Film Accounting Glossary
Overage
What is an overage?
Also called overspend, or cost overrun.
An overage is spending above the approved amount on a line, department, or the picture as a whole.
Small overages are routine and are offset by savings elsewhere; the discipline is that each one is identified, explained, and either covered by a transfer from another line or charged to contingency. Overages that are absorbed silently are how a production discovers a seven-figure problem in the last two weeks of the shoot.
Example
Construction comes in $46,000 over. The disciplined version is a documented reallocation from a $60,000 saving in set dressing, approved and noted. The undisciplined version is silence, and finding six of them stacked up in the final fortnight.
Figures are illustrative, chosen to show the mechanics rather than to quote market rates.
Where you'll see it
Identified per line in the cost report, then covered by reallocation or a contingency draw, each of which leaves a paper trail.
Common mistake
Absorbing overages quietly and hoping later savings cover them. They stack up invisibly and surface together in the last fortnight, when nothing can be done.
Related questions
- How are overages covered on a production?
- By a documented reallocation from an identified saving, or by a contingency draw, both of which normally need approval above an agreed threshold.
- Are small overages normal on a film?
- Yes, on individual lines. What matters is that each is identified and explained rather than absorbed, so the picture's real position stays visible.