# RA Bill Software for Running Account Bills > Raise running account bills from approved measurement sheets and work orders, with retention, mobilisation recovery and an approval trail in SuperWise. Canonical: https://superwise.site/features/ra-bill-certification/ Last updated: 2026-11-03 An RA bill, or running account bill, is the periodic claim a contractor raises against a work order. SuperWise builds each one from approved measurement sheets and the work order quantity, with an approval trail. - Cumulative quantity stops at the work order quantity - Retention and recoveries applied on every bill ## The bill and the book disagree. Payment waits. SuperWise builds the bill from the approved measurement sheets, so the bill and the book cannot disagree, and each approval is on the record. - **Measurement sheets.** Record number, length, breadth and height less deductions against a BOQ item and a work order. Approving a sheet updates the BOQ progress. - **RA bills on the work order.** Each bill covers an execution period and claims a cumulative quantity that cannot pass the work order quantity, at the work order rate. - **Deductions on every bill.** Retention is held back at the work order's percentage and the mobilisation advance is recovered across the bills or in a lump sum. - **Approval, payment and print.** Approvers sign a bill off in steps by role, payments are recorded against it, and the bill prints as a document. ## How it works A bill is built from measurements that were agreed first. 1. **Measurements are approved first.** The billing engineer and the contractor agree the quantities in the measurement book. Only approved sheets can go into a bill, and each sheet is tied to a BOQ item and a line of the work order. 2. **The bill is built on the work order.** Create the RA bill against the work order. Its quantities come from approved sheets, the cumulative quantity stops at the work order quantity, and retention and recoveries are applied on every bill without anyone retyping them. 3. **Approve, certify and print.** The bill goes through the approval steps your company sets, each recording the approver, the date and a comment. The row menu offers edit, approve, abstract, reject and delete, and an approved bill prints with its history. ## From measurement to approval to payment Retention and mobilisation recovery are applied on the bill, and payments are released against it once approvers have signed it off. 1. **Measurement sheet.** Number × length × breadth × height, less deductions, against a BOQ item 2. **Measurement approval.** Approval updates the BOQ progress 3. **RA bill.** Period, cumulative quantity up to the work order, retention, mobilisation recovery 4. **Approval workflow.** Approvers by role sign the bill off in steps 5. **Payment.** Payments released against the bill, bill printed ## The RA bill process in Indian construction A [running account bill](https://superwise.site/glossary/running-account-bill/) pays a contractor for work done so far, so the same work order is billed again and again over its life. Each bill repeats the same checks: how much was measured, how much was billed before, how much the [work order](https://superwise.site/glossary/work-order/) allows, and what the contract holds back. Quantities come from a measurement book kept in one place, rates from a [bill of quantities](https://superwise.site/glossary/bill-of-quantities/) kept in another, and the work order balance from a spreadsheet nobody updated after the last bill. A quantity gets billed twice, or a bill passes the work order quantity before anyone checks the balance. SuperWise keeps the work order, the BOQ and the [measurement book](https://superwise.site/glossary/measurement-book/) in one project. A bill reads its quantities from approved measurement sheets and its rates from the work order, and the system refuses a cumulative quantity above the work order quantity. The balance left on each work order line is the work order quantity less what earlier bills claimed. - [See the digital measurement book](https://superwise.site/features/digital-measurement-book/) ## Evidence and the approval trail Each line of a measurement sheet shows the location, the count and the dimensions, the deduction for openings and the net quantity, and the sheet names the BOQ item and the work order it belongs to. The approval workflow adds the sign-off. A company sets the steps once, each owned by a role, and a project can override them. A step can need any member of the role or all of them. Every step records who acted, when, and the comment they left. A rejected bill goes back to its submitter, and the company can switch on a push or email notice so the rejection does not sit unread. Each approver has a list of what is waiting for them. ## Amendments, milestones and deductions When scope or rate changes after a work order is approved, you amend it. The amendment raises the revision number, keeps a snapshot of the earlier version and records the reason. In contract language such a change is often issued as a [variation