Film Accounting Glossary
Wrap costs
What are wrap costs?
Also called wrap, or close-down costs.
Wrap costs are everything spent after the last shooting day to close the production down: returning equipment and vehicles, striking sets, clearing locations, restoring damage, storage, final payroll and fringes, and the accounting staff who stay on to close the books.
They are consistently underbudgeted because they generate no footage and feel like the job is already done. The accounting department is customarily the last department on the show, often by months.
Example
After the last shot: returning 22 vehicles and the camera package, striking sets, restoring two locations, storage, final payroll and fringes, and the accounting staff who stay on for eight more weeks to close the books. None of it generates footage, all of it is real.
Figures are illustrative, chosen to show the mechanics rather than to quote market rates.
Where you'll see it
Its own budget section, consistently underbudgeted. Accounting is customarily the last department on the show, often by months.
Common mistake
Budgeting wrap as an afterthought because the creative work is done. Returns, restoration, final fringes, and the accounting close are all real and all late.
Related questions
- What are wrap costs on a film?
- Returning equipment and vehicles, striking sets, clearing and restoring locations, storage, final payroll and fringes, and the accounting staff closing the books.
- How long does the accounting department stay on after wrap?
- Often weeks or months, because the final cost report waits on insurance claims, union fringe audits, and the incentive audit.