R8 — Payment terms aligned with the GC's draw cycle; progress-based or milestone-tied, not monthly; reduces scarcity-cognitive friction

Rule: Candid invoice timing is aligned with the GC's own draw cycles — progress-based, milestone-tied, or quarterly rather than monthly — wherever the engagement structure allows. Reduces scarcity-cognitive friction without changing total revenue.

Why: The operative reference point is the draw cycle's net position, not annual revenue ([[koszegi-rabin-2006-reference-dependent-preferences]]). A monthly invoice arriving during owner-payment lag hits the buyer mid-scarcity, when bandwidth is depleted ([[mullainathan-shafir-2013-scarcity-bandwidth-tax]], [[mani-et-al-2013-sugarcane-farmers-cognitive-test]]) and the loss-domain value-function slope is steepest. Same dollar amount evaluated against a positive-net reference point is materially less painful.

How to apply:

• Default contract term: invoice on project milestones, not calendar dates.
• For ongoing retainers: offer quarterly billing as the default; monthly as the alternative; never weekly.
• Where milestone billing isn't possible, offer billing-cycle alignment with the GC's typical draw schedule (ask in discovery).
• Ontario Construction Act 2026 amendments narrow but don't eliminate the GC's underlying cash-cycle mismatch ([[ontario-construction-act-2026-7-day-deeming-rule]], [[ontario-construction-act-2026-mandatory-annual-holdback-release]]).