Why Do RA Bills Get Delayed, and How Do You Find the Cause?
An RA bill can be delayed at seven points between measurement and payment, and more than one can apply at once. This guide lists each cause with its usual owner, how it can show in an ERP event trail and what the wait costs, then shows how to find which one is yours.
Last updated 9 min read
An RA bill (running account bill) can be delayed at any of seven points, and more than one can apply to the same bill: measurement not agreed, certification waiting on the client or project management consultant, incomplete supporting documents, a rework loop, an internal approvals queue, an invoice raised late, or payment released late. The cause is found by measuring the gap between each pair of dates in a bill's journey. A report that ages from the invoice date starts counting at the invoice, so waits before the invoice are not in it.
Last updated 29 October 2026. This guide is general information, not legal, tax or accounting advice. Sample figures are from Crestline's glossary and are not customer data.
What are the common causes of RA bill delay?
The common causes of RA bill delay sit at seven points between work executed and money received. Each has a different usual owner, a different trace in an ERP event trail and a different cash balance waiting behind it.
| Cause | Where it sits | Whose desk (usual owner) | How you would see it in the ERP event trail | What it costs (cash priced by cost of delay) | Where it does not apply |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Measurement not agreed | Between work executed and the signed measurement | Site engineer, with the client's engineer | The gap between the execution date and the signed measurement date, if your ERP records both; confirm the field names in your ERP | Value of work executed but not yet measured, for each day it waits | Where the contract needs no joint measurement for the item; read the measurement clause |
| Certification waiting on the client or PMC | Between submission and certification | Client's engineer or project management consultant | Submission date and certification date for each bill; the difference is the certification lag. Confirm the field names in your ERP | Value of submitted bills not yet certified, for each day | When the bill was held back inside the contractor's own team before submission; see the next two rows |
| Incomplete supporting documents | Before submission, or after the bill is returned | Contractor's billing or quantity surveying team | A bill returned and submitted again, shown as repeated submit events on the same bill number, if your ERP keeps the returned pass | Value of the returned bill, for the days of each pass | Where the ERP keeps only the latest date, so a returned bill shows no repeat; a manual register is then needed |
| Rework loops | Anywhere the bill goes back to an earlier step | Varies by contract; usually the desk that raises the query, then the desk that answers it | A path that revisits a step, such as submitted, returned, submitted again | Value of the looping bill, for each extra pass | Bills that pass each step once; and a loop shows that a bill went back, not why, so group returns by cause |
| Approvals queue | Inside the contractor, before the bill or a variation item is submitted | The contractor's internal approver, as set by its own approval rules | The gap between the created and approved stamps, if your ERP writes both | Value of the items held for approval, for each day | Where approvals are keyed in bulk later; the stamps then show one spike, not the real wait |
| Invoice raised late | Between certification and the tax invoice | Contractor's accounts team | Certification date to invoice date | Certified value not yet invoiced, for each day | Where the invoice is raised the same day as certification |
| Payment released late | Between the invoice and payment | Client's accounts, chased by the contractor | Invoice date to payment date, which a receivables ageing report that counts from the invoice date covers; check yours | Invoiced value not yet paid, for each day | Waits before the invoice is raised, which ageing does not show |
Source for the stages and usual owners (measurement, certification, documents, invoice and payment rows): how to find working capital stuck in RA bills and the glossary entries for RA bill and measurement book. The rework and approvals rows are this guide's own grouping. Which of these are open to your bills depends on your contract and on what your ERP records.
What does an RA bill delay cost?
