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Understanding Deferred Revenue and Its Impact on Your SaaS Business

Subscription Flow

Deferred revenue refers to the income that you have collected, but not yet earned. The GAAP (Generally Accepted Accounting Principles) issued by the FASB (Financial Accounting Standards Board), inform businesses when their revenue should be recognized. This is where the concept of deferred revenue comes in.

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Unearned Revenue: What it is and What it Means for Subscription Businesses

Stax

When can revenue NOT be counted as revenue? The concept of unearned revenue can easily trip up SaaS companies that offer subscription services and products on a recurring basis. Unlike when selling ordinary products, you cannot recognize the revenue earned from a subscription all at once.

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Managing Deferred Revenue for SaaS Companies: Best Practices for Tracking, Reporting, and Analysis

SaaS Metrics

But the revenue generated from the advance payment cannot be marked as earned — at least not until the service has been rendered. This unearned revenue is called deferred. When a customer pays for a service upfront that won’t be delivered until later in the future, the company does receive the cash.

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Understanding The Revenue Recognition Principle

Subscription Flow

Revenue recognition is a reflection of the accrual accounting principle. Accrual accounting states that revenue must be counted when it is earned, rather than when payment is received at your end. Cash is not equivalent to revenue. Revenue is earned only when a company fulfills its obligations toward its customer.

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SaaS Revenue Recognition: Demystifying The Concept of “Earned” Money

Subscription Flow

The idea that a company generates revenue at the time it receives cash is far outdated. Even more so for the businesses in the Software-as-a-Service industry. Instead, the accrual accounting principle known as “revenue recognition” is now under the spotlight. What is Revenue Recognition? But, first things first.

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What Is Unearned Revenue and How to Account for It

Baremetrics

You can often find yourself receiving money long before you provide agreed upon services or, conversely, providing services and then waiting for payment. This puts you in the position of having “unearned revenue”. Sign up for the Baremetrics free trial , and start monitoring your subscription revenue accurately and easily.

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Matching and Revenue Recognition Principles

Baremetrics

We are going to look at two of those principles here: the matching concept and the revenue recognition concept. Baremetrics is a business metrics tool that provides 26+ metrics about your business including: MRR, ARR, LTV, total customers, and more. Table of Contents. They are defined in U.S.