HVAC contractors do not realize this until it’s too late Pending Change Orders ≠ Revenue. Only Approved COs should hit your contract value and billing. Quick example from a sample job I work on: Original contract: $120,000 Pending COs: $18,500 Approved COs: $7,200 ==== Revised contract value today = $120,000 + $7,200 = $127,200 Not $138,500. The $18,500 is still pending – you can’t reliably bill or count on it yet. Where contractors get hurt: Treating pending COs like cash in their head Not tracking CO status by job Billing as if everything is approved, then wondering why AR is messy Simple fix in your books Give each CO a number: CO-001, CO-002.. Track status: Pending / Approved / Rejected Update contract value only when CO is approved Adjust progress billing off the approved total, not the hopeful total. If your WIP or job reports don’t separate Approved CO vs Pending CO, your profitability view is lying to you. HVAC/MEP owners: do you actually track CO status in QBO/your sheets, or is it all in WhatsApp and email?