Policies and paperwork
Stage payment schedule generator
Rough-in, fix, final — what gets invoiced at each stage, agreed before the job starts.
Why stage payments exist
On anything longer than a few days, the electrician funds the job until it finishes — materials bought, wages paid, nothing invoiced. On a large rewire that gap can run to five figures, which is how otherwise healthy contractors run out of cash while being busy.
Stage payments close the gap. Each agreed milestone is invoiced when it is finished, so the money arrives roughly in step with the money going out.
Tie stages to work, not to inspections
The most common mistake is making a payment conditional on passing an inspection. Inspection scheduling is outside your control, inspectors fail things for reasons that have nothing to do with your work, and a rescheduled visit should not mean an unpaid month.
Define each stage by what is physically complete: cables run and boxes set, devices and fittings installed, testing and handover done. Those are things you finish, verifiably, on your own timetable.
Deposits are where the legal risk sits
Several states cap what a contractor may take as a deposit on residential work — sometimes at a percentage, sometimes at a flat dollar figure, sometimes both. Home improvement contract rules can also dictate what a written agreement must contain before any money changes hands.
This generator will lay out the schedule you describe, but it will not tell you a deposit is permissible, because that depends entirely on where you work. Check your state's rules before you ask for money up front — and it deliberately says nothing about lien rights or retainage either, for the same reason.
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