Solution
Cost to Complete Software for Contractors
Cost to complete is the question every contractor needs answered on every open job: how much more will it actually cost to finish? Not what the budget said at the start — what the job is really heading toward given what’s been spent, what’s been done, and what’s left. The honest answer is usually different from the budget, and the earlier it shows up, the more a project manager can do about it.
Why cost-to-complete reports are so often wrong
The usual cost-to-complete report is a spreadsheet updated once a month by hand. Actuals get typed in after the accountant closes the period, percent complete is a guess from the field, and approved change orders may or may not have made it into the budget column. By the time the report is finished it’s describing last month — and a job that’s quietly running over doesn’t look over until the margin is already gone.
What a useful cost-to-complete view needs
Budget and actuals by cost code, so an overrun shows up where it’s happening instead of buried in a job total. Real percent complete, ideally coming from the field rather than from whoever updates the spreadsheet. Approved change orders flowing into the budget on their own. And a forecast that recalculates as those inputs change, rather than being rebuilt monthly.
How PoPs Project Tracker does it
PoPs Project Tracker tracks budget vs. actual across every active project, with monthly actuals synced to real invoices instead of retyped. Cost to complete recalculates automatically per cost code as the job moves. Approved change orders push their cost into the budget and forecast on their own, and real progress and burdened payroll hours come straight in from PoPs Field, so the forecast isn’t waiting on someone to update a sheet.
Already have a schedule? Import it from MS Project, Primavera, or a generic format and the forecast tracks against it — or let Scope & Schedule build the schedule from the plans. A portfolio rollup shows every active project side by side, and for owners, PoPs Owner Dashboard rolls job profitability and exposure up across the whole company.
Related reading
- AIA G702/G703 Billing Software — Billing against the same budget the forecast tracks.
- Construction Scheduling Software — Where the forecast’s schedule comes from.
- Construction Field Management Software — How field progress and hours reach the forecast.
Who this is for
- Project Managers — Watching job margin while there’s still time to act.
- General Contractors — Running several jobs at once and needing the whole picture.
FAQ
What is cost to complete?
It’s the estimated cost still needed to finish a job, based on what’s been spent and what remains — the number that tells you where a job will actually land, as opposed to where the original budget said it would.
Does cost to complete update automatically?
Yes — it recalculates per cost code as actuals, progress, and approved change orders change, instead of being rebuilt by hand each month.
Where does percent complete come from?
It can come straight from the field — PoPs Field pushes real progress and payroll hours into PoPs Project Tracker — and it can also be entered manually by the project manager.
Do I need to rebuild my schedule to use it?
No — import one from MS Project, Primavera, or a generic format and the forecast tracks against it.