Backlog

Backlog represents the value of work that remains to be earned on a project — the portion of the fee not yet accounted for by completed work. It's calculated as:

Fee − Earned Value = Backlog

Both Fee and Earned Value use gross values, not net — so Backlog includes subconsultant values along with your own.

Backlog is calculated on a phase-by-phase basis, then rolled up to the project level.

The Calculation

Fee is the total contracted amount for the phase or project. Earned Value reflects how much of that fee has actually been earned so far — driven by Percent Complete on fixed fee phases, or by hours logged × billing rate on hourly phases (see Earned Value Calculation for details on how Earned Value is populated).

Subtracting Earned Value from Fee leaves you with Backlog — the remaining work still ahead.

Backlog vs. WIP

Backlog and WIP both start from Earned Value, but answer different questions:

• WIP = Earned Value − Fees Billed. This tells you how much completed work hasn't been billed yet.
• Backlog = Fee − Earned Value. This tells you how much work hasn't been completed yet.

In other words, WIP looks at the gap between work done and work billed, while Backlog looks at the gap between the total contracted fee and work done. Together, they give you a full picture of a project's remaining lifecycle: how much is left to earn, and of what's already earned, how much is left to bill.

Why It Matters

Rolled up across all of your active projects, Backlog gives you visibility into how much contracted work your firm still has ahead of it — useful for staffing decisions, capacity planning, and understanding how much runway your current project load provides.

Best Practice

Keep Percent Complete current on fixed fee phases, since it directly drives Earned Value — and therefore Backlog — for that work. An outdated Percent Complete will overstate Backlog even if the work is substantially further along than reflected.

Summary

Backlog is calculated as Fee minus Earned Value, using gross values on a phase-by-phase basis, so it includes subconsultant amounts. It represents work remaining to be earned, distinct from WIP, which represents earned work remaining to be billed.