Nebula ERP Solution

[10 mins read]Understanding WIP methods in project management

As a project progresses, materials, resources, and other expenses are consumed and must be posted to the project. Work in Process (WIP) is a feature that enables you to estimate the financial value of projects in the general ledger while the projects are ongoing. In many cases, you might post expenses for a project before invoicing a project. When only expenses are posted, your financial statement is inaccurate.

To track the value in the general ledger, you can calculate WIP and post the value to the general ledger.Out of the box, Business Central supports the following methods of calculating and recording the value of work in process.

Recognized cost

Recognized CostRecognized Cost Calculation FormulaGeneral Ledger Entries
At Completion0 (Zero)Dt Recognized Costs Account Cr WIP Costs Account
Amount: RecognizedCost

Dt WIP Costs Account Cr Project Costs Applied Account
Amount: MAX[RecognizedCost; Actual (Total Cost)]
Cost of SalesActual (Total Cost) – Budget (Total Costs) * Invoiced%, where:

Invoiced% = Invoiced (Total Price) / Billable (Total Price)

Note: This calculation requires that the Billable (Total Price) and Budget (Total Costs) are correctly entered for the whole project.
Dt Recognized Costs Account Cr WIP Costs Account
Amount: RecognizedCost

Dt WIP Costs Account Cr Project Costs Applied Account
Amount: MAX[RecognizedCost; Actual (Total Cost)]

Dt Project Costs Adjustment Account Cr WIP Accrued Costs Account
Amount: RecognizedCost – Actual (Total Cost), If RecognizedCost > Actual (Total Cost)
Cost ValueActual (Total Cost) – [Completion% – Invoiced%] * Billable (Total Price) * BudgetCostPriceRatio, where:

BudgetCostPriceRatio = Budget(Total Cost) / Budget (Total Price)
Invoiced% = Invoiced (Total Price) / Billable (Total Price)
Completion% = Actual (Total Cost)/Budget (Total Cost)

Note: This calculation requires that the Billable (Total Price), Budget ( Total Price), and Budget (Total Costs) be correctly entered for the whole project.
Dt Recognized Costs Account Cr WIP Costs Account
Amount: RecognizedCost

Dt WIP Costs Account Cr Project Costs Applied Account
Amount: MAX[RecognizedCost; Actual (Total Cost)]

Dt Project Costs Adjustment Account Cr WIP Accrued Costs Account
Amount: RecognizedCost – Actual (Total Cost), If RecognizedCost > Actual (Total Cost)
Contract (Invoiced Cost)Invoiced (Total Cost)Dt Recognized Costs Account Cr WIP Costs Account
Amount: RecognizedCost

Dt WIP Costs Account Cr Project Costs Applied Account
Amount: MAX[RecognizedCost; Actual (Total Cost)]

Dt Project Costs Adjustment Account Cr WIP Accrued Costs Account
Amount: RecognizedCost – Actual (Total Cost), If RecognizedCost > Actual (Total Cost)
Usage (Total Cost)Actual (Total Cost)Dt Recognized Costs Account Cr WIP Costs Account
Amount: RecognizedCost

Dt WIP Costs Account Cr Project Costs Applied Account
Amount: MAX[RecognizedCost; Actual (Total Cost)]

When project status is changed to Completed, the Calculate WIP task reverts the WIP transaction and posts instead.

Dt Recognized Cost Account Cr Project Cost Applied Account , Amount: Actual (Total Cost)

 Note

Depending on the selection in the WIP Posting Method Used field, the Item Cost Applied AccountResource Cost Applied Account, or G/L Cost Applied Account could be used instead of Project Cost Applied Account.

Recognized sales

Recognized SalesRecognized Sales Calculation FormulaGeneral Ledger Entries
At Completion0 (Zero)Dt WIP Invoiced Sales Account Cr Recognized Sales Account
Amount: RecognizedSales

Dt Project Sales Applied Account Cr WIP Invoiced Sales Account
Amount: Invoiced (Total Price)
Contract (Invoiced Price)Invoiced (Total Price)Dt WIP Invoiced Sales Account Cr Recognized Sales Account
Amount: RecognizedSales

Dt Project Sales Applied Account Cr WIP Invoiced Sales Account
Amount: Invoiced (Total Price)
Usage (Total Cost)Actual (Total Cost)Dt WIP Invoiced Sales Account Cr Recognized Sales Account
Amount: RecognizedSales

Dt Project Sales Applied Account Cr WIP Invoiced Sales Account
Amount: Invoiced (Total Price)
Percentage of CompletionMIN[Billable (Total Price) * Completion%; Billable (Total Price)], where:

Completion% = Actual (Total Cost)/Budget (Total Cost)

Note: This calculation requires that the Billable (Total Price) and Budget (Total Costs) are correctly entered for the whole project.
Dt WIP Accrued Sales Account Cr Recognized Sales Account
Amount: RecognizedSales

Dt Project Sales Applied Account Cr WIP Invoiced Sales Account
Amount: Invoiced (Total Price)
Usage (Total Price)Actual (Total Price)Dt WIP Invoiced Sales Account Cr Recognized Sales Account
Amount: RecognizedSales

Dt Project Sales Applied Account Cr WIP Invoiced Sales Account
Amount: MAX[RecognizedSales; Invoiced (Total Price)]

Dt WIP Accrued Sales Account Cr Project Sales Adjustment Account
Amount: MAX[RecognizedSales; Invoiced (Total Price)] – Invoiced (Total Price)
Sales ValueActual (Total Price) * Billable (Total Price)/Budget (Total Price)

Note: This calculation requires that the Billable (Total Price) and Budget (Total Price) are correctly entered for the whole project.
Dt WIP Invoiced Sales Account Cr Recognized Sales Account
Amount: RecognizedSales

Dt Project Sales Applied Account Cr WIP Invoiced Sales Account
Amount: MAX[RecognizedSales; Invoiced (Total Price)]

Dt WIP Accrued Sales Account Cr Project Sales Adjustment Account
Amount: MAX[RecognizedSales; Invoiced (Total Price)] – Invoiced (Total Price)

When the project status is changed to Completed, the Calculate WIP task reverts the WIP transaction and posts instead.

Dt Project Sales Applied Account Cr Recognized Sales Account , Amount: Invoiced (Total Price)

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