Punch list

Definition

The touch-ups a customer wants before releasing final payment, which is where jobs stall.

Why It Matters

Painting is judged at arm's length in good light, so the last five percent of a job carries most of the argument about whether it is finished. A shop that runs a disciplined walkthrough collects on time; one that does not carries receivables that are really disputes. Read the aging report against the job list and ask how many invoices older than sixty days are waiting on a punch item rather than on a customer's cash, because those two problems have completely different fixes.