Build a WIP report template your bank and books agree with

This page walks through the columns a construction WIP schedule template needs, what each one means, where each number should come from in your books, and the mistakes that turn a downloaded spreadsheet into a false sense of security. If you already have a WIP and want to know how to read it and act on it each month, see our WIP schedule guide. Stay here if you are building, choosing, or checking a template.

Want a WIP that ties to your books every month? Call (480) 617-2664, or book the DIG Diagnostic.

The short answer

• A WIP report is one row per open job. Each row compares what the job is worth, what it has cost, how far along it is, what you have earned, and what you have billed.
• The core columns are about a dozen. Contract value (with approved change orders), estimated total cost, cost to date, estimated cost to complete, percent complete, earned revenue, billed to date, and over/under billing — plus gross profit columns.
• Every column has a source. Contract value comes from contracts and approved change orders. Cost to date comes from the job cost ledger. Billed to date comes from invoices. Only the estimate to complete is a judgment call — and it is the one that matters most.
• A template is not the books. A spreadsheet can calculate anything you type into it. If the inputs don't tie to your general ledger, the WIP can look healthy while cash and margin go the other way.
• Monthly beats annual. A WIP built once a year for the CPA or surety misses the eleven months when you could have acted on it.

What a WIP report template actually is

"WIP" stands for work in progress. A WIP report (also called a WIP schedule or work-in-progress schedule) lists your uncompleted contracts and uses the percentage of completion method to estimate how much revenue each job has earned so far. It then compares earned revenue with what you have billed. The difference is over or under billing — the numbers that roll up to the balance-sheet lines explained on our costs in excess of billings page.

The template is just the structure: the columns, the formulas, and the order. You can build one in Excel or Google Sheets, pull one from your construction software, or use the format your CPA or surety prefers. The structure varies a little between firms, but the logic is the same everywhere. That is good news: once you understand the columns, you can read almost any WIP someone hands you.

The columns a construction WIP template needs

Here are the core columns, in the order most WIP reports use. Column letters are just a suggestion for a spreadsheet layout.

Fourteen core columns (A–N). On a phone, scroll sideways to read every column. The example below uses made-up numbers.

Optional columns many contractors add:

• Pending (unapproved) change orders — tracked in a separate column or memo, not added to revised contract value until approved.
• Retainage receivable — how much of billed to date is held back. See retainage.
• Cash received to date — so you can see billed-but-unpaid at a glance.
• Remaining backlog — revised contract value minus earned revenue; useful for bonding financials and capacity planning.
• Prior-month percent complete and gross profit % — so you can see movement month over month.
• Project manager — so each row has an owner for the estimate to complete.

A simple example with made-up numbers: a job has a revised contract of $800,000 and an estimated total cost of $640,000. Cost to date is $320,000, so the job is 50% complete. Earned revenue is $400,000. If billed to date is $430,000, the job is overbilled by $30,000. Same job, billed to date of $360,000: underbilled by $40,000. The template does the math either way — your job is making sure those inputs are real. Reading that position month to month lives on the WIP schedule guide.

Completed jobs and the "closed this year" section

Many WIP templates have a second section for jobs completed during the year, showing final contract, final cost, and final gross profit. This matters because it shows how accurate your estimates were once jobs closed. A surety or lender reading your WIP often compares closed-job margins with the margins your open jobs are projecting. If open jobs always look better than closed jobs turn out, that pattern is worth fixing.

Where each number should come from (and why it matters)

The fastest way to judge a WIP template is to ask, column by column, "Where did this number come from?"

• Contract value and change orders should come from signed documents, not memory. Unapproved change orders in revised contract value inflate earned revenue. See change order accounting.
• Cost to date should come from your books — the job cost report — and the total of cost to date across all jobs should tie to job costs in the general ledger for the period. If it doesn't, either costs are sitting on the wrong job, in overhead, or nowhere. Job costing is what makes this column trustworthy.
• Billed to date should come from invoices and tie to job-level accounts receivable history. If you use AIA pay applications, it should match the pay app totals. See AIA billing.
• Estimated cost to complete is the only column that can't come straight from the ledger. It is a forecast from the people running the job. It should be updated monthly, reviewed against actuals, and challenged when a job's percent complete jumps or stalls.

When a WIP template is built this way, the over/under billing column is something you can book as a monthly adjusting entry and defend to your CPA, lender, or surety. When it isn't, the column is just a number on a spreadsheet.

Why a downloaded template is not the books

Search "WIP report template" and you'll find plenty of free spreadsheets. Many of them are fine as layouts. The risk is treating the download as the system.

• A spreadsheet doesn't know your ledger. It will happily calculate percent complete from a cost-to-date number that is two months stale or missing subcontractor bills.
• Formulas break quietly. Inserted rows, copied tabs, and hardcoded overrides are common. A single broken formula can make a whole column wrong without any warning.
• It doesn't book anything. The over/under billing number does nothing for your financial statements unless someone records the adjusting entry. Without it, your P&L still recognizes revenue as billed.
• It doesn't challenge the estimate. A template can't tell you that a PM's estimate to complete is optimistic. Only a review process can.
• Versions multiply. "WIP_final_v3_JW.xlsx" is a familiar problem. The bank sees one version, the CPA another.

