Is this a substitute for a proper cost report?

No. It is a fast check on whether the job is heading where you think. A proper forecast is built from the cost report, committed costs, and the programme.

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What will this job actually finish at?

Q: Why does percentage complete matter so much?

Because it converts spend into a rate. If you have spent 60 per cent of the budget to get 40 per cent of the work done, the remaining 60 per cent will not come in on the remaining 40 per cent of the money.

Most jobs are told they are fine until they are not. The number that matters is not what you have spent — it is the rate you have been spending it at, applied to the work that is left.

The contract

Contract value $

Including approved variations

Original budgeted cost $

What you allowed to build it for

Where you are today

Cost spent to date $

Actual cost, including accruals

Committed but not yet spent $

Orders placed, subbies engaged

Work actually complete %

Physically complete — be honest, this is the whole calculation

Known cost still to come $

Anything you already know about that the rate would not predict

Risk

Contingency remaining $

Unapproved variations at risk $

Work done that has not been approved. Assume you may not get it.

The percentage complete is the whole calculation. If it is optimistic — and on most jobs it is — every number below it is optimistic too. Use physical completion, not the claim percentage and not what the programme says. This is a fast check on direction, not a substitute for a proper cost report built from committed costs and the programme.

Record the variations →

The number people get wrong

Ask how a job is going and you usually get spend against budget. Sixty per cent spent on a job that is supposed to be sixty per cent through sounds fine. It is only fine if the job is sixty per cent through. Spend tells you nothing on its own — it only means something next to physical completion, because together they give you the rate you have actually been building at. Apply that rate to the work that is left and you get the real answer, usually earlier than anyone wanted it.

Questions

What is cost to complete?

What it will take from today to finish, based on how the work has actually been running rather than on what was budgeted. Forecast final cost is what you have spent plus that.

Why does percentage complete matter so much?

It converts spend into a rate. If you have spent 60% of the budget to get 40% of the work done, the remaining 60% of work will not come in on the remaining 40% of the money.

Should I count unapproved variations as income?

Prudently, no. Work done and not approved is at risk until it is approved. The tool shows the position both ways so you can see the exposure.

Does this replace a cost report?

No. It is a fast check on whether the job is heading where you think it is. A proper forecast is built from the cost report, the commitments and the programme.

Related free tools

Variation builderThe thirty small ones is where the margin goes. Delay cost calculatorWhat standing still costs per day. Margin calculatorWhat it should have been priced at. Claim calculatorWhere the progress claim stands.

Finding out early is the whole game

Obras keeps the variation register, the cost risk register and the delay record current as the job runs — so the forecast is built on what is actually happening rather than on a number somebody assembled at month end.

See Obras in action Take a free SWMS

This is a practical site-management tool. It is not legal, engineering or regulatory advice and does not guarantee compliance or a satisfactory inspection outcome. Requirements may vary by jurisdiction, project, contract and circumstances.