A Collaborative Approach to WIP Meetings in Construction

We’ve all been in a WIP meeting that felt more like a blame game than a business review. The numbers didn’t line up. The project manager was in the dark about the billing schedule. And finance was scrambling to explain variances without clear job data. It doesn’t have to be this way. At James Moore, we believe work in progress (WIP) meetings should be collaborative checkpoints that bring clarity, not confusion. When construction teams work together, WIP meetings turn into powerful tools that help everyone stay aligned, profitable, and confident.

These meetings shouldn’t feel like a surprise audit. They should feel like a strategic sync-up where everyone shows up informed, focused, and invested in the same outcome.

Let’s walk through how to build that kind of WIP meeting.

Why WIP meetings are more than a financial check-in

For construction companies, WIP meetings often become a checkbox task for closing the books. But that mindset leaves value on the table. A truly collaborative WIP meeting is where project managers, accountants and executive leadership bring their insights together to assess job health and plan proactively. It’s where finance meets field operations in real time and where meaningful decisions can be made.

Every contractor knows the risks of relying on outdated or misaligned data. Underbill a job and cash flow tightens. Overbill and you may erode trust with clients or distort job performance. Worse, late recognition of project problems can lead to major financial surprises that impact bonding capacity, bank relationships and strategic planning.

According to Trimble Viewpoint, poor WIP tracking can result in inaccurate revenue forecasts and preventable profit fade. Companies that make WIP reporting part of an integrated planning process see stronger cost control and better alignment between job site progress and financial outcomes.

That’s why we push for a disciplined, collaborative WIP review process. This needs to happen more often than once a quarter or at year-end. It should be monthly, with the right people in the room and the right data in front of them.

The WIP meeting helps you understand where each job stands. That means aligning:

• Actual cost incurred to date with job schedule and percent complete
• Billings-to-date with expected revenue recognition
• Over and under billings with contract terms and timeline

Take billing accuracy as one example. If you’re not reconciling billings and cost of goods sold to the income statement, your reported earnings may be off. Without analyzing change orders and forecasted billings, your WIP report becomes outdated before the month is over. And if over and under billings don’t match your balance sheet, you’re going to have problems with your CPA and your bonding agent.

Collaborative WIP meetings also help you catch performance trends early. When a project consistently hits its percent complete but shows unusual cost variances, that’s a red flag worth exploring. By comparing performance against both job estimates and historical metrics, companies get sharper insight into what’s working and what needs attention.

To build trust and alignment, we advise clients to build a repeatable agenda that includes:

• Verifying job estimates reflect current field conditions
• Reviewing contract amounts and change orders for accuracy
• Cross-checking billings and COGS totals against the income statement
• Confirming over/under billing entries and matching them to the balance sheet
• Comparing job performance to expected metrics and flagging variances

Designing accurate, collaborative WIP meetings

Building a truly effective WIP meeting starts with process. And the first step in that process is accuracy.

That’s why we recommend starting with your job estimates. These should reflect where each project actually stands, not just what was on paper at bid time. If field conditions have changed, the estimate should too. Whether it’s due to weather delays, material shortages or scope changes, your estimates need to be reviewed against both current progress and future projections.

Next, review your contract amounts, especially for change orders. Too often, change orders are tracked separately or in spreadsheets that don’t tie back to the general ledger. That’s a recipe for confusion. Every change order should be documented, approved and integrated into your job cost system so it updates your WIP automatically. Billings should also match the actual contract in place, including approved revisions.

Once your job-level data is clean, it’s time to check your billings and cost of goods sold (COGS). These totals should be reconciled with the income statement every month. If they don’t match, dig in to find out why. Maybe a journal entry was posted to the wrong account. Maybe an invoice was double booked. These variances may seem small, but they can create bigger problems when compounded over several projects.

From there, we always recommend recording over and under billings based on actual job progress. This is where the accounting team plays a big role. These adjustments should reflect reality, not just a formula. And they need to be validated against the balance sheet so there’s no discrepancy between job reporting and general ledger balances.

Now that your numbers are reconciled, use the WIP meeting to compare job performance to expectations. Look at gross profit trends. Identify where margins are holding or slipping. Tie performance back to historic averages for similar project types. This kind of benchmarking gives your team context.

Finally, don’t skip the step of analyzing outliers. If a project is significantly over or under billed, ask why. Was there a billing delay? Did materials hit earlier than expected? Did field labor accelerate? By documenting these insights, you not only protect this month’s reporting but also build institutional knowledge that improves future estimates.

When teams follow this format consistently, WIP meetings go from reactive to proactive. Everyone comes in with better data, clearer context and the confidence to make decisions that drive performance.

