# Contractor statements and WIP schedules for your surety and CPA

Canonical: https://finbryn.com/us/services/audit-compliance-support/contractor-surety-bonding-financials

Finbryn provides job costing, work-in-progress schedules and year-end statements for contractors whose surety wants CPA-compiled or CPA-reviewed financials, reconciled monthly for the independent CPA you engage. The CPA's report, not our preparation, sets the level your surety sees. SBA SOP 50 45 4 (effective 2024-11-21) shows one program's tiers.

When a bonding agent asks for CPA-reviewed financials and a work-in-progress schedule, two different parties have to do two different jobs. Someone keeps the job cost ledger clean every month. A licensed CPA practice then compiles, reviews or audits the year-end statements and signs its own report. Finbryn does the first job.

Statements and WIP schedules prepared for your surety and your CPA. In practice that means we post job costs, change orders and retainage to each contract, reconcile cash, receivables, payables and debt, update the WIP schedule from the estimates to complete your project managers give us, and prepare the interim and year-end statements with the schedules your CPA asks for. We prepare financial statements. We have not audited or reviewed them and give no assurance.

Finbryn is not a CPA firm and does not issue audit, review or compilation reports. The report your surety reads comes from an independent CPA practice that you engage. If Finbryn keeps your books, we refer your audit to an independent CPA practice, and the last section below explains why that line matters. On request we introduce independent licensed CPA practices; you engage the one you choose directly, under its own engagement letter. Finbryn receives no fee or commission tied to any audit.

Your surety sets its own threshold, rate and deadlines, and Finbryn does not sell, place or price bonds. For the month-end side of the work, see [cost and project accounting](/services/accounting-services/cost-project-accounting). For what the CPA practice asks for at year-end, see [PBC list management](/services/audit-compliance-support/pbc-lists) and [year-end close and CPA handoff](/services/accounting-services/year-end-close-cpa-handoff-pack).

What you get: Job cost ledger with change orders and retainage posted by contract; Monthly work-in-progress schedule with percent complete and over or under billing; Interim and year-end statements prepared for your surety and your CPA; Aged receivable and payable schedules; Trial balance and job files organized for the independent CPA practice

Software we work in: QuickBooks Online, Xero, NetSuite, Sage Intacct, Excel

## What level of financial statements does a surety ask a contractor for?

Your surety sets its own threshold, so start by asking your bonding agent for the written requirement. The one public yardstick is the SBA surety bond program, where [SOP 50 45 4](https://legacy.sba.gov/sites/default/files/2025-01/SOP%2050%2045%204%20%28Final-508%29.pdf) (effective 2024-11-21, opened 2026-10-19) ties the year-end statement to contract size.

| Contract size in the SBA program | Year-end statement SBA requires | Six-month interim |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Up to $2,000,000 | Internally prepared, computer-generated | Internally prepared or higher |
| More than $2,000,000 to $3,000,000 | CPA-compiled, or In-House Plus | Internally prepared or higher |
| More than $3,000,000 to $14,000,000 | CPA-reviewed | Internally prepared or higher |

In-House Plus means a high-quality computer-generated statement with aged schedules of receivables and payables, the current portion of long-term debt and a correctly structured balance sheet with no negative liabilities. SBA may require a higher level when it has case-specific concerns. Federal tax returns may stand in for year-end statements, but not for a current statement that SBA needs for its working capital calculation.

A private surety can draw its own lines, which is why this table is a yardstick and not your answer. For context, federal construction contracts above $150,000 need performance and payment bonds, and FAR 28.102-1 (FAC 2026-01, effective 2026-03-13) sets that threshold without naming any CPA level.

