The short answer
For most Indian contractors, a running account (RA) bill takes about 30 to 60 days to convert into cash, and a further 5–10% of every bill is retained — released only partly at completion and the balance after the defect liability period, which commonly runs one to four years. The delay is not usually the employer being difficult; it is structural: claimed quantities must be jointly measured and verified against the BOQ, recorded, reconciled for deviations, certified and then paid under contract terms. Each manual step adds days, and the contractor finances the work in the meantime. The figures below reflect standard contract norms (including CPWD-style government practice) and common industry experience, not any single project.
Why it matters: a subcontractor on a multi-crore package can be financing 30–60 days of work out of pocket on every cycle, while retention locks up margin for years — the single biggest cash-flow squeeze in Indian contracting.
Where the days go — a typical RA bill cycle
| Stage | Typical time | What happens |
|---|---|---|
| Measurement & recording | 3–10 days | Site quantities measured (nos × L × B × H) and entered, historically into a physical Measurement Book. |
| Joint verification | 5–15 days | Employer's QS jointly checks quantities against the BOQ; deviations reconciled. |
| Abstract & bill preparation | 2–6 days | Verified quantities turned into an abstract and RA bill with retention, advance recovery, TDS and GST. |
| Certification & approval | 5–15 days | Multi-level review and certification of the payable amount. |
| Payment | 10–30 days | Release per the contract's payment terms. |
| Total | ~30–60 days | From work executed to cash in hand. |
Indicative ranges based on standard contract terms and common industry practice; actual times vary by client and contract.
The deductions that stack up on every bill
Retention 5–10%
Withheld each bill; released partly at completion, rest after the DLP (often 1–4 years).
Advance recovery
Mobilisation/material advances recovered proportionally from each RA bill.
TDS (Section 194C)
Income tax deducted at source on contractor payments and deposited with the government.
GST (CGST/SGST/IGST)
Applied per work order with the correct SAC/HSN treatment.
Legacy accounting tools rarely handle retention, advance recovery and a multi-tier tax structure simultaneously against a cumulative, progressive BOQ baseline — which is why so many contractors still reconcile bills by hand and lose track of what they are owed.
What contractors can actually control
You cannot change the employer's certification and payment terms, but you can compress the biggest internal delays — measurement recording, reconciliation and re-keying. Digitising the measurement book so quantities are captured on site (even offline), drawn down against the BOQ, and turned into a compliant RA bill automatically — with retention, advance recovery, TDS and GST already applied — removes the days lost to paperwork and rejections. In practice this cuts internal bill-preparation from several days to about one, and first-time QS approval improves because the quantities reconcile to the BOQ by construction.
The controllable win: you may not move the payment date, but getting a clean, verifiable bill in on day one instead of day seven pulls every subsequent step forward.
Frequently asked questions
How long does an RA bill take to get paid in India?
Typically 30–60 days from submission, driven by joint measurement, verification, certification and payment terms.
Why are RA payments delayed?
Mainly manual measurement verification and reconciliation against the BOQ, plus multi-level approvals.
How much does retention lock up?
5–10% of every bill, released partly at completion and the rest after the DLP (often 1–4 years).
How can contractors shorten the cycle?
Digitise the measurement book and auto-generate BOQ-linked RA bills to cut internal prep from days to one day.
Shorten the part of the cycle you control
Start free — capture measurements on site and raise a clean RA bill the same day.
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