Ask for a Redacted Sample Invoice Before You Compare Totals

Two roof bids can show the same total and still hide different bills. One roofer lists labor, materials, disposal and permit fees as separate lines. Another folds them into a single figure and sends the detail later, if at all. Before you compare totals, ask each roofer for a redacted sample invoice from a recent job, with the customer name, street address, phone number and email removed. The request is ordinary. A roofer who has nothing to show you is also giving you an answer, and you should write it down.

What a sample invoice shows that a bid does not

A bid is a promise about the work. An invoice is what the company bills once the work is done. The two should share a structure even when the numbers differ. A sample invoice shows whether tear-off, underlayment, ice and water membrane, drip edge, ridge vent, pipe boots and haul-away are itemized, or whether they all sit under one labor heading. It also shows how change orders are written, where sales tax appears, and whether a deposit is subtracted at the end or shown at the top.

The structure matters because the bottom number on a bid depends on what the roofer chose to leave out of the visible lines. If one bid has eight lines and the other has three, the three-line bid may still be correct, but you cannot tell from the total alone. The sample tells you which kind of document you are dealing with before you start doing arithmetic.

How to ask for it

Put the request in writing, in the same message as your other questions. Ask for a sample from a finished residential tear-off and reroof completed within the last year or so. Ask that it show the same fields a customer would see. If the office uses a standard template, ask for a blank copy of that template in addition to or instead of a redacted job. Note the date on each sample and whether it came from a steep-slope job or a low-slope section, because those often carry different line items.

Some companies will not share a real invoice, and that is a fair position for them to take. Ask for the template in that case. Then ask the roofer to walk through each line on it and say what triggers it. A line that only fires on a surprise, such as a dumpster overage or a rotten deck charge, should appear with its trigger written beside it. If the trigger is described only as at the discretion of the crew lead, mark that line and come back to it.

Lines worth finding on the sample

• Tear-off and disposal, shown separately from installation labor
• Materials by name and quantity, including the shingle product line, the underlayment type and the drip edge
• Permit fees, with a note on whether they are passed through at cost or marked up
• Dumpster and haul-away, with the dumpster size and the number of loads
• Flashing, pipe boots and vent parts, each as its own line rather than a bundle
• Change order format, including who signs and how the revised total is shown
• Sales tax, with the rate and the taxable base
• Deposit and final payment, with the amount due at each stage

Why the eave and valley lines matter in St. Louis

A St. Louis reroof runs into the freeze and thaw cycle at the eave every winter, and ice and water membrane is often the line that gets trimmed from a bid to bring the total down. Check whether the sample shows that membrane as a separate line, and whether its coverage area is described in square footage or left as a general item. The same question applies to valleys. A valley that is cut and flashed by hand takes more labor than one that is woven, and the invoice should show which method was billed.

Permit fees in St. Louis County depend on the municipality and on how the job is valued, so the permit line should name the jurisdiction. If a roofer's sample shows a permit fee with no city named, ask which permit desk they pulled from and whether the fee is a flat amount or a percentage of the job value.

Laying the samples next to the bids

Put the sample invoice beside each of your two or three bids. Check whether each bid uses the same line structure. If one roofer bills dumpster service separately and another includes it in labor, the totals are not yet comparable. Do not rewrite the numbers yourself to make them match. Ask the roofer whose total is lower to show you where the dumpster cost sits on their bid, and ask the other roofer the same question about their lines. The answers will tell you more than the bottom figure does.

Keep a short table with one row per line type and one column per roofer. Fill in the dollar amount where it appears and write none where the bid is silent. A row full of none entries is a list of questions to send back in writing, and it gives you a fair way to compare what is included rather than what is labeled.

Where invoices and bids disagree

Watch for a bid that lists a price per square and an invoice that bills by the hour. Watch for a sample invoice with a line called miscellaneous or site materials and no detail beneath it. Ask what goes there. A roofer who uses that line honestly should be able to name the items in it. Also check whether the invoice prices the wood nailers at the edges, the ridge and hip caps, and the pipe boots as separate items, and whether a steep charge or a lift or hoist charge appears anywhere. Those items belong on the bid too, so ask each roofer to point to where each one sits on the bid.

If a roofer refuses to show any invoice format at all, record that in your comparison notes. It does not decide the bid by itself, but it is one more answer you can set beside the others.

Questions to send with the request

• Which line on this invoice changes first if the decking needs more replacement than the bid assumed?
• How is the final payment calculated, and what is held back until the closeout packet is signed?
• Does the invoice list crew hours, and if so, how are they counted?
• Where would a credit for a declined item appear on the invoice?

If you would rather go through a sample and a bid together by phone, the Keys Roofing office can be reached at (314) 220-2333.