What is Bookings?
Also known as: Contract bookings, new bookings
Bookings are the total contract value signed in a period. Unlike MRR (which recognizes monthly), bookings count the full dollar commitment upfront — including multi-year contracts at their full value.
What is Bookings?
Bookings represent the dollar value of contracts your sales team closed in a period. Annual contracts count their full annual value; multi-year deals count all years; one-time fees and ramps are included. It is the sales team's scoreboard.
How to calculate Bookings
Bookings = sum of (TCV) for every contract signed in the period.
For a single-year, $48k contract signed in Q2: Q2 bookings += $48k. For a 3-year, $150k contract signed in Q2: Q2 bookings += $150k.
Bookings vs MRR vs Revenue
Bookings = commitment (signed). MRR/ARR = recurring run-rate (snapshot). Revenue = recognized (earned per accounting rules). Four different numbers; four different stories. Don't confuse them in a board pack.
Why it matters
Bookings is the leading indicator of revenue. A drop in bookings shows up in MRR several months later. Sales quotas, commissions, and pipeline coverage are almost always denominated in bookings — so it is the metric that drives sales-team behavior.