My sales manager informs me that after doing some number crunching, it appears that the business status bookings value includes shipping.  There has been an on-going issue with the sales figures being incorrect, as if some figures are being carried over from the previous month.

But should shipping be included?

Wait - by Shipping, you mean freight charges, not orders that have shipped? No, it does not unless you are using an actual line item on the order for shipping.