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The work-in-progress (WIP) schedule brings every open job onto one page. A typical row has the contract value (with approved changes), estimated total cost, estimated gross profit and margin, cost to date, percent complete, earned revenue, billed to date, over or under billing, cost to complete and remaining backlog.

Most of those columns are formulas. Only three numbers per job really carry judgment: the contract value, the estimated total cost and the billed to date. Everything else follows. That is why the WIP review is really a forecast review: if the estimates are honest, the WIP is right.

A good monthly WIP meeting goes job by job, looking at what moved: margin changes since last month (fade or gain), over or under billing that grew, jobs where cost-to-complete was not updated, and jobs where the field story and the numbers disagree.

The hard part is rarely the math. It is collecting current numbers from the PM tool, accounting and the field into one spreadsheet each month, and making sure nobody keyed an old estimate. The less re-keying, the more the meeting can be about decisions.

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WIP calculator, multi-job mode

The link opens the mini WIP schedule with Riverside and two illustrative jobs. Find which job is over billed and which is under billed, and which has the lowest projected margin. Then download the WIP schedule template and enter one job of your own.

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Check yourself

Three questions, instant feedback. Get all three right to check off this lesson.

Q1On a WIP schedule, which input carries the most judgment?

Q2A good monthly WIP review focuses on:

Q3Backlog on a WIP schedule usually means:

0 of 3 correct

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