Demolition is finished and the substrate is exposed. The office wants to issue a tiler progress claim, but the crew has not recorded what was found or whether the preparation stage is actually complete.
Fix that gap before billing. Give every payment stage a visible site trigger, a set of required records and an amount taken from the accepted quote. The crew closes the stage. The office checks it. Then the invoice goes out.
Lock the bathroom scope before splitting the price
A payment schedule cannot rescue a loose quote. Inspect the bathroom and write the scope before assigning money to stages.
Name every tiled surface. Include only the surfaces you priced: shower walls, shower floor, bathroom floor, hob, niche, bath surround, splashback, skirting and any other nominated area.
Write the preparation beside each surface. Record demolition, disposal, screeding, levelling, falls, substrate repair, waterproofing, trim, grout, sealant, cleaning and protection where they belong.
State the exclusions. Concealed substrate damage, structural repair, plumbing changes, electrical work and other work outside your trade should not disappear into a preparation stage later.
Use the bathroom tiling quote scope guide to define the work before you divide the accepted price.
Record who controls the tiles and trims
Write down who selects, buys, delivers, unloads, stores and checks the tiles. Do the same for trims, grout, sealant, membranes, wastes and accessories.
Customer-supplied tiles can stop the job even when your crew is ready. Record when they must be on site and who handles shortages, breakages, shade differences and incorrect quantities.
If you supply the materials, record the accepted selections and ordering responsibility. Do not treat an undecided tile or trim as a minor site detail. It controls purchasing, set-out and installation.
Check the contract and payment requirements where you work
Home building contract, deposit and progress payment requirements differ between states and territories. Ask the licensing regulator that covers the job which rules and document wording apply. Write down the answer before promising the payment schedule.
For a job in New South Wales, use NSW Fair Trading for home building contract and contractor licence questions (opens in a new tab). In another jurisdiction, check the equivalent state or territory licensing regulator.
An ordinary stage claim records the amount requested against completed work. A tax invoice bills that amount and carries the required tax details. A statutory payment claim is a separate legal process, so get local advice before using statutory wording or relying on statutory rights.
Build the tiler progress claim from cost exposure
Start with your accepted quote. Assign each quoted labour, material and subcontractor cost line to the stage that carries it. If one cost line crosses stages, split it using the quantities or labour allowed in the quote.
Allocate overhead to those stages using the same basis used in the quote. Apply the quote’s markup method to each stage allocation. Then add the stage totals and reconcile them to the accepted quote before showing the schedule to the customer.
Do not choose tidy percentages because they look familiar. Use the figures from this bathroom. A stage should cover the work and commitments attached to its trigger without billing work that remains unfinished.
Demolition can have its own claim stage when it carries a distinct cost, takes a separate site visit or needs to be billed before preparation starts. Its trigger is simple: all nominated strip-out and disposal are complete, the substrate is exposed, and the demolition photos and substrate note are attached. Hidden damage does not reopen completed demolition when repair was excluded.
Keep demolition inside preparation when the work is short and you do not need a separate payment gate. The combined trigger must then require the nominated demolition, condition record and all preparation included in the accepted scope to be complete. If hidden damage needs extra work, record it as a variation rather than changing the trigger after the job starts.
| Stage | Costs carried by the stage | Physical trigger | Records the crew submits | Stage amount |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pre-start | [ordering commitments, contractor-supplied materials or mobilisation included in the quote] | [quote accepted and pre-start conditions met] | [accepted selections, purchase records and a note naming who orders, delivers and checks each material] | [your own figures] |
| Demolition, if separate | [strip-out, disposal, labour and plant] | [all nominated demolition and disposal complete, with the substrate exposed] | [dated demolition photos, before-cover photos and a substrate condition note for each quoted surface] | [your own figures] |
| Preparation | [preparation labour and materials, plus demolition if combined] | [nominated demolition complete if combined, and all accepted screeding, levelling, falls and substrate preparation complete] | [dated photos of falls and prepared surfaces, substrate repair records and details of excluded damage] | [your own figures] |
| Waterproofing | [waterproofing labour, materials and required inspection costs] | [specified waterproofing complete] | [dated before-cover photos, product and system details, and the inspection record or certificate required for this job] | [your own figures] |
| Installation | [setting labour, adhesives, trims and other installation costs] | [named surfaces installed to the accepted set-out] | [set-out approval recorded before fixing, completion photos for every quoted surface, and a record of any changed pattern, joint alignment, trim or tile selection] | [your own figures] |
| Handover | [grout, sealant, cleaning, protection, defect work and handover] | [all named finishing and handover tasks complete] | [completion photos, defect photos, closure sign-off and a record that every blocked task has been finished] | [your own figures] |
Add the original stage amounts. They must reconcile to the accepted quote before any approved variations are added. The deposit forms part of that accepted total. Credit it against the later account and do not charge the same amount again through demolition, preparation or another stage.
A usable tile job payment schedule also shows the cumulative amount claimed. That running total exposes a skipped stage or duplicated invoice before it reaches the customer.
Use physical gates instead of dates
Tile delivery can be late. Demolition can expose damage. Another trade can block access.
Write each trigger around a named surface and completed task. Replace “installation underway” with wording such as “shower walls and bathroom floor installed to the accepted set-out”.
Write the tiler deposit invoice against the accepted job
A tiler deposit invoice is a pre-start request against an accepted quote or contract. It is not a claim that demolition, waterproofing or installation has already been completed.
