Why bills get returned: the 10 most common reasons

A returned bill costs more than the time to fix it. It goes to the back of the queue in the client's office, the next bill waits behind it, and the payment cycle slips by weeks. Most returns are not about the work. They are about the bill: a figure that does not tie, a document that is missing, a quantity the engineer cannot trace.

These are the ten reasons we see most often when we check RA bills, roughly in order of how often they cause a return. Each comes with what the engineer sees and the check that prevents it.

1. The previous column does not match

The engineer opens the last certificate and the previous quantities on your bill differ from what was certified. Until that is resolved, nothing on the line can be certified. Check: copy the previous column from the client's last certificate, never from your own claim. Our post on cumulative quantities covers the causes.

2. Quantity above BOQ without approval

Cumulative quantity on an item has crossed the BOQ quantity, and there is no deviation approval on record. The engineer cannot certify the excess. Check: compare up-to-date quantity with BOQ quantity for every item before the bill goes out, and attach the approval reference for each excess. Better still, apply for approval when the item reaches about 80% of BOQ.

3. Extra items without an approved rate

Work not in the BOQ has been billed at a rate the contractor proposed. Check: bill extra and substituted items only with a sanction reference, or on account at a provisional rate the engineer has agreed in writing. Attach the rate analysis.

4. Quantities the engineer cannot trace

The abstract shows 74.20 cum of slab concrete, but the measurement sheet does not say which slab, which bay, or on what date. The engineer either visits the site or cuts the quantity pending verification. Check: every measurement line names its location, its date and its drawing, and the abstract line refers to its measurement sheets.

5. The mode of measurement is not followed

Openings not deducted in masonry, plaster measured on the wrong face, formwork measured where the item rate includes it. The contract's mode of measurement, usually the relevant part of IS 1200 as modified by the contract's specifications, decides what is measured and what is deducted. Check: apply the contract's deduction rules item by item, and show each deduction as its own line.

6. Arithmetic that does not tie

Quantity times rate does not equal the amount; the abstract total does not equal the sum of lines; the recovery schedule uses a different gross value from the abstract. One error makes the engineer recheck every figure. Check: recompute every amount, then tie the abstract total, the recovery schedule's gross value and the invoice's taxable value to each other.

7. Recoveries worked out wrongly

Retention at the wrong percentage, mobilisation advance recovered faster or slower than the schedule, interest on advance missing, labour cess on a GST-inclusive base, TDS lines combined. The client's accounts team recomputes recoveries independently, and any mismatch sends the bill back. Check: recompute each recovery from the work order's terms, and print the basis beside each line.

8. Secured advance on the wrong material

Secured advance is claimed on material that has already been built into the work, or on material not yet brought to site, or the advance from the last bill has not been adjusted against the work done since. Check: keep a secured advance register of material brought, material used and advance outstanding, and adjust every bill.

9. GST invoice errors

Wrong GSTIN for the client, the wrong place of supply, the wrong SAC, an invoice value that differs from the certified bill, or an IRN missing where e-invoicing applies to you. Check: confirm the client's GSTIN and place of supply once per work order, and generate the invoice from the bill itself.

10. Missing enclosures

The bill arrives without test reports, a signed cover letter, the hindrance register, photographs or the documents the contract lists for each bill. Check: keep a per-client enclosure list and tick it before sending.

The ten checks at a glance

Why evidence matters more than accuracy

A bill can be arithmetically perfect and still come back, because the engineer has no way to confirm the quantities without a site visit. Engineers check what they can trace and hold what they cannot. A bill that carries its evidence with it, measurement by measurement, gives the engineer nothing to hold.

How Tatha Vastu prevents returns

Tatha Vastu builds the bill from approved measurements, each with location, date, photo and drawing reference. The previous column comes from the client's last certified figure. Deviation control warns at 80% and 100% of BOQ quantity. Recoveries are computed from the work order's terms, and the invoice is generated from the same figures. If you want to see where your current bills stand, the free bill check runs these ten checks on one RA bill.