Cost Reporting & Forecasting

I find out what the job made when it's over

No live picture, just a final account surprise.

The cash position ambushes me mid-job

The programme says one thing, the bank account says another.

The final account creeps away from the forecast

Nobody maintains the gap between what we expect and what the record supports.

Month-end reporting is assembled by hand, every month

Hours of copy and paste for numbers that are stale on arrival.

I've taken over a job with no financial picture at all

No materials-on-site record, no variation tracker, no forecast, and a valuation due.

We can't see the cash coming, only the cash gone

The programme says one thing, the bank says another, and nothing joins them up.

We're cash rich and calling it profit

Applications have run ahead of the work all year and the business has spent against a margin that was only ever early money.

We report the cost but nobody forecasts the outturn

The month is closed and the question everyone actually wants answered - what will this job make - is still a guess.

Prices moved and nobody captured it

Materials, plant and haulage crept up over months; there is no notified position and nothing in the forecast.

We invoice and then lose track of what's been paid

Invoices out, some paid, some short, some ignored, and no single list that says which.

There's no contingency in the budget

The first real risk event comes straight out of margin, because nothing was ever set aside for it.

Costs go to whatever code is nearest

It looks like admin until a claim needs the cost record behind it and there isn't one.

Project Commercial Health Check

ForensicFixed FeeFor Subcontractors & Main Contractors5 working days

I examine the whole commercial position of one live project and hand back a findings report with every exposure ranked in money and a named fix against each.

Cashflow Forecasting Against Programme

Risk mitigationOngoingFor Subcontractors & Main Contractors

I build your cashflow forecast from the programme and the payment terms before works start, then maintain it monthly against actual progress and actual certification.

CVR Production & Maintenance

Risk mitigationOngoingFor Subcontractors & Main Contractors

I produce your monthly cost value reconciliation and keep it honest, value from the account's real position, cost from the ledger and the accruals, margin movement explained month on month.

Forecast Final Account Maintenance

Risk mitigationOngoingFor Subcontractors & Main Contractors

I keep a running forecast of where the account actually lands, updated monthly so decisions on the job are made against the destination rather than the month.

Interim Valuation Build-Up

For Subcontractors & Main Contractors

The working behind the number on your application: the pricing document line by line, with what was complete last time, what is complete now and the movement this period.

CVR

For Subcontractors & Main Contractors

One sheet a month that puts the value of the work done next to the cost of getting there, and explains every movement in the margin.

Cashflow Forecast

For Subcontractors & Main Contractors

Value spread against the programme, then lagged through application, certification and payment to show the month the job will need funding before it arrives.

Forecast Final Account

For Subcontractors & Main Contractors

Where the job actually lands: value weighted by how likely each item is to be recovered, cost to complete built from run rates rather than optimism, and the risks and opportunities that could move either.

Take value from the account, not from the invoice file

Accrue the cost that has been incurred but not yet invoiced

Fix the cut-off date and hold both sides to it

Explain every movement in margin against last month

Forecast the cash around the payment terms, not the programme alone

Watch the gap between value earned and cash received

Model retention as cash you will not see for a year

Have the funding conversation before the squeeze, not during it

Price the pending work with the pessimism it deserves

Move a number only when a reason moves with it

Carry the risk you can see even before you can price it

Report the destination, not just the month

What is a CVR, and does a small contractor need one?

A cost value reconciliation sets the value the job has earned against the cost it has incurred to the same date, so you see the real margin each month rather than discovering it at the end.

What is the difference between value and cost in a monthly report?

Cost is what the job has consumed to earn its position; value is what that position is worth under the contract, and the report only means anything when both are measured to the same date.

What should a monthly cost report actually tell a director?

Where the margin is, how and why it moved this month, where the cash stands, and where the whole account is forecast to land, on one page a busy director can read and act on.

Why can a profitable job still run out of cash?

Profit is earned when you do the work, but cash arrives a month or two later after you have applied, been certified and waited out the payment period, so a profitable job funds that gap out of your pocket.

How is a cashflow forecast built from a programme?

You spread the cost across the programme to see money going out, then layer the payment terms over the value earned to see money coming in, and the gap between the two curves is the cash the job needs.

How often should a forecast final account change?

It should be reviewed every month and move only when something real has changed, with a named reason attached to each movement, so the forecast is a record of the account rather than a number that drifts.