Cost-to-cost is the most common way contractors measure progress under ASC 606 (an input method, ASC 606-10-55-20). Percent complete = cost to date ÷ estimated cost at completion; earned revenue = percent complete × contract price. Costs that don’t reflect progress, such as uninstalled materials or wasted material, are left out of both numerator and denominator.
Why it matters
Every input matters: an EAC that’s too low makes a job look more complete, books revenue early and hides fade until late in the job.
Worked example
Riverside (sample data): $31,700,000 ÷ $43,679,800 = 72.5736%. Earned = 72.5736% × $49,300,000 = $35,778,781.04. Billing percent, $33.0M ÷ $49.3M = 66.9%, is a different number and shouldn’t be mixed in.
Common mistakes
- Using billed percent as percent complete.
- Including delivered-but-uninstalled equipment in cost to date.
- Rounding percent complete before multiplying.
How os.construction handles it
The accounting preview’s job cost forecast shows posted actuals, remaining commitments and dated PM cost-to-complete by cost code. A cost-to-cost WIP schedule and its posting are not built yet. See Job cost and WIP.