Revenue Recognition

Revenue recognition shows the revenue you have earned in a month, not only the cash you collected. Under ASC 606 and IFRS 15, a subscription payment is earned gradually over the period it pays for. The report spreads every settled payment over its service period, keeps the unearned part as deferred revenue, and gives you the journal entries to post at month end. Open it in Dashboard → Reporting → Revenue recognition. All figures are in USD, by calendar month in UTC.

Why use it

Close the month on an accrual basis — see revenue earned in the month next to cash collected, with the difference explained.
Carry a deferred revenue balance — know how much collected cash is still owed as service, and when it will be earned.
Post summary journal entries — export one line per account pair per month instead of translating the summary by hand.
Explain revenue by plan — see which plans and billing periods drive booked, recognized, and deferred revenue.
Trace a figure to its payments — open the list of payments behind a cash, tax, receivable, booking, or pending figure.

How revenue is recognized

Every figure in the report follows these rules.

Only settled payments count. A payment enters the report when the processor settles it. Declined, failed, cancelled, and still-pending payments are excluded.
A payment is booked in the month it was authorized. Authorization is when the customer’s charge is approved and access begins. Until the funds settle, the amount is a receivable from the processor.
The service period starts on the authorization day and runs for the billing period of the subscription on the payment. A trial payment covers its trial period. A payment without a subscription period is a one-time purchase and is recognized in full on the authorization day.
Revenue is spread evenly per day over the service period and allocated to calendar months. Amounts are rounded to whole cents so the months of one payment always sum to the payment.
Tax is not revenue. Collected tax is shown separately as a liability. Tax returned to customers reduces that liability.
A refund reverses revenue from the refund date. The share already recognized becomes contra revenue in the refund month. The share not yet recognized is removed from deferred revenue in the same month.
Cash figures use the settlement date for payments and the refund date for refunds. The cash view shows what the processor settled in the month, including tax, less refunds issued in the month.

The report books no estimate for future refunds. Whether to record a refund reserve is your accounting policy.

Worked example

A customer pays $29.99 for a 28-day plan on 20 August. The processor settles the payment on 22 August.


Service period	20 August to 16 September, 28 days
Revenue per day	$29.99 ÷ 28 = $1.071
August revenue	12 days = $12.85
September revenue	16 days = $17.14
Deferred revenue at 31 August	$17.14

On the cash basis, August shows $29.99 collected and September shows nothing. On the accrual basis, August earns $12.85 and September earns $17.14. If the customer is refunded on 1 September, recognition stops on that day. August keeps its $12.85. September shows refunds of $12.85, reversing the revenue already earned, and credits issued of $17.14, clearing the deferred balance. Together they reverse the full $29.99.

Period summary

The Period summary shows one month as a statement. Pick the month and the basis in the card title. The default is the last closed month in the period on the accrual basis, or the current month when the period is This month. To see why net revenue differs from net cash, use Cash vs accrual.

Accrual basis rows

Row	How it is calculated	What it tells you
Revenue from billings this month	Revenue earned this month from payments booked this month	New business earned right away
Recognized revenue previously deferred	Revenue earned this month from payments booked in earlier months	Service delivered on payments booked in earlier months
Refunds	Revenue already recognized on payments refunded this month, as a negative	Earned revenue given back
Net revenue	The three rows above added together	Your accrual revenue for the month
Tax collected	Tax settled with this month’s cash	Liability to tax authorities, not revenue
Tax refunded	Tax returned to customers on refunds this month	Reduction of the tax liability
Starting balance	Deferred revenue at the start of the month	Service still owed on the 1st of the month
Deferred change from new billings	Revenue of payments booked this month, before any of it is earned	Service obligations added by this month’s bookings
Less recognized revenue	All revenue earned this month, from any booking month	Obligations fulfilled
Less credits issued	Deferred revenue removed by refunds this month	Obligations cancelled by refunds
Ending balance	Starting balance + new billings − recognized revenue − credits issued	Service still owed at month end
Processor receivable, ending balance	Payments, including tax, authorized in this month or earlier that were not yet settled at month end	Cash still owed by the processors at month end

Only payments that have since settled are included, because the report counts settled payments only. An authorization that is still unsettled today appears in the memo instead.

Cash basis rows

Row	How it is calculated	What it tells you
Cash collected	Payments settled this month, including tax	Money that reached your processor balance
Cash refunded	Refunds issued this month, including tax	Money returned to customers
Net cash	Cash collected − cash refunded	Net cash received for the month, including tax
Tax collected	Tax settled this month	Liability to tax authorities
Tax refunded	Tax returned on refunds this month	Reduction of the tax liability
Ending balance	Deferred revenue at month end	Same balance as the accrual view

Memo

The memo section at the bottom of the summary holds figures that are never part of the rows above. On the accrual basis it shows pending revenue and pending deferred; on the cash basis it shows pending cash. Pending lines cover payments that are authorized but not yet settled.

Row	How it is calculated	What it tells you
Pending revenue (in flight)	Revenue, excluding tax, of payments authorized this month that are still authorized or settling	Revenue waiting on settlement
Pending deferred (in flight)	Revenue of unsettled payments authorized this month that falls after month end	Deferred revenue waiting to be booked
Pending cash (in flight)	Gross amount of unsettled payments authorized this month	Cash expected from the processor

Use these rows to judge when a month is stable. When pending revenue for a closed month is close to zero, no material settlements are outstanding. A closed month whose pending revenue stays high points to payments stuck in authorized or settling; click the figure to see them.