An RA bill delay costs the cash waiting behind it multiplied by your cost of funds for the days it waits. The glossary's cost of delay method is days waited × cases affected × cost per case per day, and the last term is an assumption to state next to the result.
| Input | Sample value | Basis |
|---|---|---|
| Cash held at the step | ₹38.4 Cr | Sample, Crestline glossary, cost of delay entry |
| Days removed | 7 | Same entry |
| Cost of funding | 11% a year | Assumption stated in the entry |
| Calculation | ₹38.4 Cr × 11% × 7 ÷ 365 | Cash times rate times days |
| Result | about ₹8.1 lakh, recurring every cycle | Computed from the sample |
As of 29 October 2026. Changing the 11% to 9% moves the result to about ₹6.6 lakh. On this sample, changing the rate does not reorder the steps, but a different assumption can. Use the figure to order priorities and do not book it as an amount. Quote it as "about ₹8 lakh a cycle", not to the rupee.
How do you find which cause is yours?
To find which cause is yours, take every open RA bill, list the date of each step it went through, measure the gap between each pair of dates and add up the value waiting at each gap. The largest value-weighted gap is the first cause to look at.
- Export one row per event for open RA bills: bill number, step, date and amount. Keep every returned submission, because the first submission date is the one that matters.
- Measure the gap between each pair of steps for each bill. Report the median and the P80 (the value 80 per cent of bills fall under), because an average hides the slow tail.
- Weight each gap by the bill value. For example, a 30-day wait on a ₹50 lakh bill and on a ₹5 crore bill are different problems.
- Split the gaps by desk. Waits where the contractor holds the bill are internal, and waits where the client holds it are external. Argue about them separately.
- Group the returned bills by reason. Bills are often sent back over two or three line items, so the reason points to what keeps failing.
- Check the timestamps. Work done over email or on site leaves no stamp, and bulk entry on one day shows a spike, so read those as gaps in the record and not as measured waits.
A spreadsheet export and the steps above work for a handful of bills. The same method on every project is where a connected tool starts to matter. For the full method, read where cash is stuck in my projects and how to find it. For the wider picture, read how a construction company frees trapped working capital.
Where does Crestline fit in finding RA bill delay, and where does it not?
Crestline is process intelligence software for EPC and construction finance teams. Crestline reads the ERP event trail read-only, follows each RA bill as its own case, keeps every returned submission, and prices each wait in rupees at a cost of funds you set. Grey Infra ERP is the only live connector today; other systems are not yet available, ask on the scoping call.
Crestline does not fit when the bills are few and a spreadsheet export answers the question. It also cannot measure a step that left no timestamp, and it does not chase the client or change a bill. The method is described on the process mining for EPC finance page. To see your own RA bill waits ranked, book a Crestline demo.
If the delay you find is in retention held after completion, read the best way to recover retention money in construction.
What is Crestline not?
Crestline is not an ERP. Crestline holds no ledger and issues no invoice. Crestline is also not:
- Accounting software. Crestline does not post entries.
- Project management or scheduling software.
- A legal service. Crestline does not tell a contractor what a contract entitles it to, so check your contract and current law, and take advice.
Crestline does not write back to your systems.
Key takeaways
- An RA bill can be delayed at any of seven points, and each has its own usual owner and its own possible trace in an event trail.
- A receivables ageing report that ages from the invoice date does not show waits before the invoice.
- Measure from the first submission, keep every returned pass, and weight each gap by bill value.
- The rupee cost rests on an assumed cost of funds, so use it to rank waits and do not book it as an amount.
- Check your contract and current law, and take advice, on what the contract entitles you to.
FAQ
Which RA bill delay should I fix first?
Fix the gap with the largest bill value multiplied by days waited first. The glossary's cost of delay method ranks steps the same way, and the ranking rests on a cost-of-funds assumption, so treat it as an order of priority.
Is certification lag the same as RA bill delay?
No. Certification lag is one stretch of the journey: the time from submitting an RA bill to the client certifying it. RA bill delay is the whole journey, so it also includes measurement before submission and invoicing and payment after certification.
Does a returned RA bill restart the delay clock?
No. A returned RA bill gets a new date, and the delay keeps running from the first submission. A resubmitted bill often carries only its new date, which erases the delay you want to measure, so measure from the first submission and keep every returned pass.
- Working capital