To get paid, you must make a claim to your client
VIDEO GUIDE
OVERVIEW
If you want to get paid, the best thing to do is send a Claim to your Client. Your Client should then Certify the Claim and then process the payment according to your agreed terms. You should do this before the end of each month to make sure you're paid as quickly as possible. This article explains how to successfully do this.
PayLab enables clients to Certify your Claims regardless of whether or not they have a PayLab account themselves. Here's a link on how to invite your Subcontractor or Client to PayLab.
Want to read ahead? click on the links below to skip to that section"
- Make A Claim
- Claim Details
- Base Contract
- Variations
- Materials
- Summary
- Notes/Comments
- Review and Submit Claim
MAKE A CLAIM
By selecting your Project from the list of on the Projects page, you should arrive at the Project Overview page. In the Project Summary section, select the Make A Claim button.
You can also Make A Claim from when you are viewing a Contract.
CLAIM DETAILS
Fill these details in as appropriate - your client may give you a Claim Reference, otherwise we recommend a sequential one with unique identifier for each job.
You will need the following information prior to claiming:
- Claim Reference
- Claim Period - dates you are claiming for
- Due Date for Claim - check with client to see when their claims are due
- Due Date for Payment
- Percentage of work that has been done during the claim period
The Claim Reference and all dates under the Claim Period will automatically be set but can still be adjusted if needed. The Practical Completion Date and Defects Liability Period cannot be changed in the Make a Claim page. These will have to be edited in the Contract page under the Retentions section.
BASE CONTRACT
Simply add in the percentage completed, that is what you're claiming for this month, for each Line Item.
Claims are cumulative. Each month, add to the percentage or amount claimed previously. Click here to read more.
For example: in Month 1 you claim 10% of Line Item 1
In Month 2 you complete another 15% of Line Item 1. Here your claim for the second month on that line item should be at 25%.
The Parent Line Item (the overall total) will automatically calculate a percentage based on the items below it. You can see this in the image below where Excavation line is at 10.32%, while all the other Line Items are at different completion percentages.
At any point you can add comments by pressing the pen icon on the right of each line item under the Net column. Comments can be set to only appear visible to members within your organisation or visible to other parties.
VARIATIONS
These should appear automatically according to the Variations you've already added to the Base Contract (Refer here to learn how). You just need to apply the completion percentages here also.
MATERIALS
These should appear automatically according to the Materials you've already added to the Base Contract (Refer here to learn how). In this case you will need to input a specific value for each material you want to claim for.
SUMMARY
This section sets the total claimed amount. On the drop down on the top left (red), you can adjust the Claim as it stands in three ways:
These adjustments regard to the progress to date of the claim:
- Previously Certified Amount - This period's claim will be calculated by deducting the previous certificate amount from the claimed date amount (recommended).
- Previously Claimed Amount - This period's claim will be calculated by deducting the previous claim amount from the claimed date amount. Use this if the last certificate is missing or incorrect.
- Custom Amount - Enter a custom amount to deduct from the Claimer amount to date. This should be amount that the other party has already paid, or agreed to pay.
If Retentions have been set up for this Contract , you will also notice there is a checkbox for Claim Retention Release. If you check this box you will be able input a partial amount or the full amount of the Practical Completion Retention Release and/or Defects Liability Retention Release.
Retentions are usually released once work is completed, defects have been rectified, and any outstanding disputes have been resolved. This may vary depending on the agreed terms of the contract.
NOTES/COMMENTS
Add any notes you would like to the Claim, Internal Notes will only be visible to your team while External Notes will be attached to the Claim you send out to be certified.
You can also Save your claim draft at any point and come back to finish it later by clicking Save at the bottom of the claim drafting page.
By clicking the green Next > button you will be taken to the final stages of making a Claim.
REVIEW AND SUBMIT CLAIM
On this page is where you should do a final review of your claim and ensure everything looks right.
If you prefer, you can preview what the Payment Claim (.pdf ) will look like with the Preview PDF button at the bottom. If you spot any errors, just hit back or Revert to Draft Status to go back and fix it.
You can attach any relevant Additional Documents related to your Claim by clicking the pen icon located at the top right. Attachments can be selected directly from your device, or you may conveniently drag and drop them into the designated area.
If an Approval Workflow has been established for this Contract, the designated Approvers will need to review the drafted Claim and provide their approval. Should you wish to include the approval history in the Payment Claim (.pdf), you can do so by checking the option to Attach history to PDF.
Once all necessary steps are completed, you can proceed to issue the claim to the Certifier by clicking the Issue Claim button at the bottom right. This action will send an email notification to the Certifier, prompting them to review and certify your Claim.
Have you been invited to certify a claim instead? Please feel free to check out our next article on becoming a Certifier.