## What is a WIP schedule, and what does a surety read in it?

A work-in-progress (WIP) schedule lists every open job with its contract price, what you have billed, what you have spent and what you still expect to spend. SBA's version, [Form 994F](https://legacy.sba.gov/sites/default/files/2023-01/SBAForm994F.pdf) (9/22 edition, opened 2026-10-19), asks for eight columns per job, shown below with the two dates in one row.

| Column on SBA Form 994F | What goes in it |
| --- | --- |
| Job description | Each open job |
| Starting and completion dates | Scheduled start and finish |
| Bonded, yes or no | Whether a bond covers the job |
| Contract price | Including approved change orders |
| Total billed to date | Including retainages; explain disputed items |
| Total cost to date | Job cost from the ledger |
| Total estimated cost to complete | Your project manager's estimate |

The form asks you to include all work, bonded and unbonded, and to mark cost-plus jobs. SOP 50 45 4 adds that the schedule must cover every job whether or not work has started, including all awarded contracts, because over-extension is one of the most common causes of contractor failure.

Your surety may ask for more than SBA does. These are the columns we compute from those inputs.

| Computed column | How it is built |
| --- | --- |
| Estimated total cost | Cost to date plus estimated cost to complete |
| Percent complete | Cost to date divided by estimated total cost |
| Earned revenue | Percent complete times contract price |
| Over or (under) billed | Billed to date less earned revenue |
| Estimated gross profit | Contract price less estimated total cost |
| Backlog | Contract price less earned revenue |

## Why does a contractor need percentage-of-completion accounting for bonding?

Because the WIP schedule shows each job's earned revenue and billing position, and both come from a measure of progress on the job. ASC 606 says revenue recognized over time is measured by progress toward complete satisfaction of the performance obligation (606-10-25-31), and an input method does that by comparing costs incurred with total expected costs (606-10-55-20). The source is [ASU 2014-09](https://storage.fasb.org/ASU%202014-09_Section%20A.pdf) as issued, opened 2026-10-19; the Codification is the authority.

The percentage is only as good as the estimate to complete, which is why every open job needs a fresh estimate each month. Paragraph 606-10-55-21 adds a caution: a cost-based measure may need adjusting for costs that do not show progress, such as wasted materials or labor, or a cost that is not proportionate to progress. Your CPA practice and your surety decide which method they accept.

## What does a WIP schedule look like with numbers in it?

It looks like one row per job, with the billing position at the far right. This table is Illustrative, in $000, with made-up jobs, and every row foots.

| Job | Contract price | Cost to date | Est. cost to complete | Est. total cost | Percent complete | Earned revenue | Billed to date | Over or (under) billed |
| --- | ---: | ---: | ---: | ---: | ---: | ---: | ---: | ---: |
| A | 1,200 | 540 | 360 | 900 | 60.0% | 720 | 780 | 60 |
| B | 800 | 600 | 150 | 750 | 80.0% | 640 | 600 | (40) |
| C | 500 | 90 | 360 | 450 | 20.0% | 100 | 100 | 0 |
| Total | 2,500 | 1,230 | 870 | 2,100 | | 1,460 | 1,480 | 20 |

Job A is 540 / 900 = 60.0% complete, so earned revenue is 60.0% of 1,200 = 720, and 780 billed less 720 earned leaves 60 over-billed. Job B is under-billed by 40. The totals check: 1,480 billed less 1,460 earned is 20, which is 60 less 40. Over-billing means you have collected ahead of the work; under-billing means you have worked ahead of your invoices.

Gross profit and backlog on the same jobs, still Illustrative and in $000:

| Job | Est. gross profit | Gross profit earned to date | Backlog |
| --- | ---: | ---: | ---: |
| A | 300 | 180 | 480 |
| B | 50 | 40 | 160 |
| C | 50 | 10 | 400 |
| Total | 400 | 230 | 1,040 |

Estimated gross profit is contract price less estimated total cost. Profit earned to date is earned revenue less cost to date (1,460 less 1,230 is 230). Backlog is contract price less earned revenue (2,500 less 1,460 is 1,040).

## How current do the statements and the WIP schedule have to be?

Your surety sets its own limits, so ask your agent which statements and dates it wants. SBA's rules in SOP 50 45 4 (read 2026-10-19) show how one program writes them. A new WIP schedule goes with any application that falls more than 90 days after the effective date of the WIP on file. Financial statements must be entered in SBA's system within 120 days of the statement date. A six-month interim statement is required from the contractor's year-end, and it may be internally prepared.

