For upmarket contractors, June isn’t just the halfway mark of the calendar year—it’s the most strategic time to pause, assess, and course-correct. With the Q4 crunch just around the corner and 2025 goals looming large, now is the moment to evaluate your backlog, bid activity, and margin performance. The good news? You don’t need to fly blind. STACK offers the real-time insights and tools you need to finish the year strong.
Why a Mid-Year Review Matters
The construction industry moves fast, and staying profitable means being proactive. Mid-year is the perfect opportunity to:
- Reassess your project backlog: Are you set up with the right mix of work to carry you through Q4?
- Examine bidding velocity: Are your estimators overwhelmed? Are bids going out too slowly or too inaccurately?
- Evaluate margin health: Are you trending toward profitability or unknowingly stacking your pipeline with low-margin jobs?
According to Deloitte’s 2024 Engineering & Construction Industry Outlook, 42% of contractors say delayed projects and inefficient bidding processes are cutting into profit margins. Mid-year check-ins help mitigate that.
Pipeline Health Check: Are You Chasing the Right Work?
A healthy pipeline is full of winnable, profitable work. Here’s what top contractors assess in a mid-year pipeline audit:
- Win rates by project type or region
- Win/loss reasons tied to estimating accuracy or bid speed
- Average gross margin by bid
- Forecasted revenue versus actual earned revenue to date
If your team is spending too much time chasing the wrong jobs—or worse, underbidding just to win—your Q4 margins are already in jeopardy.
Preconstruction Bottlenecks Are Costing You
Outdated estimating and takeoff processes erode your profits. According to a McKinsey study on construction productivity, inefficiencies in preconstruction are responsible for up to 30% of project cost overruns.
Common symptoms:
- Estimators re-creating the same takeoffs by hand
- Inconsistent costs across projects
- No central source of truth for bid status or historical performance
The Risks of a “Bad Backlog”
Heading into Q4 with a fragile backlog or overbooked teams is a recipe for missed revenue goals. A KPMG Global Construction Survey found that 61% of firms lack confidence in their ability to forecast revenue within a 10% margin of error. That’s a huge risk when the stakes are this high.
Start by reviewing:
- Capacity versus committed work
- Revenue forecast accuracy for remaining quarters
- Labor availability and skill gaps
- Jobs that may need to be repriced or renegotiated due to inflation or material delays
Mid-Year Reality Check: Is Your Whole Team Aligned?
You can’t afford to treat preconstruction and field execution as separate workflows. STACK connects both—so what gets estimated, actually gets built as planned. With unified data, you can:
- Compare planned vs. actual labor and material use
- Identify where productivity is lagging
- Document and address field issues before they escalate
- Keep every stakeholder aligned and accountable
Whether you’re racing to hit revenue targets or trying to protect margins through year-end, STACK’s unified platform gives you the clarity to make fast, informed decisions.
How STACK Helps Contractors Get Back on Track
STACK’s cloud-based platform equips contractors with the tools to reassess, realign, and accelerate performance—across both preconstruction and field operations.
In the Office: Takeoff & Estimating
STACK’s Takeoff & Estimating platform gives you real-time visibility into your pipeline health, margin performance, and team efficiency so you can adjust before it’s too late.
✅ AI-powered takeoffs with Floor Plan AI eliminate repetitive tasks and reduce manual errors
✅ Historical estimate tracking helps you bid smarter with real data
✅ Reporting dashboards let you monitor win rates, markup trends, and estimator productivity
✅ Items & Assemblies standardize costs and speed up estimates across project types
In the Field: Build & Operate
A strong preconstruction plan only works if it’s followed in the field. STACK’s Build & Operate platform ensures your teams stay aligned and productive once the work begins.
✅ Offline plan access ensures crews always have the latest drawings, even without LTE
✅ Live field updates, RFIs, and issue tracking keep office and field teams in sync
✅ Project performance dashboards help you assess ongoing job productivity and spot delays
✅ Photo documentation and version control protect you from disputes and rework
Ready to Finish 2025 Strong?
Let STACK help you course-correct before Q4 hits. Schedule a demo today and take control of your preconstruction performance.
