Free calculator
How much retention money are you leaving on the table?
If your customers hold back part of each payment until a warranty period ends, some of it is probably collected late, and some never. Enter your numbers for a rough estimate.
Retention held back each year on of billing
Collected late
Never collected
Cost of late collection
Left on the table each year
Rough estimate: money never collected plus the cost of collecting late. Not financial advice. Change currency at the top of the page.
See how StageVO tracks retention
What is retention money?
Retention is the part of a payment, often 5–10%, that a customer holds back until the work is finished and a warranty or defects period has passed. It is common in construction, fabrication, engineering and EPC contracts.
Why does retention get missed?
It falls due months or years after the work is done, usually long after the project team has moved on. If nobody tracks the release date and the paperwork, the claim goes out late or never.
How is the cost of delay worked out?
We take the retention collected late, multiply it by how many months late it typically is, and by your yearly cost of money (for example, the interest rate on your working capital).
How accurate is this?
It is a rough estimate based on your inputs and simple assumptions. Use it to judge whether the problem is worth looking at, not as an accounting figure.