Advance and Final Invoices for Condominium Works

In extraordinary works the supplier rarely issues a single invoice at the end: more often it invoices in advance as the site progresses, and then a final balance at completion. Each invoice, advance or final, requires the same care from the manager: verify the real progress, check the coverage in the budget, apply the withholding tax where due, and pay with a traceable transfer. Handling this sequence well protects the condominium and safeguards the tax deductions.

Why billing takes place by advances

Billing by advances spreads the outlay over time and ties it to the execution of the work. The firm collects sums as it completes parts of the job, without having to advance the whole cost. For the condominium the advance is a control tool: paying only for what has been done reduces the risk of advancing money for services not yet rendered.

The link with the works progress report

On sites managed by a works supervisor, advance invoices follow the progress reports, that is the periodic certifications of the share of work completed. The manager pays the advance only after receiving the progress report and comparing it with the invoice. An advance detached from real progress is a risky payment, hard to recover if the firm defaults.

Coverage in the budget and the special fund

For extraordinary maintenance and improvements the meeting must set up a special fund equal to the amount of the works. If the work is entrusted with payments staged according to progress, the fund may be set up in relation to the individual payments due. Before paying each advance the manager checks that the relevant funds are available, avoiding advancing sums not yet paid by owners.

• Check the meeting resolution approving the works and the fund
• Verify the available funds before each advance
• Chase the fund instalments in good time against the firm's deadlines
• Keep owners' payments and payments to the supplier aligned

Withholding tax on advances and balance

On payments relating to works contracts the condominium applies the withholding tax as a withholding agent. The withholding applies to each taxable payment, so to advance invoices too and not only to the balance. The manager withholds the amount, pays it using the F24 form within the deadlines and records it for the single certification to be issued to the supplier.

Traceable transfer and deductions

When the works qualify for tax deductions, every payment, advance or balance, must be made by traceable transfer, that is a transfer stating the reason with the legal reference of the relief, the condominium's tax code and the supplier's VAT number. It is the traceable transfer that allows the bank withholding to apply and documents the deductible expense. A cash payment or an ordinary transfer may lose the deduction for that tranche.

The final balance and the conformity check

The final invoice closes the relationship and must be paid only after the final check of the work. Before the balance the manager verifies that the works have been completed to a professional standard, that any variations were authorised and covered, and that the firm has delivered the required technical documentation. Retaining a portion as a guarantee until testing, if the contract provides for it, is a further protection for the condominium.

Keeping the payment sequence in order

Advances and balance generate a sequence of documents that must stay coherent: quote, contract, progress reports, invoices, transfers, F24 withholding payments. Losing track exposes you to errors in the report and to difficulty in proving entitlement to deductions.

With AmministraPro the manager links every advance and final invoice to the quote, the works fund and the related payments, keeping coverage, withholdings and deadlines under control: the features are described on the /funzioni page and the plans on the /prezzi page.