What Is a WIP Report (Work-in-Progress Schedule)?

By BRIX Editorial Team · Updated October 12, 2026

A WIP report, or work-in-progress schedule, lists every open contract with its price, estimated cost, costs to date, percent complete, revenue earned and amount billed. It shows whether each job is overbilled or underbilled and whether its profit is holding. Contractors use it monthly to manage jobs, and banks and surety companies ask for it.

Key takeaways

A WIP report compares what you've earned on each job (by percent complete) with what you've billed.
Over/(under) billing = billed to date − revenue earned to date.
Overbillings are a liability (you've collected for work not done). Underbillings are an asset (work done you haven't billed), and they often signal a problem.
Profit fade, when a job's projected margin shrinks month after month, is the early warning a WIP report is built to catch.
It only works if job costs are coded correctly and estimates to complete are updated every month.

What's on a WIP report?

WIP report columns and how each is calculated
Column	What it means	How to calculate
Contract amount	Current contract value including approved change orders	Original contract ± approved change orders
Estimated total cost	What the job will cost when finished	Costs to date + estimated cost to complete
Estimated gross profit	Expected profit on the whole job	Contract amount − estimated total cost
Costs to date	Job costs posted so far	From your job cost reports
Percent complete	How far along the job is	Costs to date ÷ estimated total cost (percentage of completion)
Earned revenue	Revenue you've earned to date	Percent complete × contract amount
Billed to date	Everything invoiced on the job, including retainage	From your invoices or AIA pay applications
Overbilling	Billed more than earned	Billed to date − earned revenue, if positive
Underbilling	Earned more than billed	Earned revenue − billed to date, if positive
Cost to complete	Remaining cost	Estimated total cost − costs to date

Over/under billing

Over (under) billing = Billed to date − (Costs to date ÷ Estimated total cost × Contract amount)

WIP report example

Example WIP schedule for a mechanical and electrical contractor, month-end (illustrative)
Job	Contract	Est. total cost	Cost to date	% complete	Earned	Billed	Over	Under
A. Office HVAC retrofit	$800,000	$680,000	$612,000	90%	$720,000	$760,000	$40,000
B. Restaurant plumbing	$240,000	$192,000	$48,000	25%	$60,000	$90,000	$30,000
C. School electrical	$500,000	$425,000	$255,000	60%	$300,000	$260,000		$40,000
D. Warehouse roof	$180,000	$150,000	$30,000	20%	$36,000	$0		$36,000
Total	$1,720,000	$1,447,000	$945,000		$1,116,000	$1,110,000	$70,000	$76,000

Example numbers. Percent complete uses the cost-to-cost method.

How to read this example

Job A is overbilled $40,000, which is normal near the end of a job that front-loaded its schedule of values. But its estimated cost rose from a $640,000 bid to $680,000, so projected gross profit faded from $160,000 (20%) to $120,000 (15%). That fade deserves a conversation with the project manager.

Job B is overbilled $30,000 at 25% complete. That's cash in hand, and healthy, as long as the remaining $144,000 of cost is really enough to finish.

Job C is underbilled $40,000. The crew has done $300,000 of work but only $260,000 has been billed. Either the billing is behind (fix it this month) or costs are running over budget and the work isn't as far along as the cost says.

Job D is underbilled $36,000 because nothing has been billed yet. Materials are on site and the first pay application hasn't gone out. Bill it.

Across the company, underbillings exceed overbillings by $6,000. The company is financing $6,000 of its customers' work, and Job C is the place to look first.

Are overbillings good or bad?

Moderate overbillings are usually good for cash flow: customers are funding the job ahead of your costs. But overbillings are a liability on the balance sheet (often called "billings in excess of costs and estimated earnings"), because you owe the customer work for money already collected. Trouble starts when that cash gets spent on other jobs or overhead, and then the job needs money to finish that's already gone. Large overbillings can also mean you underestimated costs, so percent complete is too low.

