What are Assets?

An AIA® Document is a standardized legal or billing form created by the American Institute of Architects® (AIA) to govern contracts, risk management, and payment workflows across construction projects. Used as the industry benchmark, these standard contract documents establish clear terms between owners, architects, general contractors, and subcontractors.

In construction accounting and billing, the most common AIA® documents are progress billing pay applications:

• AIA® G702® (Application and Certificate for Payment): Summarizes overall contract sums, total work completed to date, retainage withheld, previous payments, and current balance due.
• AIA® G703® (Continuation Sheet): Serves as the line-item breakdown backing up the G702®, mapped directly to the project's Schedule of Values (SOV).

How Siteline Helps:
Preparing AIA® billing in spreadsheets leads to math errors, rejected pay apps, and delayed cash flow. Siteline automates progress billing for standard AIA® formats and custom GC forms alike—allowing trade contractors to generate accurate pay apps, collect signed lien waivers, and submit clean billing packages in minutes.

Progress Billing is a method commonly used in the construction industry, where billing for a project is done at different stages as it progresses, rather than asking for full payment upfront or at the completion of the project. This type of billing is beneficial both for constructors and clients. For constructors, it helps maintain the cash flow required for the ongoing expense of materials and labor. For clients, it provides assurance that they are paying for the work only as it is being completed and allows them to budget effectively. Each invoice is usually based on the percentage of work completed, thus it is also known as percentage-of-completion billing method. Proper documentation, like progress reports or photos of the construction site, often accompany these invoices as a proof of progress.

In the construction industry, a release is a legal instrument that acts to terminate any legal liability between the releasor and the releasee, signed by the releasor. It is often used to settle disputes or claims, with one party agreeing to release the other from any existing obligations, responsibility or further legal action in return for a negotiated compensation. It may also refer to a point in a construction project where work is considered complete to a given level, allowing for payment or the transfer of responsibility to the next party involved in the process.