The terms bookings and backlog have some similarities but differ in meaning. Bookings refer to the value of the deals agreed upon by a company and its customers. Typically, bookings represent work that the company will undertake in the future, so it’s a measure of future income. Similarly, a company’s backlog represents orders it has received but has not yet executed. However, the term implies that the company is not able to immediately start work on those orders because of some constraint, such as a lack of skilled staff or raw materials.