilled (£) | =F2-G2 L Next action and date | e.g. "Valuation 4 due 25 Nov", "Chase PO for VO3"
Keep amounts ex VAT so they match the PO. If you deal with CIS deductions, track them in your accounts rather than here; the tracker is about what the client has agreed to pay for the work.
How do you fill it in? A worked example
Here are three live jobs for a small electrical contractor, as at a Friday in November.
| Job | PO value | Approved VOs | Contract value | Invoiced | Retention 5% | Paid | Outstanding | Unbilled |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Care home rewire | £48,000 | £3,200 | £51,200 | £36,000 | £1,800 | £30,400 | £3,800 | £15,200 |
| Pub kitchen power | £12,500 | £0 | £12,500 | £12,500 | £625 | £11,875 | £0 | £0 |
| Restaurant lighting | £9,800 | £1,150 | £10,950 | £4,900 | £245 | £0 | £4,655 | £6,050 |
| Total | £70,300 | £4,350 | £74,650 | £53,400 | £2,670 | £42,275 | £8,455 | £21,250 |
Checking the care home row
Care home rewire, PO £48,000 plus two approved variations.
| Contract value£48,000 + £3,200 | £51,200 |
| Retention held£36,000 × 5% | £1,800 |
| Outstanding£36,000 − £1,800 − £30,400 | £3,800 |
| Unbilled£51,200 − £36,000 | £15,200 |
| Still to come in on this job£3,800 + £15,200 + £1,800 | £20,800 |
The restaurant row shows a different problem: £4,655 outstanding and nothing paid. If that first invoice went out more than 30 days ago with no agreed terms, it's late by law, and column L should say who's chasing it and when. Under a construction contract, also check whether the client issued a payment notice within five days of the due date; if not, the sum in your application or notice in default can become the sum due unless they serve a valid pay less notice. Payment and pay less notices sets out the deadlines.
The totals row tells the owner something no single invoice does: £21,250 of work not yet billed, £8,455 billed and waiting, and £2,670 of retention to get back. The pub kitchen row is billed and paid apart from retention, so its next action is the retention release date. For how to get that back, see retentions.
How often should you update it, and from where?
Weekly, from your accounting software and bank feed, not from memory. Friday afternoon works for most firms: invoices sent that week, payments received, any new POs or variation instructions.
If a column E figure (unapproved variations) is growing, that's the first warning on a job. Unpriced or unagreed variations are where commercial jobs lose money. See final accounts for subcontractors for how to close them out.
How does the tracker feed your cash flow forecast?
Column L and the unbilled column are your future cash. If the care home's next valuation is £8,000 on 25 November and the contract pays 30 days later, that's £8,000 less 5% retention, so £7,600, landing in late December. Drop those dates and amounts into a cash flow forecast and you can see the weeks where wages land before the money does.
What is a final account, and when does the row close?
The final account is the agreed total value of the job once all the work and variations are settled. The row closes when three things are true: the final account is agreed in writing, everything invoiced is paid, and all retention has been released. Until then, keep it on the tracker even if the site finished months ago. Old rows with retention in column H are money you've earned and haven't collected.
Where Nexley fits
Nexley is the AI back office for UK trade firms: five AI assistants run your tenders, quotes, buying, scheduling and invoicing. It connects to the tools you already work in, you run it all from WhatsApp, and you approve everything. £799 a month.
For commercial jobs, Nexley keeps a tracker per job from your POs, variation instructions and invoices, so you can ask over WhatsApp "what's left to bill on the care home?" and get the answer. It drafts each valuation invoice for you to approve and reminds you when a retention release date comes round.
Common questions
Can I do this in Xero instead of a spreadsheet?
Partly. Putting the PO number in each invoice's Reference field lets you filter invoices by job, and some plans and add-ons track invoicing per project; check what yours includes. Retention and unapproved variations usually still need a spreadsheet column.
Should the tracker include VAT?
Keep it ex VAT so it matches the PO and the contract. VAT goes to HMRC; it isn't part of what the job is worth to you.
What's the difference between outstanding and unbilled?
Outstanding is money you've invoiced and not been paid. Unbilled is work in the contract you haven't invoiced yet. Both are owed to you eventually, but only outstanding can be chased today.
How many jobs before I need a tracker?
As soon as you have more than two or three commercial jobs running with POs, variations or retention. Domestic jobs with a deposit and one final invoice rarely need it.
Sources
- GOV.UK: Invoices, what they must include
- legislation.gov.uk: Housing Grants, Construction and Regeneration Act 1996, payment sections
- Xero: UK pricing plans
Every rule, rate and date above was checked against these sources on the date shown at the top.
Topic: Getting paid
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