A cost report is the PM’s main financial tool for a job. Each row is a cost code; columns usually include original budget, approved changes, revised budget, committed cost, actual cost to date, cost-to-complete, projected final cost (EAC) and variance against revised budget. Good cost reports also show pending changes separately so potential risk is visible without being booked.
Why it matters
The cost report is where the PM sees problems early enough to act. It’s the basis for the monthly forecast, which feeds the WIP schedule and the financial statements. When cost reports are built by exporting accounting data to a spreadsheet and adding the PM’s notes by hand, they’re stale by the time they’re reviewed, and nobody fully trusts them.
Worked example
Illustrative row for Riverside Medical Center, 26 Electrical (Volt Electric):
| Column | Amount |
|---|---|
| Revised budget | $5,200,000 |
| Committed | $5,100,000 |
| Actual to date | $3,050,000 |
| Cost-to-complete | $2,358,000 |
| Projected final | $5,408,000 |
| Variance | ($208,000), 4% over |
The projected final is above both budget and current commitments, which suggests pending sub change orders or added GC labor. The PM digs in now, not at closeout.
Common mistakes
- Reporting variance against original budget instead of revised budget.
- Leaving cost-to-complete as remaining budget, which hides every overrun until it’s spent.
- Running cost reports quarterly on jobs that change weekly.
How os.construction handles it
We’re building the cost report as a live view on one record of budget, commitments, actuals and forecasts, with every number traceable to its source document.