If you’re looking for a resource that dives deeper into construction-specific best practices, we recommend our article on maintaining a WIP schedule. It offers examples, tips and real scenarios that help you avoid common WIP pitfalls while building a more efficient reporting process.

Who should be part of the WIP meeting and why it matters

Too many construction companies treat WIP as an accounting exercise. But the most effective WIP meetings are cross-functional. They bring together accounting, operations and leadership to ensure decisions are based on a full picture.

Here’s who we recommend including in every WIP review:

1. Controller or CFO
   They ensure the numbers are accurate and aligned with the income statement and balance sheet. They also help guide discussions around revenue recognition, margin analysis and compliance with GAAP standards.
2. Project Manager
   No one knows the day-to-day status of the job better than the PM. They bring firsthand knowledge of what’s actually happening on the job site, including potential risks or accelerations. Their input is critical for validating percent complete and helping accounting understand what’s ahead.
3. Operations or Field Supervisor
   This role ensures the operational reality matches the paperwork. They help confirm materials received, labor hours worked and subcontractor progress. Without their insight, the WIP can miss key drivers behind cost variances.
4. Executive Leadership or Owner
   They look at the big picture. Leadership should use the WIP meeting to assess company-wide trends, evaluate cash flow health and decide whether performance is in line with strategic goals. Their presence also reinforces the importance of the meeting across departments.
5. External advisor or CPA (when appropriate)
   Bringing in an outside perspective from your CPA firm, especially during major periods of change or near fiscal year-end, can help validate assumptions and flag issues early. It also creates consistency between internal reporting and year-end financials.

According to Sage Construction and Real Estate, WIP forecasting should be part of every construction company’s monthly routine. When done well, it provides key insights that impact everything from cash flow planning to bonding and banking relationships.

At James Moore, we’ve seen firsthand how the right mix of people changes the tone of these meetings. With all parties at the table, the discussion becomes about solving problems, not pointing fingers. And that’s where real value gets created.

Common pitfalls and collaborative solutions

Even with good intentions, WIP meetings can go sideways without the right structure. Sometimes the issue is a lack of accurate data. Other times, it’s the absence of communication between departments. Either way, the result is missed opportunities and avoidable financial missteps.

Mistake 1: Relying on your bank account to judge job health

A healthy balance in the bank might feel like a win. But if your WIP schedule isn’t keeping pace with actual job progress and billing, that balance could be misleading. For example, you could be overbilling and drawing cash too early, creating a false sense of profitability. Or you might be underbilling and causing preventable cash flow strain.

Solution: Instead of looking at cash, review your WIP alongside job schedules, percent complete and billing status. These insights reveal the true profitability and performance of each project. WIP reporting is the most reliable way to measure project health in real time.

Mistake 2: Treating WIP as a compliance task

Some teams only focus on WIP schedules when their CPA firm requests them for year-end reporting. This reactive approach leads to poor documentation, missed revenue and limited decision-making power throughout the year.

Solution: Make WIP meetings a standing part of your monthly close process. Tie in operational updates from project managers, track contract changes and review costs incurred against your initial estimates. This kind of rhythm builds confidence in the numbers and keeps leadership focused on proactive decisions.

Mistake 3: Ignoring red flags in job performance

When a project is underbilling by a significant amount, or the gross profit is swinging unexpectedly, it’s tempting to attribute it to timing differences. But brushing past these issues can lead to deeper financial problems and a hard conversation with your bonding company.

Solution: Document the reasoning behind every significant variance. Was it an approved change order not yet billed? Did the crew move faster than expected, and costs came in early? These insights should be shared in WIP meetings so everyone understands what’s happening. This prevents assumptions and helps the team learn from each project.

Keeping your WIP process tight is especially important if growth, succession or ownership changes are on the horizon. Doing so protects your company’s value during these critical phases.

How strong WIP meetings create stronger construction businesses

A well-run WIP meeting helps you align your team, understand where each job stands and plan for what’s ahead. When you take a collaborative approach, the benefits reach far beyond your accounting department.

You create clarity for project managers. You reduce risk in your financials. And you give leadership the information needed to make smart, strategic decisions. This kind of alignment is what separates companies that react from those that lead.

At James Moore, we partner with construction companies across the Southeast to bring more clarity, consistency and control to WIP reporting. If you want to get more out of your WIP meetings, we’re ready to help.

Let’s build a better process together. Contact a James Moore professional today to find out how our Construction Services team can support your financial goals and project success.

All content provided in this article is for informational purposes only. Matters discussed in this article are subject to change. For up-to-date information on this subject please contact a James Moore professional. James Moore will not be held responsible for any claim, loss, damage or inconvenience caused as a result of any information within these pages or any information accessed through this site.