Underbillings and Overbillings: What They Reveal About Your Construction Company’s Financial Health
Authored By Jack Powers, GreerWalker
In construction, reported profit does not always translate into cash in the bank. A contractor may have a strong backlog, profitable projects, and growing revenue while still experiencing liquidity challenges.
One of the most important indicators of both project performance and cash flow health is the relationship between revenue earned and amounts billed to project owners. These balances commonly appear on a contractor’s Work-in-Progress (WIP) schedule as underbillings (costs and estimated profits in excess of billings) and overbillings (billings in excess of costs and estimated profits).