Free template · Check against your contract

Progress bill and retention calculator

Work out a payment certificate: retention withheld, any cap, VAT on the certificate and a release schedule.

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  • Stays in your browser
  • Sources named below

The certificate

Used for the retention cap and percent certified.
Including this certificate.
Leave blank for the first certificate.
Set by your contract.
Share of the contract value. Blank = no cap.

VAT on the certificate

How VAT is shown on a certificate with retention depends on your contract and on tax guidance. Pick the view your tax adviser confirms. This tool does not decide for you.

The rest is released at the end of the defects liability period. Use what your contract says.

Progress bill

Enter the cumulative value certified and the figures appear here.

Please note. A calculation template. Check every figure against your contract, and take tax advice on VAT treatment.

How it is calculated

The working

  • This certificate = cumulative gross certified to date - gross certified at the previous certificate.
  • Retention = this certificate x retention %. If your contract caps total retention at a % of the contract value, retention stops when the total held reaches the cap: retention this time = the smaller of (this certificate x retention %) and (cap - retention already held).
  • Billed now before VAT = this certificate - retention.
  • VAT is shown two ways because the correct treatment depends on your contract and on tax guidance: on the amount billed now only, or on the whole certified amount. Choose the one your adviser confirms. The calculator never decides this for you.
  • Release schedule: you choose the share released at practical completion, and the rest is released at the end of the defects liability period. Both amounts are taken from the retention held after this certificate.

Sources

  1. VAT rate: Federal Decree-Law No. 8 of 2017, Article 3 (Federal Tax Authority). Retention terms come from your contract, not from this tool.

Rules and rates change. Always confirm against the current official text.

Rules this tool applies, last read against the official text on 12 November 2026
  • The standard rate of VAT is 5%. (Article 3, read 12 November 2026.) Later amendments were not reviewed.

This is a reading of the published text, not legal advice, and no adviser or authority has signed these rules off.

Free lessons that explain it

From the free Zeyto Academy. No account needed.

Bill by percent complete without a spreadsheet

Zeyto Construction & Contracting takes a progress bill from percentages to a tax invoice, holds retention in its own ledger, releases it with two-person approval and invoices the release.

Try Zeyto freeSee the live demoSee Subcontractor Payment, Retention and Statements App (Offline), AED 79See Zeyto Construction & Contracting

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Cite this tool

Page
Progress bill and retention calculator
Publisher
Zeyto (Emeron Infospace FZE)
Address
https://zeyto.app/tools/retention-calculator
Zeyto. "Progress bill and retention calculator", free tool, Emeron Infospace FZE. https://zeyto.app/tools/retention-calculator

You are welcome to link to this page. Please do not pass the results on as advice: each page says what it covers and what it leaves out.

Questions

Common questions

What is retention?
A percentage of each certified amount that the client holds back until the work is accepted and defects are fixed. The percentage, any cap and the release points are set by your contract. The default shown is only an example, not a standard.
How is VAT treated on retention?
That is a tax question and depends on the contract and on Federal Tax Authority guidance, including the time-of-supply rules. This tool shows VAT on the amount billed or on the full certified amount so you can compare, and does not choose between them. Ask a registered tax agent. The Academy lessons linked below explain the general principle.
What is the retention cap?
Some contracts limit total retention to a share of the contract value. Enter it as a percentage and the calculator stops withholding once the cap is reached. Leave it at 0 for no cap.
Does it handle advance payment recovery and variations?
Not in this version. It covers the certificate, retention, cap, VAT and release schedule. The Academy lessons show how advances and variations are handled.
Is this a contract document?
No. It is a free calculation template. Your contract governs what is payable and when. Check every figure against it.

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