order](https://superwise.site/glossary/variation-order/). SuperWise records it as a work order amendment, and later bills use the amended lines. A work order can instead carry billing milestones, each with a title, a fixed amount and a target date, for contracts paid when a deliverable is reached rather than on measured quantity. On a measured bill the module applies the deductions for you. Retention is the bill amount times the work order's retention percentage. The mobilisation advance is recovered pro rata across bills or in one lump sum, as the contract says. A bill of ₹5,00,000 at 5 percent retention with ₹50,000 of mobilisation recovery pays ₹4,25,000. ## Download the RA bill template If bills still go out from a spreadsheet, the [RA bill format and checklist](https://superwise.site/templates/ra-bill-format-template/) sets out what a running account bill should include and the checks that support it. Agree the format with your contractors first. - [Open the RA bill format and checklist](https://superwise.site/templates/ra-bill-format-template/) ## What the module produces A figure on a printed bill matches the sheet behind it, because both are read from the same records. - **The RA bill document.** Each RA bill prints as a document, generated from the same record that was approved. - **Bill status and history.** Each bill moves through draft, submitted, approved and paid, and keeps its approval steps. - **Balance on each work order line.** The work order detail shows what each line has billed, so the quantity left to bill is visible before the next bill. - **Committed against certified cost.** The BOQ-wise cash outflow report sets what PO and work order values committed against what RA bills and supplier bills certified. ## Frequently asked questions ### What is an RA bill in construction? An RA bill, short for running account bill, is the interim bill a contractor raises for work measured so far against a work order. It is raised many times over the life of the contract, and each bill carries cumulative quantities, the deductions the contract allows and an amount payable. SuperWise builds it from approved measurement sheets and the work order lines. ### Can a bill claim more than the work order quantity? No. A work order line has a contracted quantity, and the cumulative quantity billed against it cannot exceed that figure. The work order detail shows how much each line has billed so far, so the billing engineer sees the balance before raising the next bill. To bill more, amend the work order first and have the amendment approved. ### How are retention and mobilisation advance handled? Each work order holds a retention percentage and a mobilisation amount. Every bill deducts retention as its amount times that percentage, and recovers mobilisation either across the bills pro rata or in a lump sum, as the contract states. The bill shows both deductions, so the net payable can be checked by hand. ### Who approves an RA bill in SuperWise? The approvers you define. A company sets the steps for each document type, assigns each step to a role and chooses whether any member or all members of that role must approve. A project can override the company workflow. Each step records who acted, the date and a comment, and a rejected bill returns to its submitter. ### Does SuperWise handle variation orders and extra items? It handles amendments to the work order. A change after approval, such as added scope or a revised rate, raises the revision number, keeps a snapshot of the previous version and records the reason. The amendment is the documented mechanism for a change order, so describe the change in the amendment reason. ### Can a work order be billed on milestones instead of measurements? Yes. A work order can carry billing milestones, each with a title, a fixed amount and a target date. This suits a contract that pays when a deliverable is reached rather than on measured quantity. Measured work orders continue to bill from approved measurement sheets and the work order rate. ### Where do the measurements for an RA bill come from? From measurement sheets, which record number, length, breadth and height, less deductions, against a BOQ item and a work order. Approving a sheet updates the BOQ progress. The bill then reads the approved quantities for its period. The digital measurement book page describes how sheets are structured. ## Related - [Digital measurement book](https://superwise.site/features/digital-measurement-book/) - [RA bill format and checklist](https://superwise.site/templates/ra-bill-format-template/) - [Billing engineer](https://superwise.site/professions/construction-billing-engineer/) - [Running Account bill (RA bill)](https://superwise.site/glossary/running-account-bill/) - [Measurement Book (MB)](https://superwise.site/glossary/measurement-book/) - [Work Order (WO)](https://superwise.site/glossary/work-order/) - [Variation Order (Change Order)](https://superwise.site/glossary/variation-order/) - [Bill of Quantities (BOQ)](https://superwise.site/glossary/bill-of-quantities/)