Frank Darakhshan

What a water-damage invoice needs so an adjuster can check it line by line

I write final invoices for water-damage jobs and then defend them when an adjuster cuts them down. That is my main job, and most of it comes down to making each line easy to check.

An adjuster has a stack of files. If your invoice makes them hunt, they reduce first and ask questions later. If it lets them match every line to their own estimate in a few minutes, the conversation changes. This guide covers what I put on an invoice so that happens.

This is written for contractors who bill, adjusters who review, and homeowners who want to understand what they are looking at.

1. Use the exact line item name and description

The single most useful habit is also the dullest. Every line on my invoices carries the exact Xactimate code, name and description. I do not shorten them, reword them, or rename them to sound friendlier.

The reason is practical. When an adjuster sends back a comparative estimate, I want to lay it next to my invoice and match line to line. Once the lines match, I can see two things at once:

If I had paraphrased a name, that match breaks. Then someone has to read the comparative by hand and guess which of my lines it answers. Names that drift from the standard break the comparison, and a broken comparison is how a legitimate line gets lost.

Here is a generic example, with made-up values. Suppose a line reads "Example code, Example line item name, 100 SF." The adjuster's estimate should show the same code and the same name, even if their quantity or price differs. Now the difference is visible, and it is one number I can answer instead of a vague sentence.

So the rule is simple. Keep the code on every line. Never rename a line.

2. Know where your prices come from

Adjusters check the price on every line, so you need to know where each one came from before you send it.

I do not bill the raw Xactimate list price as it stands. Most of the time I adjust prices to match my market. In one review, 25% of my invoice lines differed from the January 2023 list, and most of those differences were my own rates.

My order for pricing a line is:

  1. The price attachment in the signed contract (we call it Attachment A). My most commonly used prices live there.
  2. My own billed market rate for that line, taken from my past invoices.
  3. The Xactimate list, used only for codes and descriptions, and for lines that have no other price.

The point is that a price should always have a source you can name. If an adjuster asks why a line costs what it does, "it is in the signed contract" is a better answer than "that is what we charge." A homeowner reading the invoice can also check the same attachment, because they signed it.

Do not price a line from the standard list when a contract price or a market rate exists. And say which source each price came from.

3. Show the supervisory hours the way you earned them

Supervisory time is easy to dispute when it comes from memory, so I build it from evidence instead.

My supervisors take a job photo within 15 minutes of arriving each day, and a final photo within 30 minutes before leaving. For each job and each day, I take the time of the last photo minus the time of the first photo, then add 30 minutes of drive time.

Then I bill only in half-hour steps. I always round up to the next half hour, so 3 hours 5 minutes bills as 3.5. I never bill minutes. Photos from anyone on the job count, not only the supervisor's.

If a day has only one photo, there is no span to measure. I flag that day for review instead of guessing a number.

The adjuster can follow this without trusting me. The photos have timestamps, and the arithmetic is short.

4. Back the drying days with real evidence

The other line that gets challenged is the number of drying days. Readings alone rarely explain why a job took as long as it did, so the dry log has to carry more.

I build the case in this order:

  1. Equipment math first. Show why that much equipment was needed for that many days, such as chamber volume, dehumidifier sizing against the class of loss, and air mover count against affected surface area. If the calculation supports the days by itself, it stands alone.
  2. When the equipment math does not carry it, add the conditions that do. That means outdoor temperature and humidity on those dates, whether the property was occupied, the building materials and how saturated they were, and airflow restrictions from the layout that made the crew add or move equipment.
  3. Present it plainly. State the conditions and let the adjuster reach the conclusion. I do not print a heading that announces a justification.

There is one line I will not cross. I pick the evidence that best explains the days, but only from evidence that is true. I never select readings to reach a number, never drop a day because it is inconvenient, and never print a figure that no instrument produced. A dry log that gets checked and holds up is worth more than one that only reads well, because the carrier checks.

5. Make the invoice answer the next question

Before I send an invoice, I read it the way a reviewer would. For each line I ask:

If a line fails any of those, I fix it before it goes out. It is much easier to repair a line on my desk than to defend it after it has been cut.

What this looks like for each reader

Contractors. Match names exactly, price from your contract and your real rates, and keep evidence attached to the lines that get questioned. You will spend less time arguing and more time getting paid.

Adjusters. An invoice built this way lets you compare it to your estimate without translating it. If you still disagree with a line, you can point to the exact line and say why.

Homeowners. You can ask for the source of any price and the evidence behind any hours. A fair invoice has an answer for both.

An invoice is a document that gets checked. Build it so the checking is easy, and most of the disagreement goes away before it starts.

Written by Farough (Frank) Darakhshan, who writes and defends final water-damage invoices. More about me: Farough Darakhshan