WIP Reporting: How Contractors Prevent Profit Fade

What WIP actually means

WIP stands for Work In Progress. It's a snapshot of where every open job stands right now:

• What you bid.
• What you've spent.
• What you've billed.
• What's still left to do.

It sounds boring. It's the most powerful report you own.

The three numbers that matter

Look at any WIP row. Ignore everything except these three:

1. % Complete. Costs to date ÷ total estimated costs.
2. Earned revenue. Contract value × % complete.
3. Over/under billed. Earned revenue minus amount billed.

If earned revenue is bigger than what you billed, you are under-billed. That means you did work you haven't collected on yet.

If it's smaller, you are over-billed. You collected money you haven't earned yet. Watch out — that's fake cash.

How profit fade hides

A job starts at 22% gross margin. Week 4, a subcontractor quotes 15% higher than your bid. You don't catch it. Week 8, materials jump 9%. You don't catch that either. Week 12, you burn 40 extra hours on a rework. By week 16, your 22% margin is 8%.

None of that had to happen. A weekly WIP review catches every one of those hits inside 7 days. You raise the change order. You re-forecast. You protect the margin.

The rule we use with every client

Review WIP every Friday. Every open job. No exceptions.

That one habit is worth more than any new software.

Want us to build your WIP schedule for you? See how our system works.