If your agent quoted a 90-day limit, ask whether it applies to the interim statement, the WIP schedule or both. When the ledger is reconciled every month, the WIP schedule is already current on the day the request arrives.

## Who does what between month-end and the CPA's report?

Finbryn works every month; the independent CPA practice you engage works after year-end and signs its own report. The diagram runs left to right in eight steps. It starts with job costs posted and reconciled, then your estimates to complete, then the updated WIP schedule, interim statements and year-end statements, which we prepare. Next the CPA practice you engage tests the file, then it signs its report, and last you send the report and the WIP schedule to your surety.

Your estimates and your engagement of the CPA practice are shaded as client steps, and the CPA practice's signature is marked as the signing step. Finbryn signs nothing in this chain.

Diagram: From month-end close to the CPA report and your surety. Eight steps from monthly job cost reconciliation, through WIP schedule, interim and year-end statements, to the independent CPA practice's signed report and submission to your surety.

## Can the CPA practice that keeps my job costing also review my statements for the surety?

Sometimes, if that practice follows the AICPA's safeguards; never through Finbryn. The AICPA Code (updated through July 2026, opened 2026-10-19) lets a CPA record transactions a client has classified, prepare statements from the client's trial balance and prepare reconciliations for the client to evaluate, provided management oversees the work and accepts responsibility for the results (ET 1.295.040 and 1.295.120.02).

The same Code treats a CPA as not independent who determines or changes journal entries or account coding without the client's approval, or who prepares source documents (1.295.120.03). Audits and reviews need independence. A compilation report may instead disclose a lack of independence.

Finbryn's rule is simpler. If Finbryn keeps your books, we refer your audit to an independent CPA practice, and we hold a review or a compilation of statements built from books we keep to the same rule. On request we introduce independent licensed CPA practices; you engage the one you choose directly, under its own engagement letter. Finbryn receives no fee or commission tied to any audit.

Before you sign with any practice, ask for its license number and its latest peer review report. The Uniform Accountancy Act, section 7(h) (2018 edition, read 2026-10-19), makes peer review a condition of renewing a firm permit.

## The process

1. **Read what your surety asked for**: We work from your agent's written request: statement level, interim dates and WIP format.

2. **Set up job costing**: Each contract gets a job code, and costs, change orders and retainage post to it from the first invoice.

3. **Reconcile every month**: Cash, receivables, payables, debt and job cost accounts tie to the ledger before the WIP schedule is updated.

4. **Update the WIP schedule**: You send estimates to complete; we recompute percent complete, earned revenue and over or under billing for each job.

5. **Prepare interim and year-end statements**: Statements and WIP schedules prepared for your surety and your CPA. We give no assurance on them.

6. **Hand the file to your CPA practice**: We organize the trial balance, schedules and job files in the order the practice requests. You engage the practice directly.

7. **CPA signs, you submit**: The independent practice signs its own report. You send it and the WIP schedule to your agent.

## Common problems we fix

| The problem | How we fix it |
| --- | --- |
| A WIP schedule built in a spreadsheet that no longer matches the ledger | We rebuild it from the job cost ledger every month and tie its totals back to the general ledger. |
| Estimates to complete that nobody updates | We ask for new estimates at every month-end and flag jobs where cost to date runs ahead of percent complete. |
| Change orders and retainage posted late | Approved change orders and retainage post to the job when they arrive, so contract price on the schedule includes them. |
| Statements finished the week before the surety's deadline | Reconciliation runs monthly, so year-end is a review of balances already tied out, not a first pass. |
| The reviewing CPA is also the bookkeeper | We keep the books and refer the review to a practice that is independent of Finbryn. |

