Work-in-progress (WIP) reports are a cornerstone of construction financial management. They help companies track job-level profitability, determine earned revenue, and communicate status to lenders, bonding agents, and internal stakeholders. While Procore is an industry leader in construction project management, its WIP reporting functionality often falls short for finance teams looking for complete visibility and control.

The biggest limitation? Capturing accurate, structured cost-to-complete inputs from project managers — without which a WIP report is incomplete and unreliable.

The Role of WIP Reports in Construction

At its core, a WIP report tells you how much revenue you’ve earned and whether you’re over or under-billed. But when done right, it becomes a tool for forecasting, risk detection, and strategic decision-making.

WIP reports answer questions like:

  • Are we going to hit our expected margins?
  • How much revenue can we recognize under ASC 606?
  • Are any jobs headed for cost overruns?
  • Are we overbilling (and at risk of clawbacks) or underbilling (and losing working capital)?

These answers depend on having one key data point: cost to complete — how much spending remains to finish the job.

🔍 Related Read: ASC 606 Revenue Recognition for Contractors – Understand how correct percentage-of-completion calculations and contract assets/liabilities impact construction revenue recognition.

What’s Included in a Typical WIP Report

A solid WIP report includes:

  • Job name and contract value
  • Actual costs incurred to date
  • Forecasted cost to complete
  • Total estimated cost
  • % complete
  • Revenue earned (based on % complete × contract value)
  • Amount billed to date
  • Over/under billing
  • Gross margin and profit variance

But to calculate these accurately, finance teams need timely, job-level updates — especially the forecasted cost to complete, which usually resides in the heads of project managers.

🔍 Related Read: Work in Progress Construction – Complete Guide – Get a comprehensive overview of WIP reporting for contractors, including workflows, KPI tracking, and common challenges.

Limitations of Procore’s WIP Reporting Workflow

While Procore excels at operational tracking — RFIs, submittals, change orders, and budget logs — it lacks depth on the financial side, particularly when it comes to WIP reporting. Most users export data from Procore and build custom WIP schedules in Excel or integrate with external systems.

Here are the key limitations:

1. No Standardized PM Input for Cost to Complete

Procore’s forecasting tools aren’t always granular or flexible enough to capture detailed CTC estimates. PMs often resort to emailing spreadsheets or informal updates — and finance must hunt for this data monthly.

2. Disconnected Workflows

Finance and project teams work in separate systems. There’s no shared environment where both sides can collaborate on WIP updates in real time. This disconnect leads to miscommunication, delays, and errors.

3. Manual Workarounds in Excel

Even in firms using Procore, WIP reports are almost always finalized in Excel. That means re-exporting data, applying formulas, copying from job cost reports, and pasting PM estimates manually — a process that consumes hours each month and invites mistakes.

4. Lack of Multi-Level Visibility

Procore doesn’t support rolling up WIP data across regions, divisions, or companies easily. If you’re running more than a handful of jobs, this becomes a bottleneck.

Why Cost-to-Complete Input Is the Missing Piece

Without accurate and timely cost-to-complete estimates:

  • Revenue recognition under ASC 606 becomes guesswork.
  • WIP schedules show outdated or misleading margins.
  • You risk overbilling or underbilling.
  • Decision-makers lack confidence in the numbers.

And since the data is often trapped in emails, phone calls, or disconnected spreadsheets, it becomes a nightmare to collect and consolidate.

🔍 Related Read: Cost to Complete Construction – Full Guide – Learn why accurate cost-to-complete inputs are essential and how teams can forecast future costs precisely.

PivotXL: Solving the WIP Reporting Gap

PivotXL is an Excel-based financial reporting platform that connects to construction systems like Procore and makes WIP reporting collaborative, automated, and audit-ready.

Here’s how PivotXL transforms the WIP process:

🟢 PM-Ready Excel Templates

Each project manager receives a tailored Excel template where they can enter:

  • Cost-to-complete estimates by cost code or phase
  • Notes or justifications for changes
  • Change order adjustments

No new systems to learn. Just Excel — their most familiar tool.

🟢 Centralized Data Sync

As PMs update their templates, data automatically syncs to PivotXL’s centralized data model. Finance teams can view updated numbers in real time without chasing inputs.

🟢 Dynamic WIP Schedule Generation

WIP schedules are built automatically from connected data. No re-exporting, no reformatting. Reports can be sliced by region, business unit, or any dimension — and always stay up to date.

🟢 Profitability & Trend Insights

PivotXL doesn’t stop at basic WIP math. It gives finance teams the ability to:

  • Track profitability trends across jobs and customers
  • Compare forecasted vs actual margins
  • Analyze cost-to-complete accuracy over time
  • Create visual dashboards for executive review

🟢 Audit Trail and Approvals

Every input is timestamped and attributed to a user. You get full transparency and an audit trail — something spreadsheets alone can’t provide.

Why This Matters

For contractors managing more than a few jobs, the cost of disconnected, manual WIP reporting is high:

  • Wasted time every month chasing and entering data
  • Errors that can misstate revenue or margins
  • Limited insight into job health until it’s too late

PivotXL turns WIP into a collaborative, automated process that gives finance and operations a shared view of project health.

You get:

  • Real-time data
  • Structured PM collaboration
  • Full reporting flexibility in Excel
  • A system of record for your financial forecasts

Conclusion

Procore is excellent at field and budget tracking, but when it comes to financial WIP reporting — especially cost-to-complete inputs and company-wide rollups — it often leaves finance teams with more questions than answers.

PivotXL enhances this process by providing the missing link: a structured, Excel-driven platform where project managers and finance teams can collaborate on WIP reports, track trends, and generate audit-ready financials — all in real time.

If you’re tired of rebuilding your WIP schedule every month and manually chasing updates, it might be time to explore a smarter way.