Fortinet (FTNT) is the security sector's clearest case study in why billings, not just revenue, drive the read on a hardware-plus-subscription vendor. The company's 10-Q filed November 7, 2025 reports that "Total billings were $1.81 billion" for the quarter — and, helpfully, the filing series defines exactly what that figure is.
Fortinet defines billings, a non-GAAP measure, as "revenue recognized in accordance with GAAP plus the change in deferred revenue" for the period. The logic: when Fortinet sells a multi-year service contract, GAAP recognizes the revenue over the contract's life, but the cash and the commitment land now and sit in deferred revenue. Adding back the change in deferred revenue reconstructs how much business was actually written in the quarter. The company says it considers billings useful "because billings drive current and future revenue."
There is a Fortinet-specific wrinkle the filings flag: backlog. The company notes that "a reduction to backlog increases our aggregate billings and revenue" in a quarter as backlog converts. For a vendor that ships physical appliances, supply timing and backlog conversion can move the billings line independent of pure demand — so the $1.81 billion is best read with the backlog commentary beside it.
This is also why management pairs billings with GAAP revenue rather than substituting for it; the fiscal 2025 10-K notes the company provides "specific information regarding GAAP revenue and evaluating billings together with GAAP revenue." The honest read uses both. Read Fortinet's 10-Q at sec.gov; surfaced via EdgarBeast, the SEC filing data API and evidence index.
The takeaway: $1.81 billion in total billings is the demand headline, but the number only means what the filing's definition says it means — GAAP revenue plus the deferred-revenue change, adjusted in the reader's head for backlog conversion. Read the definition, then read the number.