## By the numbers

| Figure | What it means | Source |
| --- | --- | --- |
| 2024-11-21 | effective date of SBA SOP 50 45 4, which sets the year-end statement level by contract size in the SBA surety bond program | [legacy.sba.gov/sites/default/files/2025-01/SOP%2050%2045%204%20%28Final-508%29.pdf](https://legacy.sba.gov/sites/default/files/2025-01/SOP%2050%2045%204%20%28Final-508%29.pdf) (2026-10-19) |
| 8 columns | per job on SBA Form 994F, Schedule of Work in Process (9/22 edition) | [legacy.sba.gov/sites/default/files/2023-01/SBAForm994F.pdf](https://legacy.sba.gov/sites/default/files/2023-01/SBAForm994F.pdf) (2026-10-19) |
| 90 days | after the WIP on file, when SBA's rules call for a new WIP schedule with an application | [legacy.sba.gov/sites/default/files/2025-01/SOP%2050%2045%204%20%28Final-508%29.pdf](https://legacy.sba.gov/sites/default/files/2025-01/SOP%2050%2045%204%20%28Final-508%29.pdf) (2026-10-19) |
| FAC 2026-01 | FAR 28.102-1 requires performance and payment bonds on federal construction contracts above $150,000; effective 2026-03-13 | [acquisition.gov/far/28.102-1](https://www.acquisition.gov/far/28.102-1) (2026-10-19) |

Pricing: Quoted per engagement once we have seen your ledger and your surety's written request. The CPA practice you engage sets its own fee under its own engagement letter. ([See pricing](https://finbryn.com/us/pricing))

## Glossary

- **WIP schedule**: A list of every open job with contract price, billings, cost to date and estimated cost to complete. SBA's form for it is Form 994F.

- **Percentage of completion**: A way to measure progress on a job, often costs incurred divided by total expected costs. ASC 606 calls it an input method.

- **Estimate to complete**: Your project manager's current estimate of the cost still to be spent on an open job.

- **Over-billing and under-billing**: Billings above earned revenue (cash collected ahead of the work) or below it (work done ahead of the invoices).

- **Backlog**: Contract price less earned revenue: the revenue still to be earned on open jobs.

- **In-House Plus**: SBA's name for a high-quality computer-generated statement with aged receivable and payable schedules, the current portion of long-term debt and a correctly structured balance sheet.

- **Compilation and review**: Engagements under the AICPA's SSARS that only a licensed CPA practice may offer. The practice, not Finbryn, signs the report.

## Frequently asked questions: Contractor statements and WIP schedules for your surety and CPA

**Q: My bonding agent says I need CPA-reviewed financials. How much will that cost and how long does it take?**

A: The CPA practice you engage sets its own fee and timetable under its own engagement letter, and Finbryn cannot quote either, so ask two practices for written quotes. What you control is the preparation: a ledger reconciled each month and a current WIP schedule. SBA SOP 50 45 4 (effective 2024-11-21) requires CPA-reviewed year-end statements for contracts above its CPA-compiled tier.

**Q: Can I get bonded with tax returns and an internal balance sheet?**

A: Sometimes, for smaller contracts, and the decision belongs to your surety. In SBA's program an internally prepared statement is the lowest tier it accepts, and tax returns may stand in for year-end statements but not for a current statement needed for working capital (SOP 50 45 4, read 2026-10-19). The required level rises with contract size. We do not place bonds or predict a surety's answer.

**Q: Why does a contractor need percentage-of-completion accounting for bonding?**

A: Because the WIP schedule a surety reads shows earned revenue and billing position job by job, and those come from a measure of progress. ASC 606 (ASU 2014-09, opened 2026-10-19) measures progress toward completion, and a cost-based input method compares costs incurred with total expected costs. That needs a current estimate to complete on every open job.

**Q: What is a WIP schedule and what does the surety look at in it?**

A: A WIP schedule lists every open job with contract price, billings, cost to date and estimated cost to complete. SBA's Form 994F (9/22 edition, read 2026-10-19) asks for those columns on all jobs, bonded and unbonded, to spot over-extension. Your surety may add columns of its own.

**Q: How old can my interim statements be for a surety (90 days)?**

A: Your surety sets its own limit, so ask for it in writing. SBA's rules, read in SOP 50 45 4 on 2026-10-19, call for a new WIP schedule when an application falls more than 90 days after the WIP on file, accept statements entered within 120 days of the statement date, and want a six-month interim from year-end.

