CONSTRUCTION BACKLOG MANAGEMENT.
Backlog is remaining contract value on signed work you haven't built yet. For most commercial subcontractors, 3 to 6 months of backlog is a healthy range: under 2 months means revenue uncertainty and pressure to bid anything, and over 9 months means crew strain, working capital pressure, and bonding constraints. Sureties also watch the ratio of backlog to working capital, and above 10:1 they start to get nervous.
Backlog is the one number that ties your bid decisions to your bank account, and most subcontractors carry only a rough feel for it. Ask an owner what his backlog is and you'll usually hear a number of months rather than a dollar figure. That's the problem, because the surety, the bank, and the cash forecast all work off the dollar figure. When you know the number to the dollar every month, deciding whether to chase the next job stops being a mood and starts being arithmetic.
WHAT IT MEANS.
Backlog is how much work you have under contract that hasn't been completed yet, measured as remaining contract value rather than months of work.
Too little backlog and revenue is uncertain. Too much backlog and cash flow, bonding capacity, and crew management all strain at the same time. Managing backlog deliberately, which means knowing your ideal range and making bid decisions against it, is one of the most important financial disciplines in construction.
WHERE BACKLOG TURNS ON YOU.
You don't know what your backlog is right now
Most subcontractors can describe their backlog loosely, something like we have about 6 months of work. Very few can give a firm dollar amount of remaining contract value on active and signed projects. Without that number, bid decisions get made on feel instead of financial analysis.
You're bidding when you shouldn't be
Taking on too much work at once strains working capital, crew capacity, and management bandwidth. Every project gets less attention and quality suffers. Cash flow from several simultaneous mobilizations strains even healthy businesses. Knowing when to slow down bidding based on backlog position counts as much as knowing when to chase work hard.
Your backlog affects your bonding program
Sureties look at backlog when they evaluate a bonding request, and what they look at is the relationship between backlog and working capital. A large backlog against thin working capital can cap your bonding capacity even when the individual project numbers look fine. Managing backlog to support the bonding program starts with knowing the number to the dollar.
WHAT IT LOOKS LIKE IN DOLLARS.
A backlog-to-working-capital ratio above 10:1 starts to raise surety concerns. A contractor with $300K of working capital and $5M of backlog is operating at 16:1, which most sureties consider strained. That contractor isn't in trouble because the work is bad, he is in trouble because the balance sheet is too small for the book of work he signed.
For most commercial subcontractors, 3 to 6 months of backlog is a healthy range. Under 2 months means revenue uncertainty and aggressive bidding pressure. Over 9 months means crew strain, working capital pressure, and bonding constraints. The right number inside that range depends on your trade, your typical project duration, and your working capital position.
HOW THE NUMBER GETS MANAGED.
Backlog equals total remaining contract value on all signed contracts: original contract value plus approved change orders, minus revenue recognized to date. That number lives in your WIP schedule. We calculate and report backlog monthly for all clients as part of the WIP process. Executive clients see backlog position next to their monthly cash flow forecast so the two get managed together.
We track your backlog against the 3 to 6 month healthy range every month, and against your own working capital rather than a generic benchmark. A contractor running heavy iron on 8 month jobs carries a different healthy range than a service electrician turning work in three weeks. The range gets set from your trade, your project duration, and your balance sheet, then reported against every month.
Executive clients get backlog position as part of every pre-bid financial analysis: current backlog, projected cash flow impact of the new project, working capital requirement, and bonding capacity impact. The bid decision gets a financial footing instead of a gut call. Taking work that pushes backlog to 10 months when your working capital supports 6 months creates financial stress that surfaces 4 to 6 months later.
FLAT MONTHLY FEE. NO SURPRISES.
Three tiers, priced by your trailing twelve month revenue. Which one you're in depends on how much of the work you want off your desk. No hourly billing, no payroll, and no add-ons.
| Last 12 months revenue | Monthly fee |
|---|---|
| Up to $1M | $1,900 to $2,900 |
| $1M to $3.5M | $2,600 to $3,900 |
| $3.5M to $6.5M | $3,800 to $5,700 |
| $6.5M to $9.5M | $5,100 to $7,100 |
| $9.5M to $12.5M | $6,100 to $8,500 |
| $12.5M to $15.5M | $7,400 to $11,000 |
| $15.5M to $18.5M | $9,400 to $13,500 |
| $18.5M+ | Quoted individually |
Range reflects the three tiers below. Which one you're in depends on how much of the work you want off your desk. No payroll. No hidden line items.
You stop guessing.
You get the CFO work. Job costing built against the way you estimate, a 13 week cash forecast, monthly WIP, and a meeting every month that ends in decisions rather than a report.
Your bookkeeper keeps doing the books.
You stop touching the books.
Everything in Core, and we run the bookkeeping and the controllership as well. Nobody in your office is answering coding questions or chasing a reconciliation at month end.
We do the books. No payroll.
Every job shows its margin while it's still running.
Everything in Executive, plus the job costing and WIP platform set up, loaded with your cost codes, and managed for you every month. You never have to learn it.
We do the job costing.
FREQUENTLY ASKED.
