Post Construction Cleaning Invoice Template: Phase Lines, Deposit, Retainage and Balance Due

Post construction cleaning invoice template: the layout to copy

A post construction cleaning invoice has three blocks: who and where (your business, the customer, the job site, the contract reference), what was done (one line per phase plus add-ons, each a quantity x a unit price) and what is owed (subtotal, tax, deposit credit, retainage, balance due, terms). The template is the two tables below: copy them into your own document or sheet.

I build pricing maths; I am not a cleaning contractor or a lawyer. What follows is arithmetic, with official pages quoted where a rule is involved.

Post construction cleaning invoice calculator: check the totals

Subtotal = area x (rough + final + touch-up price per sq ft) + add-on lines. Sales tax = subtotal x tax %. Invoice total = subtotal + tax. Retainage held = subtotal x retainage %. Balance due now = invoice total - deposit - retainage.

It opens on the sample invoice from the layout:

The three per-sq-ft prices are inputs. They come from your cost build-up, not from the invoice: the post construction cleaning pricing guide works each phase out from cleaner-hours, and the free cleaning pricing calculator prices one phase at a time. "Subtotal per sq ft" ($0.542 here) is a check against your quote, not a rate to start from.

A recurring contract after handover is a different sum: the cleaning contract pricing calculator prices that per visit and per month.

What a general contractor's accounts payable needs on the invoice

Accounts payable pays what it can match to a contract. The clearest written list I found is the federal one: the prompt-payment clause for federal construction contracts says "A proper invoice must include" a set of items, among them:

• "Name and address of the Contractor"
• "Invoice date and invoice number"
• "Contract number or other authorization for work or services performed"
• "Description of work or services performed"
• "Delivery and payment terms"

If the invoice falls short, the billing office "must return it within 7 days after receipt, with the reasons why it is not a proper invoice" (FAR 52.232-27, read 13 October 2026).

That clause binds the government and its prime contractor, not a private builder. A private general contractor sets its own list in the subcontract, so ask for it before the first invoice. Where your contract requires them, attach a lien waiver, a current certificate of insurance and the phase sign-off.

On the tax ID, the same clause says to include it on the invoice "only if required elsewhere in this contract". If the customer asks for it, the form is the W-9, used in the IRS's words "to provide your correct Taxpayer Identification Number (TIN) to the person who is required to file an information return with the IRS" (IRS: About Form W-9).

One invoice at the end or one per phase? A progress billing schedule

Bill each phase when it is complete, if the contract allows it. The phases can be weeks apart, and one invoice at the end means you carry the cost of the rough clean until the touch-up is signed off. The money is the same; the timing is not.

The four amounts due add up to $1,911.50, which is the $2,411.50 total less the $500.00 deposit. Invoice 1 as the calculator sees it:

Credit the deposit once, on the first invoice. If it is larger than that invoice, carry the remainder to the next one.

Deposit, retainage and balance due: the arithmetic in order

Work down the page: subtotal, tax, total, then the two subtractions. On the sample invoice, $2,275.00 + $136.50 = $2,411.50; less the $500.00 deposit and $227.50 of retainage, $1,684.00 is due now.

Retainage is money the customer holds back until the job is complete. The percentage, what it is taken on and when it is released are contract terms. The calculator takes it on the pre-tax subtotal; if your contract takes it on the total, 10% of $2,411.50 is $241.15.

For scale, the federal rule on construction progress payments says the amount retained "shall not exceed 10 percent of the approved estimated amount in accordance with the terms of the contract", and "Upon completion of all contract requirements, retained amounts shall be paid promptly" (FAR 32.103, read 13 October 2026). Private subcontracts and state laws differ: read yours, and ask a construction attorney if the terms are unclear.

Money held is still owed to you: show it on every invoice and bill it at close-out.

Is post construction cleaning taxable? The sales tax line

It depends on the state, and sometimes on who the customer is. The line is sales tax = taxable charges x rate, shown on its own row. The sample assumes 6% on the whole subtotal, which is not any state's rate.

Texas. The Comptroller's cleaning and janitorial page says "Tax is due on the charge to clean a home, office, warehouse, garage, restaurant, or any other building", and also that "Building maintenance and groundskeeping are not taxable when purchased by a contractor or a home builder as part of the improvement of real property with a new residential structure to be used as a residence" (Texas Comptroller). Ask the Comptroller which sentence covers your job.

