Budget

Estimated Final Cost

Also called EFC

What is estimated final cost in film production?

Estimated Final Cost is the projected total spend on a production, calculated as costs already incurred plus open commitments plus the estimated cost of the work remaining. It is the number a cost report is read for, because it is the only one that says where the production ends up.

Variance is measured as budget minus EFC, never budget minus actual spend. Comparing a budget to money already spent will show a healthy position on a production that has committed itself to twice its remaining funds, because a purchase order signed today is a cost regardless of when the invoice arrives.

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Reviewed 2026-08-27

Related terms

Top sheet: A top sheet is the one-page summary at the front of a film budget, listing each account category with its total and showing the above-the-line, below-the-line and grand totals. The detail sits in the accounts behind it; the top sheet is what gets circulated.
Contingency: Contingency is a percentage of the budget held in reserve against overruns rather than allocated to any specific cost. It typically runs at around ten percent, and on financed productions its size and the conditions for drawing on it are set by the financier or completion guarantor.
Cost report: A cost report is the periodic statement, usually weekly, comparing what a production has spent and committed against what it budgeted, account by account. It carries the Estimated Final Cost and the variance, and it is the document a financier or guarantor monitors the production through.