Flippers - How are you guys tracking project spend and projected profit?

[Ryan Flanagan]

Curious how you guys are actually tracking project spend once a flip or rehab is underway.

Not necessarily asking about underwriting upfront — more the real-world execution side once money starts moving. Contractor draws, material runs, change orders, carrying costs, partial invoices, reimbursements, etc.

Are most people still basically managing this through spreadsheets and bank balances? Or are people using something more structured that they actually like?

I’ve done enough projects at this point to feel like there’s often a gap between what a project looked like financially on paper
and what was actually happening -  especially once timelines slip or scopes evolve.

Mostly just curious where you guys feel the friction and what systems you like.

[Cezar D.]

Quote from @Ryan Flanagan:

Curious how you guys are actually tracking project spend once a flip or rehab is underway.

Not necessarily asking about underwriting upfront — more the real-world execution side once money starts moving. Contractor draws, material runs, change orders, carrying costs, partial invoices, reimbursements, etc.

Are most people still basically managing this through spreadsheets and bank balances? Or are people using something more structured that they actually like?

I’ve done enough projects at this point to feel like there’s often a gap between what a project looked like financially on paper
and what was actually happening -  especially once timelines slip or scopes evolve.

Mostly just curious where you guys feel the friction and what systems you like.

Good question, and you're not alone — most of us start on a spreadsheet and realize the real problem isn't tracking what we spent, it's tracking what we've committed to spend but haven't paid yet.

Here's how to do it in spreadsheets

Set up a budget sheet with these columns per line item:

1. Budget — what you planned to spend on that line
2. Committed — POs signed, contracts inked, vendor quotes accepted (money owed but not yet paid)
3. Paid — actual invoices/receipts that have cleared
4. Remaining — Budget − Paid − Committed
5. Forecast at Completion — Paid + Committed + (any line items not yet quoted) — formula: =SUM(Paid_col) + SUM(Committed_col) + SUM(Uncommitted_budget_col)

Above the table, a small summary block:

• Loan balance (manual update weekly from your lender portal)
• Total committed (auto-sum)
• Total paid (auto-sum)
• Forecast at completion (auto-sum)
• Budget vs. Forecast variance (the number that tells you if you're going to be over)

The trick most folks miss: log committed costs the same day you sign the PO, not when the invoice arrives. Most spreadsheets only track Paid, so the overrun is invisible until the bills hit. Once Committed is in there, your Forecast at Completion is honest 4–6 weeks earlier than your bank balance is.

A few sheet tips that saved me hours:

• Conditional formatting: turn "Remaining" red when it goes negative
• Separate tab for change orders, each one pulling from contingency (so you can see contingency depleting in real time)
• Vendor tab with running totals —

Got tired of rebuilding this for every project (and the formulas breaking when a new line item got added mid-build), so I ended up making an app for myself called TerraLine that bakes the same workflow in — committed vs. paid, forecast at completion pinned to every screen, mobile receipt capture link the GC uses without a login.