How a Fractional CFO Turns Your Backlog Into a Forecasting Superpower

Keep a clear view of confirmed work—and turn it into strategic insight.

Author

Luke Templin
April 30, 2025

The Mind 🧠 of a CFO

Read time: 2:01 minutes

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If you’ve ever wondered how some businesses seem to know exactly when to hire, scale back, or chase new deals more aggressively—it’s not luck. It’s strategy. And one of the simplest, most powerful tools behind that strategy? A backlog review.

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At first glance, your backlog—signed contracts, confirmed customer orders, booked projects— looks like a list. But for a fractional CFO, it’s a window into your financial future.

From Booked Deals to Better Decisions

Here’s the truth: entrepreneurs often underestimate the value of a clean, up-to-date backlog. But when you review it regularly—semi-monthly or monthly —it becomes one of your most dependable forecasting tools.

I walk my fractional CFO clients through a 30-minute review of a simple spreadsheet. Nothing fancy. We track the expected revenue from each confirmed project by month. From there, two things happen:

You Get Clear, Forward-Looking Insight

Let’s say you’ve got ten projects going live in May. That’s not just good news—it’s a signal. It tells you you’ll need extra support that month. Maybe even an additional hire. With this level of visibility, you’re not reacting—you’re planning.

A robust backlog makes your cash flow forecast more accurate, which helps you make better strategic decisions. During slow months, you can get aggressive on pricing to win more work. During peak periods, you can protect margins without overloading your team.

You Catch What Others Miss

Here’s the bonus benefit no one mentions: backlog reviews catch mistakes.

I’ve seen it more times than I can count—revenue that should’ve been invoiced but somehow slipped through the cracks. Maybe the deal was closed but never entered into the accounting software. Perhaps someone forgot to follow up. Reviewing the backlog acts as a second set of eyes. It’s one of the easiest ways to plug revenue leaks.

Before each review, my team scans the books for missing invoices. We fix what’s missing before it becomes a cash flow problem.

Why This Matters for Founders and CEOs

Most entrepreneurs are moving fast—too fast to catch every detail. That’s where a fractional CFO brings serious value. We don’t just look at the numbers. We help you read the story the numbers are telling and use it to drive smarter decisions.

A good backlog review isn’t about tracking what’s happened. It’s about predicting what’s next.

Bottom Line:

If you’re not reviewing your backlog every month, you’re missing out on one of the clearest, most actionable indicators of future cash flow. Set aside 30 minutes. Track what’s booked. Watch what it does to your confidence—and your forecast.

Thanks for reading, Luke Templin!

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