US Bureau of Labor Statistics show that as of October 2022, there were $7.73M people working in the construction industry. In addition, data from the Association of General Contractors of America shows that the construction industry has nearly 750,000 employers in the US and creates nearly $1.4 trillion worth of structures each year.

With the continued resurgence of this industry, understanding how to do the accounting for these companies will be an invaluable skill. Therefore, this course introduces one of the most integral parts of construction accounting and project management, the work in progress or WIP report. Through the definition of useful terms and using relevant examples, we’ll examine everything from why the WIP report is important to how to compile and analyze it.

Course Key Concepts: Construction Accounting, Project Accounting, Work in Progress/Work in Process (WIP), Overbilling/Underbilling, Cost at Completion, Percentage of Completion.

Learning Objectives
  • Explore the concepts of Construction Accounting and Work in Progress (WIP).
  • Recognize why a WIP Schedule is Important to a Construction Business.
  • Discover the Components Necessary to Compile a Work in Progress Schedule and Prepare a Sample Report.
  • Identify how to analyze a WIP Schedule.
Last updated/reviewed: March 17, 2024
5 Reviews (17 ratings)

Reviews

3
Member's Profile
Course was a good entry level discussion of WIP, but it seemed like most of the presentation was watching the instructor input data into a spreadsheet. Would have preferred a little more detail or to have this spreadsheet built out ahead of time.
4
Member's Profile
It would be nice if there was more explanation of the concepts on the PDF slides and less about putting the WIP together via excel. More analysis of project positions and what it means.
2
Anonymous Author
The technical content was minimal. This was much more a class on basic use of Excel. I would not recommend this class.
4
Anonymous Author
A good overview of WIP functionality with a surprising emphasis on Excel. Bonus.
5
Member's Profile
Ms. Akins has a good grasp of the knowledge and explains things well.
Prerequisites
Course Complexity: Foundational
No advanced preparation or prerequisites are required for this course.
Education Provider Information
Company: Illumeo, Inc., 75 East Santa Clara St., Suite 1215, San Jose, CA 95113
Contact: For more information regarding this course, including complaint and cancellation policies, please contact our offices at (408) 400- 3993 or send an e-mail to .
Instructor for this course
  Course Overview CPE
Course Syllabus
INTRODUCTION AND OVERVIEW
  Introduction to Construction Accounting3:14
  Construction Accounting Defined7:02
  Work in Progress Defined4:50
  Work in Progress Component and Format Working-Part 123:14
  Format Working-Part 225:42
  Format Working-Part 325:16
  Troubleshooting and Analyzing the WIP Report12:10
  Conclusion1:36
CONTINUOUS PLAY
  Construction Accounting1:43:04
SUPPORTING MATERIAL
  Slides: Construction Accounting: A Deep Dive into Work in ProgressPDF
  Work in Progress Sample FileXLSX
  Construction Accounting: A Deep Dive into Work in Progress Glossary/ IndexPDF
REVIEW AND TEST
  REVIEW QUESTIONSquiz
 FINAL EXAMexam