Backlog
Definition
Backlog is the total dollar value or labor hours of work that has been sold but not yet scheduled or completed.
What Backlog Means for Your Business
What it means
Backlog is the cushion between you and a slow week. It is every signed estimate, deposit, and confirmed project sitting in your pipeline waiting for a crew.
Why it matters
A healthy backlog is the single best predictor of next month's revenue. Lenders, buyers, and operators watch it closely. Too little means you are scrambling. Too much means you are losing customers to faster competitors.
How contractors use it
Shops track backlog in weeks of work. Good shops aim for 2 to 6 weeks of booked work in residential service and 8 to 16 weeks in commercial construction. They review it weekly in ops meetings.
Real-World Example
A residential plumbing company ended Q1 with $425,000 in backlog, equal to 5.8 weeks at its average weekly revenue. That gave the owner confidence to hire 2 more techs at $68,000 each.
Related Terms
Pipeline
Pipeline is the total value and count of open opportunities a contractor is actively pursuing but has not yet won or lost.
Smart Scheduling
Smart scheduling uses automation to assign jobs based on technician skill, location, parts availability, and priority instead of manual dispatcher judgment alone.
Planned Maintenance Agreement
A planned maintenance agreement is a contract where a customer pays a recurring fee in exchange for scheduled inspections and tune-ups of their equipment.
Technician Utilization Rate
Technician utilization rate is the percentage of a tech's paid hours that are actually billed to customers as productive work.
Average Ticket
Average ticket is the mean revenue generated per service call, calculated by dividing total invoiced revenue by the number of completed jobs.
Put This Into Practice with Free Software
Kaldr Tech handles backlog and everything else you need to run your shop. $0/month, 3.5% + 30¢ per transaction.