**Q: My bookkeeper keeps my job costing. Can the same CPA practice then review my statements for the surety?**

A: Sometimes, if the bookkeeper is the CPA practice and applies the AICPA's safeguards, such as management approving account classifications (ET 1.295.120, Code updated through July 2026). If Finbryn keeps your books, we refer your audit to an independent CPA practice and hold a review or compilation of those books to the same rule. Finbryn receives no fee or commission tied to any audit.

**Q: Will a reviewed statement lower my surety bond rate compared with no CPA statement?**

A: We cannot say, and no one outside your surety can promise it. The surety prices the bond and decides how much weight a CPA statement carries; Finbryn does not sell, place or price bonds. In SBA's program (SOP 50 45 4, read 2026-10-19) the required statement level rises with contract size, so ask your agent how your surety treats a reviewed statement.

Related services:
- [Insurance premium audit support (workers' comp and general liability)](https://finbryn.com/us/services/audit-compliance-support/insurance-premium-audit-support)
- [Audit-ready books](https://finbryn.com/us/services/audit-compliance-support/audit-ready-books)
- [PBC list management](https://finbryn.com/us/services/audit-compliance-support/pbc-lists)
- [Working paper preparation](https://finbryn.com/us/services/audit-compliance-support/working-papers)
- [Cost and project accounting](https://finbryn.com/us/services/accounting-services/cost-project-accounting)
- [Financial statement preparation](https://finbryn.com/us/services/accounting-services/financial-statement-preparation)
- [Year-end close and CPA handoff pack](https://finbryn.com/us/services/accounting-services/year-end-close-cpa-handoff-pack)
- [Revenue recognition (ASC 606 / IFRS 15)](https://finbryn.com/us/services/month-end-close-reporting/revenue-recognition-asc-606-ifrs-15)
- [Lender covenant reporting](https://finbryn.com/us/services/virtual-cfo-advisory/lender-covenant-reporting)

Industries:
- [Construction and job costing](https://finbryn.com/us/industries/construction-job-costing)

Related guides:
- [Audit vs Review vs Compilation: Which Level Do You Need?](https://finbryn.com/us/guides/audit-vs-review-vs-compilation)
- [How Much Does an Audit Cost for a Small Company in 2026?](https://finbryn.com/us/guides/audit-review-compilation-cost)
- [Can an Audit Firm Prepare Financial Statements It Audits?](https://finbryn.com/us/guides/can-my-bookkeeper-also-be-my-auditor)

## Sources

1. [SBA, SOP 50 45 4, surety bond program procedures (effective 2024-11-21)](https://legacy.sba.gov/sites/default/files/2025-01/SOP%2050%2045%204%20%28Final-508%29.pdf) (2026-10-19)
2. [SBA, Form 994F, Schedule of Work in Process (9/22 edition)](https://legacy.sba.gov/sites/default/files/2023-01/SBAForm994F.pdf) (2026-10-19)
3. [FASB, ASU 2014-09, Revenue from Contracts with Customers (Topic 606), Section A](https://storage.fasb.org/ASU%202014-09_Section%20A.pdf) (2026-10-19)
4. [FAR 28.102-1, Bonds (FAC 2026-01, effective 2026-03-13)](https://www.acquisition.gov/far/28.102-1) (2026-10-19)
5. [AICPA Code of Professional Conduct, updated for releases through July 2026 (Minnesota Board of Accountancy copy)](https://mn.gov/boa/assets/AICPA%20Code%20of%20Professional%20Conduct_tcm1233-764395.pdf) (2026-10-19)
6. [NASBA, Uniform Accountancy Act, 8th edition (January 2018)](https://nasba.org/app/uploads/2019/12/UAA12.19.19withNewCPEStandardsFINALwithoutlogos.pdf) (2026-10-19)

Reviewed October 2026

[All services in Audit and compliance support](https://finbryn.com/us/services/audit-compliance-support)

## Contact
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- Email: hello@finbryn.com
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