Why are underbillings a red flag?

Underbillings ("costs and estimated earnings in excess of billings") are an asset on paper, but they mean you've spent money on work you haven't billed. Sometimes it's just a late pay application. Often it means the job is over budget: costs are high, so cost-to-cost percent complete says the job is further along than it really is, and the "earned" revenue will never be billed. Lenders and sureties look closely at underbillings for exactly this reason.

How do you build a WIP report?

1
Close the month's job costs.
Enter every supplier bill, sub invoice and payroll for the month, each coded to a job. See how to do job costing in QuickBooks.
2
Update contract amounts.
Add approved change orders. Decide and document how you treat unapproved ones; most contractors leave them out until signed.
3
Get estimates to complete from the field.
Ask each project manager or foreman what it will really cost to finish. This is the most important number on the report.
4
Calculate percent complete and earned revenue.
Costs to date ÷ estimated total cost, times contract amount.
5
Compare to billings.
Pull billed to date from invoices or pay applications, then calculate over and under billings.
6
Review fade and act.
Compare each job's projected gross profit to last month and to the bid. Investigate any job that faded more than a point or two.

Who uses a WIP report?

User	What they look for
Owner and project managers	Which jobs are fading, which are underbilled, what to bill this month
Surety (bonding) company	Whether profits are reliable and the company can finish its backlog; consistent underbillings and fade raise concerns. See surety bonds.
Bank	Whether reported profit is real and working capital is adequate
CPA	Adjusting entries to put revenue on a percentage of completion basis for financial statements

WIP reports by trade

Who needs a WIP report
Trade	Need a WIP report?	Why
General contractors and builders	Yes	Multi-month jobs, draws, bonding
Commercial electrical, mechanical and plumbing subs	Yes	Monthly progress billing, retainage, bonding
Commercial roofing	Usually	Large jobs that span months or seasons
Residential remodelers	Helpful	Jobs of several weeks with staged payments
Residential service (HVAC, plumbing, electrical repair)	Rarely	Jobs finish in a day; a job costing report is enough
Landscaping and cleaning routes	No	Recurring service billed as performed

Common WIP report mistakes

Using the original bid as the estimated cost. If estimates aren't updated, the report hides fade until the job closes.
Costs posted to the wrong job (or no job). Percent complete is wrong for both jobs involved.
Leaving retainage out of billed to date. Billed to date should include retainage you've billed, even though it's not collected yet.
Counting stored materials as progress. A delivery of equipment that isn't installed can make a job look further along than it is.
Doing it only at year-end. A WIP report is a monthly management tool. Once a year it's just an accounting exercise.

Frequently asked questions

How do you calculate overbilling and underbilling?

Calculate earned revenue as percent complete times contract amount, then subtract it from billed to date. A positive result is an overbilling; a negative result is an underbilling. Percent complete is usually costs to date divided by estimated total cost.

Is overbilling a liability?

Yes. On the balance sheet, overbillings are a current liability, often called billings in excess of costs and estimated earnings, because you've billed for work you still owe. Underbillings are a current asset.

How often should a contractor run a WIP report?

Monthly, after job costs for the month are entered. Many owners review it in the same meeting as the monthly P&L. Sureties and banks may ask for it quarterly or annually.

What is profit fade on a WIP report?

Profit fade is when a job's projected gross profit drops over time, usually because costs ran over or estimates to complete were too optimistic. Comparing each job's projected margin month to month shows fade early, while you can still fix it.

Can QuickBooks create a WIP report?

QuickBooks Online doesn't produce a full construction WIP schedule on its own, but its project and job cost reports supply costs to date and billings. Many contractors export those to a spreadsheet and add estimates to complete.

Do small contractors need a WIP report?

If your jobs run longer than a month, you bill progress payments or you want bonding, yes. If almost every job is a same-day service call, a monthly job costing report is usually enough.