backlog 和 backorder

Backlog

Your company's backlog is the total number of the orders your customers have sent that have not yet been shipped out. Ideally, this is a large number because you have many customers who have given you orders they want shipped.

Say a customer places an order on September 1. They request that the order get shipped to them on November 1. This order becomes part of your backlog between September 1 until October 31.

Back Order

Your company's back orders are any that haven't been shipped because you're late.

Let's go back to the example above. If you don't ship that order on November 1, it becomes a back order on November 2. And it remains on your back order report until you ship it.

Interestingly, that order also remains on your backlog. So, in this case, back orders are also backlog. This can be confusing, since having a backlog can be good for business, while having back orders can be bad.

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The general rule of thumb is the bigger the backlog, the better it is for you. And having back orders isn't always good.