FREE LENDER-READY WIP SCHEDULE TEMPLATE
A WIP schedule is the document sureties, banks, and CFOs use to read a construction subcontractor’s financial position job by job. This is the actual template SPM uses with $1M–$12M commercial subs — the same one that gets handed to lenders, sureties, and accountants without further formatting. Includes contract value, total estimated costs, percent complete, earned revenue, billed to date, costs in excess of billings (CiE), and billings in excess of costs (BiE). Drop your job data in, the math runs automatically. Free download, no payment, just an email so we know who’s using it.
A clean WIP schedule is the difference between a surety renewal that goes smoothly and one that triggers a capacity review. This template is built to the format sureties and banks actually want.
NINE COLUMNS, BUILT THE WAY LENDERS READ THEM
The WIP schedule is the document that translates your active jobs into a financial picture sureties and banks can underwrite. Most subs we walk into are running a WIP that’s either too sparse to support bonding capacity or built in a format the surety has to translate. This template is the one SPM uses across 24 trade specializations — the format that gets handed directly to underwriting without an intermediate pass.
- Contract value (original + change orders, split by approved and pending)
- Total estimated costs (updated monthly with cost-to-complete reviews)
- Estimated gross profit and gross profit percentage
- Costs incurred to date (job-level actuals from the books)
- Percent complete (cost-to-cost POC calculation, auto-computed)
- Earned revenue this period and earned to date
- Billed to date (pulled from your invoicing)
- Costs in excess of billings (CiE) — the underbilled position
- Billings in excess of costs (BiE) — the overbilled position
The math runs automatically. Drop your job data in. The surety-ready output formats on its own.
UNLOCK THE FREE DOWNLOAD
Three fields. No payment. We just want to know who’s using it so we can send updates when the template changes.
YOUR TEMPLATE IS READY
Click below to download the file. You’ll also receive a copy in your email.
DOWNLOAD WIP TEMPLATE (XLS)Trouble downloading? Email Josh@ConstructionCFO.net and we’ll send it directly.
FOUR STEPS, SIXTY SECONDS
LIST EVERY ACTIVE JOB
One row per job. Contract number, GC, project name, and original contract value. If you have approved change orders, add the cumulative approved CO value. Don’t include pending change orders — those go in a separate column or stay off the schedule until executed.
UPDATE TOTAL ESTIMATED COSTS
This is the number most subs leave stale. Total estimated costs is what the job will actually cost to complete — updated monthly based on cost-to-complete reviews by the PM. If the job is running over, the estimate moves up. If you’re finding efficiency, it moves down. The percent-complete math depends on this being current.
PULL COSTS INCURRED FROM THE BOOKS
Total job costs to date from your accounting system. The template auto-calculates percent complete (costs incurred / total estimated costs), earned revenue (contract value × percent complete), and the BiE/CiE position based on what you’ve billed.
ENTER BILLED TO DATE
What you’ve invoiced cumulatively on each job (gross, before retention). The template calculates whether you’re overbilled (BiE on the balance sheet as a current liability) or underbilled (CiE on the balance sheet as a current asset). Both positions are normal — sureties read the trend, not absolute values.
BUILT FOR HOW SURETIES READ
Most WIP schedules subs hand to sureties have one of three problems: they’re missing the cost-to-complete update layer, they don’t calculate BiE/CiE positions cleanly, or they don’t reconcile back to the financial statements. This template fixes all three.
The column order matches what surety underwriters work in — contract value, then cost basis, then earnings, then billing position. The math is auto-computed so percent-complete and BiE/CiE can’t drift. The total earned revenue at the bottom of the schedule reconciles to the income statement; the BiE and CiE totals reconcile to the balance sheet. That reconciliation is what most subs miss.
A WIP schedule that doesn’t reconcile to the financial statements doesn’t support bonding capacity. This one does.
FOUR USE CASES
MONTHLY COST-TO-COMPLETE REVIEW
Run by the PM team monthly. Each PM updates the estimate-to-complete for their active jobs. The template auto-rolls into the master WIP for the controller. This is the single most important operating rhythm for subs over $2M revenue.
SURETY BONDING REVIEW
Annual or interim, depending on the surety’s review cycle. Hand them the latest WIP alongside the financial statements. The format mirrors what surety underwriters work in, so reviews go faster and capacity conversations stay on the strategic level instead of getting stuck on data quality.
BANK FINANCING DISCUSSIONS
LOC renewals, equipment financing, working capital lines — banks want WIP visibility on top of standard financials. The template includes the columns banks specifically look at (BiE and CiE positions, percent complete trend, contract backlog).
QUARTERLY CFO REVIEW
For subs running their own internal finance reviews, the WIP is the centerpiece. The template ties directly to the CEO Report rhythm SPM uses with active clients — same numbers, same format, same cadence.
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