The line on every claim
Retention is the slice of every valuation the studio is not paid yet. Mostafa sees it on its own line, here on the villas’ progress claim.
It is five per cent — a small amount on one invoice, but across every valuation of a long job it becomes real money the studio has built but not banked.
What it is, and what it is not
It is not a discount, and it is not optional. The client holds it as security, to make sure the work is finished and the snags come back.
When it comes back
Half of it is released at handover, when the job is signed off. The rest waits out the defects period — usually six months — before it comes back.
Retention among the other money numbers
On the commercial view, retention sits beside the revenue billed and the contract value, so Mostafa can see what is owed and what is only held.
The cost of forgetting
Treat retention as the studio’s money and it quietly disappears from the cash the business actually has. That is how a profitable job runs out of cash.
Forget to chase the second half after the defects period and it stays with the client forever — written off by silence.
The habit that matters
One habit worth building: keep a list of what retention is held on each job, and the date each half is due back. Money nobody chases is money nobody gets.
What just happened
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The line on every claim
Retention is the slice of every valuation the studio is not paid yet. Mostafa sees it on its own line, here on the villas’ progress claim.
-
What it is, and what it is not
It is not a discount, and it is not optional. The client holds it as security, to make sure the work is finished and the snags come back.
-
When it comes back
Half of it is released at handover, when the job is signed off. The rest waits out the defects period — usually six months — before it comes back.
-
Retention among the other money numbers
On the commercial view, retention sits beside the revenue billed and the contract value, so Mostafa can see what is owed and what is only held.
-
The cost of forgetting
Treat retention as the studio’s money and it quietly disappears from the cash the business actually has. That is how a profitable job runs out of cash.
-
The habit that matters
One habit worth building: keep a list of what retention is held on each job, and the date each half is due back. Money nobody chases is money nobody gets.
Open invoices Opens Taskity in your own project.