Procedure to prepare bills

A bill is a statement prepared by the contractor (and checked by the engineer) that shows the quantity of work done, the rates and the amount payable. In government work in Nepal, running (interim) bills are paid during the work and a final bill at the end.

Procedure

1. Measurement of work: the engineer and contractor jointly measure the completed work and record it in the measurement book; hidden work is measured before it is covered.
2. Abstract of measurement: the quantities are entered item-wise (as in the BOQ), totalled and checked.
3. Rate application: each quantity is multiplied by the contract (agreement) rate; for extra or variation items, approved rates are used.
4. Calculate the gross amount of work done up to date.
5. Add price adjustment (escalation), the value of materials at site (if allowed) and variation items.
6. Deductions: the amount paid in previous bills, advance recovery (mobilisation and other advances), retention money (5% in public contracts), income tax (TDS), penalties and any other recoveries.
7. Net payable amount = gross amount − deductions; VAT is added (or withheld) as required by law.
8. Checking and certification: the bill is checked by the engineer or supervisor and certified by the project manager or concerned officer, with a certificate that the quantity and quality of the work are satisfactory.
9. Approval and payment: the bill is passed by the accounts officer, and payment is made by cheque or bank transfer.
10. Final bill: it includes all completed work and is submitted with the completion certificate and a "no claim" certificate; retention is released after the defect liability period, and the bill is marked final.

Records: the MB, abstract sheet, bill and checklist are filed together.