None of this means you shouldn't use a template. It means the template should sit on top of clean books and a monthly review — not replace them. That's the gap between a WIP report and a WIP process, which our WIP schedule page covers in more depth.

Owner checklist: using a WIP template each month

Use this checklist whether your WIP lives in Excel, Google Sheets, or your construction software.

1. Close the books first. Post all bills, payroll, and invoices for the month before you update the WIP. A WIP built on an open month is wrong by design. See month-end close.
2. Tie cost to date to the ledger. Total cost to date on the WIP should match job costs in the GL (allowing for documented timing items).
3. Tie billed to date to AR. Total billed to date should match invoiced amounts by job.
4. Add only approved change orders to contract value. Track pending ones separately.
5. Update every estimate to complete. Have the PM or estimator sign off on each open job, every month.
6. Look at movement, not just totals. Which jobs changed percent complete, margin, or over/under billing the most since last month?
7. Flag margin fade. Any job where current gross profit % is drifting below bid margin needs a conversation now, not at closeout.
8. Review big underbillings. Large or growing underbillings often mean unbilled work, unapproved change orders, or cost overruns. See costs in excess of billings.
9. Review big overbillings. Overbilling is not free money — it's cash you owe in work. Make sure it isn't funding other jobs or overhead.
10. Book the adjusting entry. Record over/under billing in the books so your financial statements reflect earned revenue.
11. Save one version. Lock the month's WIP and keep it with the close file.

Common template mistakes

• Using bid cost as estimated total cost forever. The estimate has to move as the job moves.
• Calculating percent complete from billing. Billing-based percent complete hides over and under billing — the very thing the WIP is supposed to show.
• Leaving out labor burden or equipment costs. If cost to date is light, percent complete and earned revenue are light too.
• Mixing completed and open jobs. Closed jobs belong in their own section.
• Including unapproved change orders. That inflates revenue on jobs that may never get paid for the work.
• Hardcoding numbers into formula columns. Overrides should be rare, visible, and explained.
• Updating it only for the bank or surety. A WIP that appears once a year looks like a once-a-year document. Lenders and sureties generally put more weight on a consistent monthly history. See bonding financials.

What about WIP templates inside construction software?

Many construction platforms and accounting add-ons produce a WIP report automatically. That can save time, but the same rule applies: the report is only as good as the job costs, contract values, billings, and estimates feeding it. Software can mis-map cost codes, miss change orders, or pull estimates nobody has updated in months. Whatever tool generates your WIP, someone should still tie it to the ledger and review the estimates each month. If you run QuickBooks Online, see QuickBooks Online for contractors; if you connect a project tool, see Buildertrend and QuickBooks.

Where Blackline fits

Blackline is a construction-only bookkeeping, monthly close, and fractional CFO firm for contractors doing roughly $1M–$30M in revenue. We don't do tax prep — tax questions go to your CPA — and we don't give legal advice. What we do is keep job costing, billing, and the books clean enough that a WIP report is something you can trust and act on.

• DIG Diagnostic: A focused look at your books, job costing, and current WIP (or the lack of one). We'll tell you whether your template ties to your ledger and what's driving the gaps.
• Foundation / Frame: Ongoing construction bookkeeping and monthly close — job costs landing on the right job, billing that ties to job AR, and a monthly WIP and over/under billing entry scoped to what your company needs.
• Blueprint: Fractional CFO support — reviewing the WIP with you each month, challenging estimates to complete, forecasting cash around billing timing, and preparing for bank and surety conversations.

Every engagement starts with a DIG Diagnostic, and every package is custom-quoted. See services and packages.

Serving contractors across the Valley

We work with contractors throughout the Phoenix metro from our Mesa office:

• Construction bookkeeping in Mesa, AZ
• Construction bookkeeping in Gilbert, AZ
• Construction bookkeeping in Chandler, AZ
• Construction bookkeeping in Scottsdale, AZ
• Construction bookkeeping in Phoenix, AZ

FAQ

What columns should a WIP report template have?

At minimum: job name, contract value with approved change orders, estimated total cost, cost to date, estimated cost to complete, percent complete, earned revenue, billed to date, over/under billing, and gross profit. Many contractors add retainage, pending change orders, backlog, and prior-month comparisons.

How do you calculate percent complete on a WIP report?

Most contractors use the cost-to-cost method: cost to date divided by estimated total cost. Earned revenue is then percent complete times revised contract value. Which method fits your contracts, and how it is presented on your statements, is a question for your CPA.

Is a free WIP template in Excel good enough?

As a layout, often yes. The risk is in the inputs. If cost to date and billed to date don't tie to your books, and estimates to complete aren't updated monthly, the template will calculate the wrong answer confidently.

How often should I update my WIP report?

Monthly, after the books are closed. A monthly WIP lets you catch margin fade and billing problems while jobs are still open, and it builds the consistent history lenders and sureties generally look for.

What is the difference between a WIP report and a WIP schedule?

In practice they are the same thing — a job-by-job report of earned revenue versus billings on open contracts. Some firms use "schedule" for the formal version attached to financial statements and "report" for the internal monthly version.

Can Blackline build and maintain a WIP report for my company?

Yes. Blackline builds and maintains monthly WIP reports tied to your books for contractors, typically starting with the DIG Diagnostic. Tax treatment and statement presentation stay with your CPA.