For construction finance teams, work-in-progress (WIP) reporting is a critical part of monthly and quarterly closes. It ensures revenue is recognized correctly, job profitability is tracked, and project performance is clearly communicated to executives, bonding agents, and lenders.

Sage 100 Contractor includes a built-in Contracts in Progress report to help with this. However, many teams find themselves exporting to Excel, struggling with manual processes, and searching for more flexible and reliable solutions.

In this guide, we’ll walk through:

  • What the Sage 100 WIP report includes
  • Why WIP reporting matters in construction
  • Common limitations of Sage’s native tools
  • How to improve WIP reporting with tools like PivotXL

👉 Related Read: Work in Progress Construction – Complete Guide

What Does the Sage 100 WIP Report Include?

The standard WIP report in Sage 100 Contractor pulls from job cost and billing data to produce a snapshot of your ongoing projects. Typical data fields include:

  • Job name and number
  • Original and revised contract value
  • Costs incurred to date
  • Estimated cost to complete
  • Percent complete (based on cost or units)
  • Recognized revenue
  • Billed-to-date amounts
  • Over/under billing amounts

This gives controllers and project managers a sense of whether a project is ahead or behind from a revenue recognition and billing standpoint.

Why WIP Reporting Is Essential in Construction

WIP reporting isn’t just about compliance — it’s a critical tool for project visibility and risk management. A good WIP schedule helps you:

  • Ensure accurate revenue recognition under ASC 606
  • Catch underbilling and overbilling before it impacts cash flow
  • Track profit fade or gain over the life of a project
  • Communicate status with clients, banks, and sureties
  • Maintain clean books for audits and financial reporting

To learn more about how WIP ties into revenue recognition, check out our post on ASC 606 for Contractors.

Limitations of the Built-In Sage 100 WIP Report

Sage 100’s WIP report is useful, but it has limitations:

Manual workflows
Most teams still export to Excel, where they build custom formulas, formats, and job schedules to meet their internal or bonding requirements.

Difficult to collaborate
Project managers usually don’t work in Sage. Getting their updated cost-to-complete inputs means emailing spreadsheets back and forth — introducing version control issues.

Customization requires Crystal Reports
If you want to change layouts, add columns, or create job-specific views inside Sage, you’ll need to use Crystal Reports — or hire someone who can.

Limited forecasting
WIP reports in Sage don’t project profitability or trends. They’re focused on current performance, not what’s likely to happen next.

How PivotXL Enhances Sage 100 WIP Reporting

PivotXL integrates directly with Sage 100 Contractor and gives you a better way to manage WIP — without losing the flexibility of Excel.

✅ Live Sage 100 Data in Excel
Pull job cost trial balances and billing data directly into PivotXL

✅ Custom Templates for Finance and Bonding
Build WIP schedules that match your internal needs or third-party reporting formats. Add columns like projected margin, cost-to-complete logic, or weighted percent complete.

👉 Related Read: Cost to Complete Construction – Full Guide

✅ PM Collaboration Without Emails
Finance can send structured templates to project managers to fill in cost-to-complete values. Once entered, everything flows back into the WIP cube.

✅ Roll Up and Slice by Region, Division, or Job Type
Use Excel’s familiar pivot table interface to break down profitability by project, customer, or region — no new software to learn.

✅ Trend Analysis and Forecasting
Track margin slippage, earned revenue, and profitability trends over time. See which jobs are improving and which are fading.

✅ No Crystal Reports Needed
All custom views are built using Excel and PivotXL’s reporting engine — no Crystal knowledge required.

Conclusion

The Sage 100 WIP report is a solid starting point, but as your construction company grows, you’ll need more control, automation, and insight.

PivotXL enhances Sage 100’s native reporting by combining live data sync, custom Excel templates, and multi-user collaboration — all without sacrificing flexibility. If you’re spending too much time each month wrangling spreadsheets, it might be time to modernize your WIP process.