Estimating the current percentage of completion can be tricky business, but over the years there seems to be a pattern that has emerged in this industry. I call it the 90 Percent Complete Problem. It occurs when the project hits 90% complete, yet the project is nowhere near that close to being finished. Let's see why this happens.  In a typical software development project, the client is provided with a status report (usually every couple of weeks) which shows the client how far the project has progressed.