SPEC 02 · WIP AND BONDING
A WIP schedule your surety can read, every month.
Monthly work-in-progress schedules for Kansas City contractors: percent complete, over and under billings and profit fade on every open job, built from job-cost books that close by the 15th.
Sound familiar?
- The underwriter wants a WIP by Friday.
- The last one was built in a spreadsheet at year-end.
- Nobody can say whether that big job is overbilled or fading.
Or call (816) 555-0148. Monday to Friday, 7:00 am to 4:30 pm.
SHEET A-101 · HOW IT RUNS
Job list in, WIP out, reviewed with you.
- Your job list inOpen jobs with contract values, current estimates of cost and billings to date.
- The WIP builtPercent complete on cost, earned revenue, over and under billings and gross profit to date and at completion.
- The fade reviewedWe go through any job whose margin has slipped since the estimate, with the person who runs it.
SHEET A-201 · THE SCHEDULE
What is on the schedule.
The columns underwriters and lenders expect, in the order they read them.
- Contract value with approved change orders
- Estimated total cost
- Cost to date
- Percent complete
- Earned revenue
- Billed to date
- Over and under billings
- Gross profit to date and at completion
SHEET S-301 · OVER AND UNDER
Reading the billings
Overbilled is cash you owe the job.
An overbilling is a liability: cash collected ahead of the work, which should still be in the bank. A pattern of underbillings, or margins that fade month after month, is what underwriters watch for. We show both on every job, as practice, not as a rule with a number on it.
- Overbillings matched to cash
- Underbilling patterns flagged
- Fade by job, month on month
DETAIL 04 · TWO METHODS
Two ways to recognise revenue.
Percentage of completion
Revenue earned as cost is incurred. This is what the WIP schedule shows every month and what sureties expect on a reviewed or audited statement.
- Revenue follows the work
- Over and under billings visible
- Fade shows early
Completed contract
Revenue recognised when the job is done. Some smaller contractors may use it for tax; we review that on the construction tax page, not here.
- Simpler during the job
- Tax timing can differ
- Not what a surety reads monthly
RFI LOG · OBJECTIONS
What we hear, and what we will not promise.
My CPA does this once a year.
Keep your CPA for the review or audit. A year-end WIP tells you about problems after they cost you; a monthly one tells you while the job is still running.
Our estimates are rough.
That is what the fade report is for. The first few months show where estimates and actual cost part ways.
We only bond a few jobs.
The WIP covers every open job, because one fading unbonded job still drains the cash the bonded ones need.
Can you get us a bigger bonding line?
No one can promise that. We cannot promise a bonding line, a loan or a tax result. We can give your surety and your bank a WIP they can read and numbers that tie out.
SPEC · YEAR-END PACKAGE
The year-end surety package, ready for your CPA.
At year-end we prepare the WIP, the completed contracts schedule, the backlog schedule and the supporting schedules your outside CPA needs for the review or audit your surety asks for. We do not issue the review or audit report; your CPA does, from cleaner numbers. From $3,500 on the pricing page.
Andre Ellison builds every WIP schedule and fade report and reviews them with you. The monthly WIP is part of the construction controller tier; the one-off WIP schedule build is how most contractors start.
SITE PLAN · WHERE WE WORK
Both sides of State Line.
Our office is at 1520 Genessee St, Suite 300, Kansas City, MO 64102. We work for contractors across the metro in Missouri and Kansas, and we meet you at the shop, the yard or the trailer.
- West Bottoms
- Crossroads
- River Market
- the Northland
- Waldo
- North Kansas City
- Riverside
- Independence
- Raytown
- Grandview
- Lee's Summit
- Liberty
- Belton
- Kansas City, KS
- Overland Park
- Olathe
- Lenexa
- Shawnee
- Merriam
- Leawood
- Bonner Springs
RFI 01What is a WIP schedule?
A work-in-progress schedule lists every open job with its contract value, estimated cost, cost to date, percent complete, earned revenue, billings and the resulting over or under billing. Sureties and banks read it to judge how your jobs are going.
RFI 02What is a fade report?
A list of jobs whose expected margin has dropped since the estimate, and by how much. It is where most surprises show first, and for specialty subcontractors it is often the first sign of a back charge.
RFI 03How fast can you build our first WIP?
Ten business days from your open job list, estimates and billings. That is the $1,250 WIP schedule build, credited to your first month if you start a monthly tier.
RFI 04Will this increase our bonding capacity?
We cannot promise that, and nobody honest can. A readable monthly WIP and books that tie out are what underwriters ask for; the decision is theirs.
RFI 05Do you prepare our reviewed or audited statements?
No. We prepare the schedules your outside CPA needs. The review or audit report is theirs to issue.
RFI 06Our books are not job-costed yet. Can we still have a WIP?
A first WIP can be built from your estimates and billings, but a monthly one needs job-cost books underneath it.
SHEET 99 · CLOSEOUT
Start with a WIP schedule.
Send your open job list. In ten business days you get a WIP schedule and a fade report, $1,250 fixed and credited to your first month if you stay. Illustrative price.