Washington. The Department of Revenue says "Construction cleanup services are taxable depending on the type of construction work being done." Work for a speculative builder is "subject to retailing B&O tax and retail sales tax"; where a custom contractor gives the subcontractor a reseller permit, "Retail sales tax does not apply under these circumstances" (Washington Department of Revenue).

Both pages were read on 13 October 2026. Check your own state's revenue department and file any exemption or resale certificate with the invoice copy. Where tax applies, take it on the charge: Texas words it as tax "on the amount you bill for your service". Taking 6% after the deposit gives $106.50, $30.00 short of the $136.50 on the sample.

Change orders, return trips and a post construction cleaning price list

Anything outside the three phase prices is its own line with its own reference. For a re-clean after other trades went back in, bill hours x your charge-out rate or a per-trip price, and put the change order number on the line.

Example: a 6-hour return trip at an assumed $45.00 an hour is $270.00. Added to the sample invoice it lifts the subtotal to $2,545.00 and the total to $2,697.70; $254.50 is held and $1,943.20 is due now, $259.20 more than before.

An hourly line is hours x a charge-out rate, never the wage you pay. The pricing guide shows how a loaded wage, overhead and margin build that rate.

A price list carries the same lines, each with a unit and a price:

Payment terms, due date and a late fee line

Print the terms the contract already states (net 15, net 30 or pay-when-paid) and the due date as a date. An invoice repeats the contract; it cannot change it.

Pay-when-paid means the general contractor pays you after the owner pays them. On federal construction jobs the prime's subcontracts must carry a clause to pay the subcontractor "not later than 7 days from receipt of payment out of such amounts as are paid to the Contractor under this contract" (FAR 52.232-27).

A late fee is arithmetic on the overdue balance: an assumed 1.5% a month on $1,684.00 is $25.26 for each month late. Charge one only if the signed contract provides for it, and check your state's limits first.

Invoice for a homeowner or small builder: the short version

A residential invoice drops the PO, the retainage and the attachments and keeps the phase lines, the deposit credit and the balance. Example: a 2,400 sq ft renovation with a final clean and a touch-up, $95.00 of add-ons, no sales tax assumed and a 30% deposit of $294.90 already paid.

The subtotal is $983.00 and $688.10 is due. Keep the phase lines even on a small job: one lump sum gives the customer nothing to check against the quote. The service quote template guide covers the document that comes before this one.

Invoice formulas for Excel and Google Sheets, numbering, records and mistakes

Put the eight inputs in B2 to B9 and five formulas rebuild the invoice.

Numbering. Use one unbroken sequence. A progress invoice gets its own number and names its phase.

Records. Keep a copy of every invoice. The IRS says "Generally, you must keep your records that support an item of income, deduction or credit shown on your tax return until the period of limitations for that tax return runs out", and lists periods from 3 years upward depending on the situation (IRS: How long should I keep records?).

Common mistakes: one lump-sum line; no phase dates; no PO or contract number; tax taken after the deposit; retainage never billed at close-out; change-order work with no reference.

After the job, compare the invoice with what the work cost you: the job costing spreadsheet guide sets estimate against actual.

An invoice carries prices; it does not set them. ProSheet Studio's Cleaning Contract Pricing Calculator ($39 one-time, Excel and Google Sheets) is a pricing sheet for recurring cleaning contracts, the kind that can follow a build: break-even and the price per visit and per month from your production rate, crew, travel, supplies and overhead. Its page lists no post-construction phase tab, and it does not create invoices. For the recurring bid document, see the commercial cleaning bid template guide.

Step-by-step: Post Construction Cleaning Invoice Template: Phase Lines, Deposit, Retainage and Balance Due

1. Fill in the header and references. Your legal name, the customer's accounts payable contact, the job site, the PO or subcontract number, the invoice number and date.
2. Enter one line per phase. Area x the agreed price per sq ft for rough, final and touch-up. On the sample the rough clean line is $588.00.
3. Add add-on and change-order lines. Hours x your charge-out rate or a per-unit price, each with its approval reference. The sample has $385.00 of add-ons.
4. Subtotal, then tax where it applies. Add the lines, then multiply by your state's rate if the service is taxed there. The sample subtotal is $2,275.00.
5. Subtract the deposit and retainage. Invoice total less deposit received less retainage held is the balance due now: $1,684.00 on the sample.
6. State the terms, number it and file it. Print the contract's terms and due date, use the next number in your sequence and keep a copy.

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