WIP & Percentage-of-Completion Schedules 101

This is helpful when the taxpayer has large receivable balances and small payables. Using CCM accounting can help avoid having to estimate the cost of a project, which can prevent inaccurate forecasts. Also, since revenue recognition is postponed, tax liabilities might be postponed as well. From the client’s perspective, the CCM allows for delayed cash outflows and ensures the work is fully performed and received before any payment is made.

Under the contract, they pay Build-It periodically for progress completed, but there’s no transfer of control yet. Accordingly, as with the completed contract method, Build-It holds the value of their billings on their balance sheet before they can recognize it on their income statement. Of course, that doesn’t mean the contractor who uses the completed contract method doesn’t get paid. They’ll continue to bill and receive payment, much like they would under a different revenue recognition method. The difference is that, until the contract is complete, they’ll keep those amounts on their balance sheet rather than on their income statement.

Accounting Methods for Construction Contracts

For example, a purchased material that’s fully installed at a particular job site will be 100 percent allocated to that job only. However, certain construction costs can be potentially split between numerous projects in a given time period, such as labor costs and equipment usage. In addition, indirect costs, often referred to as “overhead,” also must be charged to each project based on a core cost factor such as total labor hours, total labor cost or simply total direct costs. Percentage of completion method is vulnerable to abuse by unethical companies. Those who wish to engage in creative accounting can easily move around income and expenses from one period to another period, understating or overstating amounts. This game would not be sustainable, however, as Toshiba Corp. discovered in 2015.

The percentage of completion method of accounting requires the reporting of revenues and expenses on a period-by-period basis, as determined by the percentage of the contract that has been fulfilled. The current income and expenses are compared with the total estimated costs to determine the tax liability for the year. For example, a project that is 20% complete in year one and 35% complete in year two would only have the incremental 15% of the revenue recognized in the second year. The recognition of income and expenses on this work-in-progress basis applies to the income statement, but the balance sheet is handled the same way as the completed contract method. The main advantage of EPCM is that income is reported over the life of the contract and any losses will be recognized based on the percentage of the contract completed, called the completion factor. The completion factor is the amount of work that has been completed compared to the estimated amount remaining.

How the Completed Contract Method (CCM) Works

The completion factor must be certified by an engineer or an architect, or supported by appropriate documentation. The contract price must include cost reimbursements, all agreed changes to the contract, and any retainages receivable. Retainage is the amount earned by the contractor, but retained by the customer for payment at a later date until the quality of the work can be ascertained. This method is often used by contractors averaging less than $27 million in annual revenues. With this method revenue, expenses and gross profit are deferred until the completion of the contract. The advantage of using this method is that it allows for the maximum deferral of income taxes as revenue is not taxable until the job is completed.

The completed contract method is one of the most popular accounting methods in the construction industry. It’s the preferred method for short-term contracts and residential projects because of its simplicity and the ability to shift costs and tax liability to the end of the project. The completed contract method is a popular method of accounting for exempt construction contracts. Revenue and costs on contracts are not recognized until the contract is completed—or over 95% complete—and can be used for its intended purpose. When using the percentage of completion method, it’s important for contractors to revise their estimates anytime changes occur on the job. This ensures the accuracy of their accounting calculations, and helps to avoid cash flow challenges.

Definition of Completed Contract Method

Because income recognition is based on a percent of the revised contract for each project, it’s important that contractors enter change orders into the system as soon as they are approved. This means the contractor can recognize half of the total revenue for the project. If the contract is for $120,000, the contractor would record revenue of $60,000 for the period, which would be reflected in their income statement. There are two main conditions for the use of the percentage of completion method. First, collections by the company must be reasonably assured; second, the company must be able to reasonably estimate costs and the rate of project completion. Since contractors often work on several contracts simultaneously and because contractors often incur costs that are not specific to a particular contract, these costs must be accumulated and allocated to specific contracts.

Companies that use the CCM must have some sort of accounts to hold these transactions until recognition. Construction in Process and Progress Billings will completed contract method formula continue to accrue until the project wraps up. Once Build-It Construction completes the contract, they may finally move these onto the income statement.

XYZ believes that if given the contract, they will be able to complete the project in 7 months‘ time. Now, when ABC is dealing with a short-term project, it uses the completed contract method of revenue recognition. In the contract, the organization has given an offer of $5 million that is willing to pay ABC once they complete the project. So, since XYX was able to complete the project successfully, the revenue that John will recognize in this case is $5 million, including the constructions actual cost of $4.5 million. Note that if in this contract the percentage of the completed method was the one being used, the company would have been forced to make some adjustments to entries to rectify the extended month and the extra costs. Why most contractors prefer this method is that it fits well with short-term contracts as well as projects involving residential construction.

There should be no terms in the contract with the only purpose of deferring tax. The Completed-contract method is an accounting method of work-in-progress evaluation, for recording long-term contracts. GAAP allows another method of revenue recognition for long-term construction contracts, the percentage-of-completion method. The contract is considered https://www.bookstime.com/ complete when the costs remaining are insignificant. By deferring the recognition of revenue and expenses until the end of the project, the company might put itself at risk of higher tax liabilities. For example, let’s say a project is estimated to take three years to complete and tax laws change, leading to an increase in the business tax rate.

To those outside the company, this could be seen as a sign of inconsistency and risk, which can make securing bonding or acquiring financing particularly tricky. The company will report its revenue of $1 million to recognize the two payments for $500,000 that the customer made at the end of the six-month and one-year milestones. Cutoff of job costs is another crucial factor of having an accurate WIP schedule at a specific point in time.