A subcontract, the work claimed against it, and the payment certified. Contracts is the commercial heart of a project: every agreement on the job lives here, including the head contract with the client.
The register
Subcontract packages, consultant agreements and the head contract side by side, each with its value, its contracted organisation and its status. The direction of money is what separates them: subcontracts are cost side, money flowing out as the host certifies what subcontractors have claimed, while the head contract is revenue side, money flowing in as the host claims from the client. Both halves of the commercial position, one register.
The schedule of values
Every contract carries a priced breakdown: sections, line items, quantities, rates and amounts, totalling up automatically. Each line carries a budget code, and those codes are the thread that ties the contract to the project budget and, later, to the cashflow forecast.
A progress claim
A claim is progress recorded against those same lines. It starts as a draft, gets submitted, and then moves through the approval workflow the contract binds, which you can read across the chips at the top of the record: who has signed off, and whose court it is in now. Retention is calculated on whatever basis the contract defines, so the certified amount needs no spreadsheet.
Variations and payments
Variations carry their own priced breakdown, their own approval, and their own history, and once approved they adjust the contract value and become claimable. Against each approved claim sits a payment ledger, which can sync with your accounting software so the paid status reflects the bank rather than someone's memory.