A WIP schedule — Work in Progress schedule — is a financial report that shows the current status of every open roofing job: contract value, costs incurred, amount billed, and percentage complete. Most roofing contractors have never seen one. Many grow to $2M–$3M in revenue without producing one. That's a problem, because without it, your monthly income statement can be significantly wrong — and you won't know it until your CPA tells you at tax time.
What Is a WIP Schedule for Roofing Contractors?
A WIP (Work in Progress) schedule is a financial report that shows the current completion and billing status of every active job on a roofing contractor's books. For each job, it captures five data points: the total contract value, total costs incurred to date, percentage of work completed, total amount billed to date, and whether the job is overbilled or underbilled relative to completion.
It is the standard financial report in construction accounting. Any CPA who works with contractors, any bank evaluating your creditworthiness, and any bonding company assessing your capacity will ask for it.
| Column | What It Shows |
|---|---|
| Job Name / Address | Each active roofing job |
| Contract Value | Total agreed contract price |
| Estimated Total Cost | Budgeted cost to complete the job |
| Costs Incurred to Date | Actual costs spent so far |
| % Complete | Costs to date ÷ Estimated total cost |
| Earned Revenue | Contract value × % complete |
| Billed to Date | What you've actually invoiced |
| Over / (Under) Billed | Billed to Date minus Earned Revenue |
Why Do Roofing Contractors Need a WIP Schedule?
Roofing contractors need a WIP schedule because jobs span multiple months, and standard invoicing distorts your income statement. If you bill 50% of a $100,000 job in month one but only complete 20% of the work, your income statement shows $50,000 in revenue — but you've only earned $20,000. The other $30,000 is a liability (you owe the customer future work). Without a WIP adjustment, your P&L overstates income and under-reports the work still owed.
This creates several downstream problems:
- Tax overpayment: You pay income tax on revenue you haven't fully earned yet
- False confidence: Your books look profitable when a large portion of "revenue" is deferred
- Bonding issues: Surety companies calculate bonding capacity from your working capital — overbilled jobs inflate this incorrectly
- Bank surprises: Lenders who review your financials will catch the mismatch and question your financial controls
Overbilling vs. Underbilling: What's the Difference?
Overbilling (also called "billings in excess of costs") occurs when you've invoiced more than the percentage of work actually completed. Example: you've billed 60% of a contract but only completed 40% of the work. The excess 20% is money the customer has paid you for work you haven't done yet. It is a liability on your balance sheet, not revenue.
Underbilling (also called "costs in excess of billings" or unbilled revenue) is the opposite: you've done more work than you've invoiced. Example: you've completed 70% of a job but only billed 50%. The additional 20% is earned revenue not yet invoiced — an asset on your balance sheet.
WIP Schedule Example Calculation
Here is a simplified WIP schedule for a roofing contractor with three active jobs:
| Job | Contract | Est. Cost | Cost to Date | % Complete | Earned Revenue | Billed to Date | Over/(Under) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 44 Maple St | $52,000 | $38,000 | $19,000 | 50% | $26,000 | $31,200 | +$5,200 (over) |
| 91 Pine Ave | $84,000 | $60,000 | $54,000 | 90% | $75,600 | $58,800 | -$16,800 (under) |
| 207 Oak Rd | $38,000 | $28,000 | $7,000 | 25% | $9,500 | $11,400 | +$1,900 (over) |
| Total | $174,000 | $126,000 | $80,000 | — | $111,100 | $101,400 | -$9,700 (under) |
Reading this WIP schedule: the contractor is net underbilled by $9,700. Job 91 Pine Ave is 90% complete but only 70% billed — there's $16,800 in completed work that hasn't been invoiced. That is cash the contractor has earned and not collected.
Without a WIP schedule, this $16,800 would remain invisible in QuickBooks — the project profitability report would show costs and income, but would not flag that significant billing is outstanding.
How to Produce a WIP Schedule Using QuickBooks Online
QuickBooks Online Plus and Advanced with Projects enabled provides the data needed to build a WIP schedule, but does not generate one natively. Here is the workflow a roofing bookkeeper uses:
- Enable Projects — Settings → Advanced → Projects. Every active job must be a Project.
- Enter estimated job cost per project — In each Project, enter the budgeted cost. This is the denominator for your % complete calculation.
- Assign all costs and invoices to the correct Project — Every bill, expense, and invoice must be tagged to its Project. Without this, the data is unusable.
- Run the Project Profitability report — Reports → Project Profitability. This shows costs to date, revenue billed, and gross margin per job.
- Export to spreadsheet and calculate WIP columns — % Complete = Costs to Date ÷ Estimated Cost; Earned Revenue = Contract Value × % Complete; Over/(Under) = Billed to Date − Earned Revenue.
- Record WIP adjustments in QuickBooks — If you are accrual-basis, your CPA or bookkeeper should post journal entries to adjust Billings in Excess and Costs in Excess accounts monthly.
At JobCostBooks, WIP schedules are included in the Pro plan and delivered monthly alongside the P&L and job profitability report. For more on job costing setup, see our guide: How to Track Job Costs in QuickBooks for Roofing Companies.
When Do Banks and Bonding Companies Require a WIP Schedule?
Any time you are applying for construction-related financing or bonding, a WIP schedule will likely be required:
- Commercial bank line of credit: Banks underwriting construction contractor credit lines typically require a WIP schedule updated within 90 days
- SBA 7(a) loans for contractors: Lenders need a WIP schedule to assess whether revenue is real or deferred
- Surety bonds (performance and payment bonds): Bonding companies calculate bonding capacity from your working capital — and WIP adjustments directly affect working capital
- General contractor prequalification: Large GCs requiring subcontractor prequalification often request a current WIP schedule
- CPA-reviewed financials: Any CPA producing reviewed or compiled financials for a construction contractor will prepare WIP adjustments