Retention Money Calculator
How much is held back as retention — and what that locked money costs you until release.
Retention held—
Carrying cost till release—
Track every retention due-date so you claim it back the day it's release-eligible.
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Retention Money Calculator
How much is held back as retention — and what that locked money costs you until release.
How to use it — and why it matters
Retention protects the client, but it's your cash — held back on every bill, often 5–10%, and released only after the defect liability period. Until then it costs you: it's working capital you could deploy, at your cost of capital. This calculator sizes both the retention held and its carrying cost until release.
How is the carrying cost calculated?
Retention held × your cost of capital × the fraction of a year it's held (months ÷ 12). It's the interest value of money locked out of your business.
Why do contractors lose retention?
Because nobody tracks release dates. Retention becomes claimable at milestones and after defect liability — miss the date and it sits longer, or gets forgotten. Tracking every due-date is how you get it back on time.
See it on your real projects
A back-of-envelope number is a start. In a free 20-minute demo we open sotyn.ai on your own trades and project sizes — no slides, no staged data.