Glossary

What is a pay application, and how is it different from an invoice?

Both ask you for money. They are built differently, entered differently in Procore and QuickBooks Online, and AP checks different things on each.

How Denize works

Published October 15, 2026 · Reviewed October 15, 2026

The short answer

A pay application (pay app) is a contractor’s or subcontractor’s request for payment for progress on a contract, billed line by line against the schedule of values and usually net of retainage. On AIA forms it is a G702 summary with a G703 continuation sheet. A supplier invoice bills for materials or services delivered, at the quantities and prices on the invoice or purchase order.

How is a pay application different from a supplier invoice?

Supplier invoicePay application

Bills forMaterials or services delivered.Progress on a contract, line by line.

Usually sent byA supplier, distributor or rental company.A subcontractor to the GC, or the GC to the owner.

Amounts come fromQuantities and prices, often from a purchase order.Scheduled values, work completed and stored materials.

RetainageOnly if the purchase terms call for it.Withheld per the contract. Procore calls 5–10% a common practice.

Typical formThe supplier’s own invoice.AIA G702 and G703, or the format the contract requires.

In ProcoreA commitment invoice if it bills a purchase order; otherwise a Direct Cost.A subcontractor invoice on the subcontract.

In QuickBooks OnlineA Bill.Also a Bill. Procore’s connector maps commitment invoices to QuickBooks vendor bills.

What is on an AIA pay application?

AIA Document G702, Application and Certificate for Payment, summarizes the contract: original contract sum, net change by change orders, total completed and stored to date, retainage, previous certificates and the current payment due. G703, the Continuation Sheet, carries one row per schedule-of-values line, and its totals flow to the G702.

Subcontractors have their own version, G702S–2017 with G703S–2017. Per AIA’s instructions, the subcontractor signs the application, has it notarized and submits it to the contractor. See every G702 line and G703 column.

How do subcontractors submit pay apps in Procore?

In Procore, a subcontractor’s pay app is a subcontractor invoice on a commitment. Per Procore’s help center, as of October 2026:

An invoice contact is an employee of the contract company on the purchase order or subcontract. Procore’s Progress Billings tool, used by US specialty contractors, calls the same role a progress billing contact.
Invoice contacts see and bill only the commitments the GC assigns to them.
They can create an invoice for an open billing period without an Invite to Bill. The invite lets them accept or decline billing for that period.
An invoice administrator can also create the invoice on the subcontractor’s behalf.

Self-entry saves the GC typing, and it means the numbers in Procore were entered by the vendor. Checking them against the PDF the vendor attached is what Invoice Check is for.

What does AP check on each?

On a supplier invoice:

Vendor, invoice number and date, and that it is not already entered.
The PO number printed on the invoice, and whether the lines match the PO.
The job and cost code for every line, not one code for the whole invoice.
Sales tax and freight, and that the lines add up to the total.

On a pay application:

The commitment and the billing period.
This-period amounts on each schedule-of-values line, against the work in place.
The math: total to date equals previous plus this period plus stored materials, and the balance equals the scheduled value less total to date.
Retainage at the subcontract’s rate.
That the numbers entered in Procore match the attached PDF.

Whether the sub is compliant is a separate question: a W-9 on file, a current certificate of insurance and a lien waiver received. SubLien, a separate product from SubLien LLC, the company behind Denize, keeps those documents with each vendor at sublien.com (opens in a new tab).

Where does Denize fit?

Denize handles the invoices you receive. It codes every line to the right cost code and job, matches the PO and, after review, posts a Bill to QuickBooks Online or submits a Direct Cost or commitment invoice to Procore.

Invoice Check handles the pay apps and bills your vendors enter themselves in Procore. It compares invoice number, date, vendor, PO, totals, arithmetic, SOV billed amounts, billing period and duplicates with the PDF they attached, and marks each one Clear, Not clear or Needs review for an accountant.

Sources, as of October 2026

Facts about the AIA forms and Procore on this page come from these public pages, as of October 2026. Check them for changes before relying on a detail.

AIA Contract Documents: Instructions: G702–1992, Application and Certificate for Payment AIA Contract Documents: Instructions: G702S–2017, Contractor–Subcontractor Version Procore: About Subcontractor Invoices Procore: What is an invoice contact?Procore: What do we need to consider before allowing downstream collaborators to submit invoices?Procore: Does an invoice contact need an ‘Invite to Bill’ to submit an invoice?Procore: Create a Subcontractor Invoice on Behalf of an Invoice Contact Procore: How do I set and release retainage on a subcontractor invoice in Procore?Procore: About the QuickBooks Online Connector

Related terms and guides

What is a schedule of values?AIA G702 and G703, explained What is retainage?Direct Cost vs commitment invoice AP software for general contractors All glossary terms

Pay apps and supplier bills, both handled.

Tell us how invoices reach you today: by email, or entered by your subs in Procore. We’ll show the Denize workflow that fits each.

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