For main contractors

Get paid on time, every certificate

The money going out to subcontractors runs on a different cycle to the money coming in from the client. QScope holds both, puts every payment on the date the contract sets, and shows the funding peak before you hit it.

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Every payment date, counted for you

A late notice loses the argument before it starts. QScope counts the due date, the payment notice, the pay-less deadline and the final date for payment from the contract form, excluding weekends and UK bank holidays, so a missed date is one you chose to miss, not one you did not see.

The same engine that runs inside the app is the one behind the free public calculator, so the dates on your application are the dates that hold up.

  • Due, notice, pay-less and final date for payment, per contract form
  • JCT, NEC and the Scheme, with FIDIC in calendar days
  • Weekends and UK bank holidays excluded from the count
  • A warning when a deduction needs a notice you have not issued
Statutory payment dates
Dates on this application
Due date15 Aug 2026
Last date for a payment notice20 Aug 2026
Last date for a pay-less notice24 Aug 2026
Final date for payment29 Aug 2026
Counted from the due date under the contract, not guessed. The deadline panel and the cash flow read the same dates.

Subcontractors on their own cycle

Each subcontract package carries its own retention rate and its own payment cycle. QScope tracks what you have certified down the chain against what you have been certified up it, so the cash position between money in and money out is a figure, not a feeling.

Certify a subcontractor and the payment joins the forecast on its own dates, so the gap between paying them and being paid never hides.

  • Packages with their own retention and their own dates
  • Money certified down the chain against money certified up it
  • Contra-charges and set-off held against the right package
  • The net cash position between in and out, kept current
Subcontractors
Package account, groundworks
Certified to the subcontractor£318,000
Less retention at 5%(£15,900)
Net paid down the chain£302,100
Recovered in your client certificate£334,000
You see what you have paid the package against what you have recovered for it, so the margin on the package is visible while there is still time to act on it.

The peak you actually have to fund

Projects do not fail because they were unprofitable. They fail because the money went out before it came in, and nobody modelled the gap. The cash flow puts receipts from client certificates against payments to subcontractors on the real dates, and the peak is the deepest point of the line.

The tail matters as much as the peak. Retention and an unagreed final account keep the position negative long after practical completion, so a forecast that goes positive at handover is wrong by exactly that amount.

  • Receipts on the final date for payment, not the valuation date
  • Payments to subcontractors on their own cycle
  • Remaining valuations projected on an S-curve or evenly
  • The peak funding requirement, and the month it lands
Cash flow
Funding peak
Peak funding
£186,400
Occurs
Nov 26
Cycles left
5
Oct 26 · actual(£171,300)
Nov 26 · forecast(£186,400)
Dec 26 · forecast(£164,100)
The peak is the sum you have to fund, and it is usually still ahead of you.

Variations that do not get lost

Instructed work that never becomes a valued variation is money you have spent and will not recover. QScope keeps every instruction in order and flags the ones with a cost effect that have no variation raised against them.

The variation carries its valuation rule, any extension of time and the loss and expense on one record, so when the account is agreed the change is defensible rather than remembered.

  • Every instruction logged, in order, with its date
  • A flag on instructed work with no variation against it
  • Extension of time and loss and expense on the same record
  • The net effect on the contract sum, kept current
Instructions
Register, cost effect outstanding
Instructions issued24
Confirmed in writing21
Cost effect, no variation raised3
Value at risk£41,800
Three instructions have a cost effect and no variation against them. That is the number to close out before the account is agreed.
Questions

What surveyors ask before they start

Is this a company cash flow?

No. It is the cash flow of one contract: money in from client certificates against money out to subcontractors. Your own labour, plant and overheads sit in your accounts, not here.

Does it handle NEC and FIDIC as well as JCT?

Yes. Payment dates are computed for JCT, NEC and the Scheme, and for FIDIC in calendar days from the Statement on the 28 and 56 day defaults, editable for the Particular Conditions.

Can it stop me missing a pay-less notice?

It shows the last date for a pay-less notice on every certificate and warns when a deduction needs a notice you have not issued. Issuing it is still your call.

Does each subcontract keep its own retention?

Yes. Each package carries its own retention rate and cycle, and the cash position tracks what you pay down the chain against what you recover up it.

Related

The rest of the commercial picture

Try it on your next valuation

Not your whole portfolio. One live job, one certificate. If it does not save you time the first time you use it, walk away and take your data with you.