Change orders that keep your budget and revenue honest
Approve a change order and Fintra adds its value to the contract and its budget delta to the right cost codes - so percent complete, earned revenue, and the job-cost report all reflect the real scope.
Why change orders quietly break the books
Scope changes on almost every job. If a change order raises the contract but no one updates the budget by cost code, the job-cost report compares new spend to an old budget and every code looks over. If the contract value isn’t updated, earned revenue is computed against the wrong number. Change orders have to move both sides at once.
- A CO changes the contract value - the basis for earned revenue.
- A CO changes the budget - the target the job-cost report measures against.
- Pending COs shouldn’t inflate revenue until they are approved and signed.
How Fintra processes a change order
Pending to approved
- 1
Create the CO
Enter the change order with a contract-value delta and a budget delta per cost code; it starts in pending status.
- 2
Approve it
Approval adds the contract-value delta to the job’s contract and applies each budget delta to the cost code’s revised budget.
- 3
Everything downstream updates
Current contract value = original + approved COs, so earned revenue and the WIP schedule immediately reflect the new scope.
Pending vs approved, and why it matters
| Status | Contract value | Revised budget | Earned revenue |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pending | Unchanged | Unchanged | Unchanged |
| Approved | Increased by delta | Increased per cost code | Recomputed on next run |
An auditable scope trail
Because each approved change order records its contract and budget deltas, the difference between the original and revised budget is fully explained by signed COs. That trail is what your CPA and surety expect when they ask why a job’s contract grew.
Frequently asked questions
How are change orders accounted for in construction?
An approved change order increases (or decreases) the contract value and the corresponding cost-code budgets. That keeps percentage-of-completion revenue measured against the correct contract value and keeps the job-cost report comparing actual spend to the revised budget rather than the original estimate.
What happens when I approve a change order in Fintra?
Approval adds the change order’s contract-value delta to the job’s contract and applies its budget deltas to each affected cost code’s revised budget. The current contract value becomes original plus approved change orders, so earned revenue and the WIP schedule update on the next recognition run.
Do pending change orders affect my revenue?
No. Pending change orders are tracked but excluded from contract value and revenue until they are approved. This prevents recognizing revenue on scope changes that haven’t been signed off, which is exactly what auditors look for.
Can I see how much of my budget came from change orders?
Yes. The job-cost report shows the original budget, the sum of approved change orders, and the resulting revised budget per cost code - so the growth in any code’s budget is fully traceable to signed COs.
Stay in the loop
One practical finance briefing a week - new guides, checklists, and benchmarks.
Keep scope and budget in lockstep
Start free, no card required. Approve a change order and watch the budget and contract update together.
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