Having a strong job backlog feels like peace of mind — until it isn’t. When you look closer, some backlogs are full of underpriced, underbid, or unprofitable jobs. These jobs may be locking up your team for weeks or months with minimal (or even negative) return.

Not all booked work is good work. A bloated backlog of bad jobs can kill your margins and cash flow, especially if prices or costs have changed since the estimate was accepted.

Ask yourself:

• Are all your backlog jobs priced at profitable gross margins?
• Have material or labor costs changed since you estimated the work?
• Are you prioritizing jobs based on profitability or just order of signing?

Real World Mistake & Lesson: A roofing contractor I worked with had 12 weeks of solid backlog, but profits were disappearing. When we looked closely, he’d booked several jobs at pre-inflation pricing but was now paying 20–30% more for materials and labor. Because he didn’t reprice or renegotiate, he ended up breaking even or worse on those jobs.

We worked on backlog triage — identifying low-margin jobs, renegotiating where possible, and reordering the schedule to knock out high-profit jobs first. Within 30 days, cash flow improved and team morale got a boost.

 Pick up your free copy of my new book, “The 7 Minute Conversation-How to Hear the Story Your Small Business Financial Statements Are Telling You-CONTRACTOR EDITION”.  Go to www.7MinuteConversationBook.com

Ready to find out where your cash and profits are really going? Book your free 15-minute Profit and Cash Flow Call with me. No pressure. Just real clarity. I’ll help you see where your money’s hiding — and what to do about it. Schedule at www.CashFlowCallWithLarry.com