Describe what the deposit supports using the commitments already included in the accepted job. That may include contractor-supplied materials, ordering commitments or mobilisation. Do not invent a legal entitlement or add new scope through the invoice description.
Carry across the customer name, site address, bathroom location and accepted quote or contract reference. Add the invoice reference, issue date, deposit description, amount due, agreed payment terms and the GST information required for the transaction.
Keep customer-supplied materials visible. A deposit should not suggest that you are buying tiles when the customer accepted responsibility for them.
Ask your state or territory licensing regulator about deposit rules and required home building document wording. Check the Australian Taxation Office tax invoice requirements (opens in a new tab) for the supplier details, ABN, GST information and other fields your document must carry.
Turn site evidence into a tiler progress claim
Use one running claim register from acceptance to final payment. The crew uploads the completion date, photos, approvals and certificates. The office checks them against the trigger and releases only the amount allocated to that completed stage.
The crew’s records trigger the stage check. The office then issues the ordinary progress invoice or tax invoice required for the business and transaction. Do not label it as a statutory payment claim unless local advice confirms the process and wording that apply.
Use these fields:
| Claim register field | What to enter |
|---|---|
| Stage | [deposit, demolition if separate, preparation, waterproofing, installation or handover] |
| Exact trigger | [the accepted completion wording] |
| Evidence required | [the crew records listed for that stage] |
| Allocated amount | [amount from the accepted quote allocation] |
| Date completed | [date the full trigger was met] |
| Evidence attached | [file names or job-record references] |
| Approved variation references | [variation reference, approval date and amount] |
| Invoice reference | [invoice number after issue] |
| Amount claimed | [current amount claimed for this line] |
| Payment received | [received amount, date and invoice allocation] |
| Credit notes | [credit note reference, date and amount] |
| Balance not yet claimed | [revised accepted amount less all amounts claimed to date] |
| Job ledger balance | [job invoices and adjustments less credit notes, refunds and payments allocated to this job] |
Do not combine the last two fields. The unclaimed contract balance and the job ledger balance answer different questions.
Keep the progress claim, tax invoice and variation saying the same thing
Every tiler progress claim should point back to the accepted quote or contract rather than retelling the job differently each time.
Progress-account summary Customer: [customer name] Job site and bathroom: [address and room] Accepted quote or contract: [reference] Original accepted amount: [amount] Original accepted amount is: [GST-inclusive / GST-exclusive] Approved variation references: [reference, approval date and amount] Approved variations to date: [amount] Approved variations are: [GST-inclusive / GST-exclusive] Revised accepted amount: [amount] Current stage: [stage name] Stage trigger: [exact accepted wording] Completion date: [date] Evidence attached: [records] Current amount due: [amount] Current amount is: [GST-inclusive / GST-exclusive] Prior amounts claimed: [amount] Prior claims are: [GST-inclusive / GST-exclusive] Payments received and allocated to this job: [amount] Credit notes: [reference, date and amount] Balance not yet claimed: [revised accepted amount less prior amounts claimed and current amount due] Job ledger balance: [job invoices and adjustments less credit notes, refunds and allocated payments] Payment terms: [accepted terms] Invoice reference: [reference] Tax invoice fields Supplier identity: [legal or trading name] ABN: [ABN] Customer details: [details required for this invoice] Issue date: [date] Description of supply: [work or stage billed] Price or amount payable: [amount] GST treatment of current supply: [GST-inclusive / GST-exclusive] GST payable or approved GST wording: [amount or wording required for this tax invoice]
Confirm the exact tax invoice fields and GST wording with the Australian Taxation Office guidance linked above. Do not silently replace “variation” with foreign contract language. Do not change the accepted scope description between the quote and invoice.
Keep the quote, photos, variation approvals and invoices on the same job record. Yes Foreman lets the office and crew keep the documents with the job after the site gate has been checked.
Pull hidden work and customer changes out of the original stages
When demolition exposes a damaged or uneven substrate outside the accepted preparation scope, stop. Photograph the condition and describe the repair needed.
Write a variation with the changed work, labour, materials, markup, changed work dates and its billing trigger. Stop the changed work, make the area safe if required, document the condition, and do not perform the variation until approval is recorded under the contract and local requirements.
Keep the variation on its own line in the claim register. Later invoices can show the approved variation total without pretending it formed part of the original tile job payment schedule.
The same rule applies when a customer changes the tile pattern after set-out. Record the affected surfaces and added cuts. Do not spread the extra amount across unfinished original stages.
Worked example: keep the quote and variation separate
The house example is an electrical bathroom job, but the document rule carries across trades. R. Chen at 14 Oak Street accepted quote Q-1847 for a bathroom exhaust fan and four LED downlights. The quote total was 1,105 sample currency units.
The ceiling was lined and the quote excluded chasing. Extra cable and chasing were approved on site as a 160 variation. Invoice INV-1847 was 1,265 sample currency units.
The original quote and approved variation remain separate references even though they appear on the same invoice. Do not calculate profit from the 1,265 invoice because the cost of the variation is not supplied.
Hold the tiling final invoice until the handover gate shuts
Issue the tiling final invoice only after checking every task named in the final trigger. Inspect the grout, sealant, cleaning, protection and recorded defects that belong to your scope.
If plumbing trim or another trade blocks a task included in the handover trigger, leave that stage unclaimed. Claim it only after the task is complete, the contract is formally changed, or the stage is split and accepted in writing.
Before issuing the tiling final invoice, the office checks the tiler progress claim register against the accepted quote, approved variation references, credit notes and allocated payments. Release only the amount left after every prior claim and ledger adjustment has been checked.