Film Accounting Glossary
Estimate to complete
What is the estimate to complete?
Also called ETC, or estimate to completion.
The estimate to complete (ETC) is the forecast of remaining spend from the cut-off date through delivery, built department by department rather than derived by subtracting actuals from budget.
Added to actuals and commitments, it produces the estimated final cost. The ETC is where a production accountant's judgment matters most, because it is the only forward-looking number in the cost report.
Example
At the week-five cut-off, construction estimates $210,000 left, transportation $96,000, camera $34,000, and post $480,000. Those department numbers, summed, are the ETC. Deriving it as budget minus actuals would have produced $640,000 and hidden a $180,000 problem.
Figures are illustrative, chosen to show the mechanics rather than to quote market rates.
Where you'll see it
Rebuilt weekly from department head input, and the only forward-looking column in the cost report.
Common mistake
Building it from the budget rather than from the departments. Every known problem the crew has already flagged is absent from a subtracted number.
Related questions
- Who provides the estimate to complete?
- The department heads, each estimating their remaining work against the current schedule, which the accountant consolidates into the cost report.
- How is the estimate to complete different from estimated final cost?
- The estimate to complete is only the remaining spend. Add actuals and open commitments to it and you get the estimated final cost.