Film Accounting Glossary
Estimated final cost
What is estimated final cost?
Also called EFC, or final cost estimate.
Estimated final cost (EFC) is what the picture is now projected to cost in total: actuals to date, plus open commitments, plus the estimate to complete.
EFC compared against the approved budget produces the headline variance that everyone reads first. Because it is a forecast rather than a fact, the credibility of the whole cost report rests on how honestly the estimate to complete behind it was built.
Example
Actuals $4.1M, open commitments $380,000, estimate to complete $3.6M. EFC is $8.08M against an approved budget of $8.4M, so the picture reports $320,000 favorable. Change the ETC by 10% and that swings to $40,000 over.
Figures are illustrative, chosen to show the mechanics rather than to quote market rates.
Where you'll see it
The headline figure of the cost report, and the number the studio, financier, and guarantor read before anything else.
Common mistake
Treating EFC as a fact rather than a forecast. It is only as reliable as the estimate to complete inside it, which is a judgment made weekly.
Related questions
- How is estimated final cost calculated?
- Actuals to date, plus open commitments, plus the estimate to complete. Compared against the approved budget, it produces the headline variance.
- Why does EFC change week to week?
- Because the estimate to complete moves as the schedule, scope, and known overages change. A stable EFC on a moving picture usually means nobody reforecast.