Construction Retention Cash-flow Planner methodology

totalCertifiedWorkExTax = sum of certified work across claim periods

totalRetentionWithheldExTax = sum of claim retention subject to the cap

totalRetentionReleasedExTax = sum of released retention across claim periods

retentionBalanceExTax = retention withheld - retention released

totalCollectibleExTax = certified work - retention withheld + retention released

totalCashReceivedExTax = sum of cash receipts across claim periods

totalCashDueExTax = total collectible amount - total cash received

totalProjectCostOutflowExTax = sum of project cost cash outflows

closingCashExTax = opening cash + receipts - project cost outflows

peakFundingGapExTax = largest shortfall below zero cash across claim periods

firstShortfallDate = first chronological claim date with closing cash below zero

expectedFinalReleaseDate = last claim date + expected release delay when retention remains held

Money inputs and outputs use the currency selected in the scenario without changing the canonical methodology. Rates, margins, utilisation and buffers are entered as percentages and converted to decimal values for calculation.

• All inputs must be finite and inside the visible validation boundaries.
• Rates are retained as decimal values and shown as percentages only at the presentation boundary.
• The worked fixture must expose every declared result: totalCertifiedWorkExTax, totalRetentionWithheldExTax, totalRetentionReleasedExTax, retentionBalanceExTax, totalCollectibleExTax, totalCashReceivedExTax, totalCashDueExTax, totalProjectCostOutflowExTax, closingCashExTax, peakFundingGapExTax, firstShortfallDate, expectedFinalReleaseDate.
• Scenario comparison changes one declared driver while holding the remaining industry records constant.
• Cash received is the complete actual receipt, including any payment arising from released retention; retention released changes the retention ledger and is not added to cash a second time.

Contract retention rate minimum

retentionRate ≥ 0 decimal fraction of certified work withheld — A lower value is rejected before calculation.

Contract retention rate maximum

retentionRate ≤ 1 decimal fraction of certified work withheld — A higher value is rejected before calculation.

Contract retention cap minimum

retentionCapExTax ≥ 0 currency units/project retention balance, ex tax — A lower value is rejected before calculation.

Contract retention cap maximum

retentionCapExTax ≤ 10,000,000 currency units/project retention balance, ex tax — A higher value is rejected before calculation.

Expected release delay minimum

expectedReleaseDelayDays ≥ 0 whole days from last claim to final release — A lower value is rejected before calculation.

Expected release delay maximum

expectedReleaseDelayDays ≤ 3,650 whole days from last claim to final release — A higher value is rejected before calculation.

Opening project cash minimum

openingProjectCashExTax ≥ -100,000,000 currency units/project before first claim, ex tax — A lower value is rejected before calculation.

Opening project cash maximum

openingProjectCashExTax ≤ 100,000,000 currency units/project before first claim, ex tax — A higher value is rejected before calculation.

First claim date minimum

firstClaimDateCode ≥ 10,000,101 YYYYMMDD date code for first claim — A lower value is rejected before calculation.

First claim date maximum

firstClaimDateCode ≤ 99,991,231 YYYYMMDD date code for first claim — A higher value is rejected before calculation.

First claim certified work minimum

firstCertifiedWorkExTax ≥ 0 currency units/first claim, ex tax — A lower value is rejected before calculation.

First claim certified work maximum

firstCertifiedWorkExTax ≤ 10,000,000 currency units/first claim, ex tax — A higher value is rejected before calculation.

First claim cash received minimum

firstCashReceivedExTax ≥ 0 currency units/first claim period, ex tax — A lower value is rejected before calculation.

First claim cash received maximum

firstCashReceivedExTax ≤ 10,000,000 currency units/first claim period, ex tax — A higher value is rejected before calculation.

First claim retention released minimum

firstRetentionReleasedExTax ≥ 0 currency units/first claim period, ex tax — A lower value is rejected before calculation.

First claim retention released maximum

firstRetentionReleasedExTax ≤ 10,000,000 currency units/first claim period, ex tax — A higher value is rejected before calculation.

First claim project cost outflow minimum

firstProjectCostOutflowExTax ≥ 0 currency units/first claim period, ex tax — A lower value is rejected before calculation.

First claim project cost outflow maximum

firstProjectCostOutflowExTax ≤ 10,000,000 currency units/first claim period, ex tax — A higher value is rejected before calculation.

Second claim date minimum

secondClaimDateCode ≥ 10,000,101 YYYYMMDD date code for second claim — A lower value is rejected before calculation.

Second claim date maximum

secondClaimDateCode ≤ 99,991,231 YYYYMMDD date code for second claim — A higher value is rejected before calculation.

Second claim certified work minimum

secondCertifiedWorkExTax ≥ 0 currency units/second claim, ex tax — A lower value is rejected before calculation.

Second claim certified work maximum

secondCertifiedWorkExTax ≤ 10,000,000 currency units/second claim, ex tax — A higher value is rejected before calculation.

Second claim cash received minimum

secondCashReceivedExTax ≥ 0 currency units/second claim period, ex tax — A lower value is rejected before calculation.

Second claim cash received maximum

secondCashReceivedExTax ≤ 10,000,000 currency units/second claim period, ex tax — A higher value is rejected before calculation.

Second claim retention released minimum

secondRetentionReleasedExTax ≥ 0 currency units/second claim period, ex tax — A lower value is rejected before calculation.

Second claim retention released maximum

secondRetentionReleasedExTax ≤ 10,000,000 currency units/second claim period, ex tax — A higher value is rejected before calculation.

Second claim project cost outflow minimum

secondProjectCostOutflowExTax ≥ 0 currency units/second claim period, ex tax — A lower value is rejected before calculation.

Second claim project cost outflow maximum

secondProjectCostOutflowExTax ≤ 10,000,000 currency units/second claim period, ex tax — A higher value is rejected before calculation.

• Costs, capacity, contract terms, tax rates and targets are supplied by the user.
• No provider default, jurisdictional rule or industry benchmark is embedded.
• The shared engine retains full precision and display formatting never feeds calculation.

This planner has no current policy-data dependency. Its commercial assumptions are user supplied. Registered family-level regression suites exercise the shared business-logic engine and worked-result reconciliation.

• Results are only as reliable as the timing, scope and basis of the entered records.
• The workflow does not predict demand or establish accounting, tax, contractual or legal treatment.
• Retention rate, cap and release delay are editable contract assumptions; no jurisdictional security-of-payment rule, statutory cap, trust-account requirement or release deadline is embedded.
• The calculated release date is a cash-planning scenario, not a statement of contractual or statutory entitlement.

This is educational decision support, not tax, accounting, legal or financial advice. Check the treatment of your actual transactions under the rules that apply to your business and seek qualified advice where appropriate.

Registered family-level suites test formula invariants and example reconciliation; the release ledger records that coverage without claiming a separate oracle for every line of public copy. There is no official threshold or benchmark to refresh for this planner. Commercial inputs remain user-supplied because they vary by business and contract.

1. 2026-07-31: Initial public release of the planner and methodology after pre-launch calculation, content, source and interaction review.