Send Your WIP Schedule. Get a Written Review.
Send your WIP schedule. Get a written review within one business day. We check the arithmetic, flag potential issues, and point out what sureties expect to see.
Every submission is reviewed personally by Reid Curley, WIPforge's founder, against the criteria published on this page.
Reid built WIPforge, including the ASC 606 percentage-of-completion engine and the surety-format output this review's criteria draw from.
Why is it free?
Why is it free? It is how we introduce ourselves. WIPforge builds this same schedule automatically from QuickBooks Online, and a useful review is the best evidence we can offer that we know this work.
The Review Criteria
1. The Arithmetic Itself
Every number on a WIP schedule derives from something else. We recompute every figure: cost-to-complete, percent-complete, earned revenue, gross profit. If a schedule shows 70% complete but the underlying costs yield 68%, an underwriter will catch it. If over-and-underbillings are hand-typed instead of calculated, the math often breaks. We verify the formulas hold across all rows and the totals reconcile.
2. Structure and Completeness
Underwriters expect a standard column set. SBA Form 994F conventions and CFMA-standard WIP structure require specific line items: revised contract value (original plus approved change orders), estimated cost at completion, costs incurred to date, billings to date, over-or-underbilling, and backlog. If a column is missing or mislabeled, the underwriter stops to ask questions. We check that your schedule includes everything the format sureties expect.
3. Methodology and Estimate Freshness
Revenue recognition must follow a disclosed method. ASC 606 cost-to-cost percentage-of-completion is the industry standard: earned revenue equals contract value times the ratio of costs incurred to total estimated costs. Anticipated losses must be recognized in full when identified, never spread across future periods. We also look at whether your estimates appear current. If job costs grew significantly but estimated cost-at-completion stayed flat, that raises a question about the last time someone updated the numbers.
4. Tie-Outs an Underwriter Will Check
A WIP schedule does not stand alone. Overbillings (billings in excess of costs, a current liability) and underbillings (costs in excess of billings, a current asset) must tie to your balance sheet. Retainage shown on the WIP schedule should match retainage receivable on your books. Costs incurred should reconcile to your job-cost ledger. Prior-period movement matters: if last quarter you were underbilled $50,000 on a job and this quarter you are overbilled $30,000, the swing tells a story. We flag where tie-outs will be scrutinized.
5. Red Flags That Stop Underwriters
Certain patterns draw immediate attention. Overbilling above 15 percent of contract value on any job raises front-loading questions. A job showing 90 percent complete but still underbilled suggests delayed billing or estimate problems. Cost growth on a job with zero approved change orders is a scope-creep or estimating-accuracy concern. Profit fade (original gross-profit percentage eroding as the job progresses without cost justification) signals that initial estimates were optimistic or costs are running away. We call out each one we see.
The review below examines the six fictitious sample jobs in our free template (Sample Contracting Co., as of June 30, 2026).
Finding 1: Riverside Seawall Repair (Job 2024-06)
What we looked at:
Current estimated cost against revised contract, recognized gross profit, cost growth, and approved change orders.
What we observed:
Current estimated cost is $640,000 on a $600,000 revised contract, producing a $40,000 anticipated loss. The schedule recognizes the full $40,000 loss: at 75% complete the natural gross profit is ($30,000), and the loss provision column shows the remaining $10,000. Estimated cost grew from $560,000 to $640,000 with no approved change orders.
Why an underwriter cares:
Bonding companies want to see anticipated losses recognized in full when identified, not spread across future periods. This schedule shows the full loss recognized at once, the treatment underwriters expect. Cost growth without approved change orders raises the question of whether estimate revisions are tied to contract changes, or whether costs moved without compensating revenue.
Question to consider:
What drove the $80,000 cost increase? If scope changed without a written change order, is there an unsigned or pending change order you can document for the underwriter?
Finding 2: Jones Retail Center (Job 2024-02)
What we looked at:
Original and current estimated gross profit percentages, estimated cost revisions, and approved change orders.
What we observed:
Original estimated gross profit was 15.0%. Current estimated gross profit is 12.0%. Estimated cost moved from $1,020,000 to $1,100,000. Approved change orders total $50,000 against an $80,000 cost increase, accounting for part but not all of the movement.
Why an underwriter cares:
Profit fade between original estimate and current estimate suggests scope changes, cost overruns, or estimate refinement as the job progresses. Underwriters compare original and current margins to assess whether the contractor is maintaining pricing discipline and controlling costs.
Question to consider:
What caused the margin compression? Can you tie the $80,000 cost increase to the $50,000 in approved change orders plus known field conditions or estimate adjustments?
Finding 3: Medical Center TI (Job 2024-05)
What we looked at:
Percent complete, billings to date, and the relationship between the two at a late-stage job.
What we observed:
The job is 90% complete by cost-to-cost, with $1,700,000 billed against a $1,800,000 revised contract. Overbilling is $80,000 (billings exceed earned revenue). The job is nearly complete.
Why an underwriter cares:
Overbilling concentrated on a job at 90% complete raises the question of how the final 10% of costs will be billed and whether the remaining contract value will cover the remaining costs. Front-loaded billing is common, but underwriters watch for jobs where late-stage costs land without corresponding billing headroom.
Question to consider:
How much unbilled contract value remains? Does the $100,000 remaining contract ($1,800,000 revised less $1,700,000 billed) cover the $160,000 cost to complete plus any retainage release timing?
What the schedule does well
The totals reconcile: overbillings of $155,000 less underbillings of $315,000 equals the net ($160,000) underbilled position shown. Anticipated losses are recognized in full when identified (Riverside Seawall shows the full $40,000 loss at 75% complete). The methodology is disclosed at the bottom of the schedule.
Questions to bring to your CPA
- For Riverside Seawall: what documentation exists for the $80,000 cost increase, and should any pending or unsigned change orders be formalized before the bonding submission?
- For Jones Retail Center: can the $80,000 cost increase and the 3-point margin fade be explained by the $50,000 in approved change orders plus documented field conditions or estimate refinements?
- For Medical Center TI: does the $100,000 unbilled contract balance provide adequate margin to cover the $160,000 cost to complete, and what is the retainage release schedule?
This review is informational and not accounting advice. It reflects only the document provided, reviewed against published industry conventions. Decisions about revenue recognition, financial reporting, and bonding submissions belong with you and your CPA.
Your file is deleted within 7 days of returning your review. While we have it, your file sits in private storage with no public link, it is opened only by the reviewer named above, and it is used for nothing except your review. We never share it. Job names are yours to redact if you prefer; the math is what we review.
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