Cash vs accrual

The table lists every month in the selected period, with net cash and net recognized revenue side by side and the difference between them broken down.

Column	How it is calculated	What it tells you
Cash collected	Payments settled in the month, including tax	Money received
Cash refunded	Refunds issued in the month, including tax, as a negative	Money returned
Net cash	Cash collected − cash refunded	Cash-basis result
Recognized revenue	Revenue earned in the month from all bookings	Accrual revenue before refunds
Refunds	Recognized revenue reversed by refunds in the month	Contra revenue
Net recognized revenue	Recognized revenue − refunds	Accrual-basis result
Pending revenue (in flight)	Memo, as in the Period summary; it has no total	Not booked
Accrual minus cash	Net recognized revenue − net cash	How far revenue earned is from cash collected
Released from deferred revenue	Deferred revenue starting balance − ending balance	Revenue earned from earlier payments and deferred revenue cleared by refunds, less this month’s payments deferred to later months
Change in receivable	Processor receivable ending balance − starting balance	Payments booked this month but not yet settled, less earlier payments that settled this month
Tax	Tax refunded − tax on payments booked in the month	Tax is in cash collected but never in revenue. It uses booked tax, so it can differ from Tax collected in the Period summary, which is tax settled in the month
Other	Accrual minus cash − the three columns above	Shown only when the payment data leaves a gap, such as a settled payment without a settlement date

“Accrual minus cash” is the sum of the columns after it, including Other when it appears, so you can see what drives the gap in every month:

Released from deferred revenue is positive when the deferred balance falls in the month, and negative when it grows.
Change in receivable is positive when payments booked near month end settle in the next month, and negative in the month that cash arrives.
Tax is usually negative, because cash collected includes tax and revenue does not.

Released from deferred revenue ties to the roll-forward: it equals that month’s Starting balance − Ending balance. The Total row appears when the period has two or more months and sums every month row. The current month is labeled MTD (month to date), for example Oct 2026 MTD. It is a row like the others and is part of the total. Its figures are final only after the month closes and late settlements have landed. The roll-forward, the Period summary, Revenue by plan and the waterfall label it MTD too. See Month to date.

Revenue waterfall

The waterfall shows, for revenue booked in each month, how much was earned in every later month.

Column	How it is calculated	What it tells you
Booked month	Month of authorization	The cohort of payments
Total	Revenue booked in that month, net of tax	The cohort’s value
Month columns	Revenue from the cohort earned in each month	The recognition schedule
Recognized	Sum of the month columns inside the selected period	Earned so far
Remaining	Revenue from the cohort still deferred at the end of the last month in the period, or at the end of today when that month is MTD	Still to be earned

For a cohort without refunds, Recognized + Remaining = Total. Refunds reduce the month columns of the refunded payments, so for a cohort with refunds the difference to Total equals its credits issued. The Total row appears when the period has two or more booked months.

Deferred revenue roll-forward

The roll-forward shows the movement of the deferred revenue balance month by month.

Column	How it is calculated	What it tells you
Starting balance	Previous month’s ending balance	Opening obligation
Deferred change from new billings	Revenue of payments booked in the month	Added obligation
Less recognized revenue	Revenue earned in the month	Fulfilled obligation
Less credits issued	Deferred revenue removed by refunds	Cancelled obligation
Ending balance	Starting + new billings − recognized − credits	Closing obligation
Receivable starting balance	Previous month’s receivable ending balance	Cash still owed by the processors at the start of the month
Booked, including tax	Payments booked in the month, including tax	Added to the receivable
Settled	Payments the processors settled in the month, as a negative	Cleared from the receivable; matches Cash collected unless a settled payment has no settlement date
Receivable ending balance	Starting + booked − settled	Payments authorized in this month, or an earlier month, that were not yet settled at month end
Pending deferred (in flight)	Memo, as in the Period summary	Not booked

The processor receivable rolls forward the same way as deferred revenue, so both balance sheet accounts the report keeps are visible from start to end of each month. For the MTD month, month end is the end of today (UTC).

Future unwind of ending balance

Next to the Period summary, Future unwind of ending balance lists, month by month, when the deferred revenue ending balance of the last month in the period will be earned. That is the period’s last month, which can differ from the month picked in the Period summary. It stops when the balance reaches zero. When the last month is MTD, the unwind starts with the rest of that month. The roll-forward’s CSV export includes it as well.

Revenue by plan

Pick the month in the card title and choose to group by plan or by period. Grouping by period combines all plans with the same billing period, such as every 28-day plan.

Column	How it is calculated	What it tells you
Plan or Period	The subscription plan on the payment, or its billing period	Which product earned the revenue
Revenue booked	Revenue booked in the month for this plan, net of tax	New business by plan
Recognized revenue	Revenue earned in the month for this plan	Service delivered by plan
Refunds	Contra revenue in the month for this plan	Refund exposure by plan
Net recognized revenue	Recognized revenue − refunds	Accrual revenue by plan
Ending balance	Deferred revenue at month end for this plan	Obligation by plan

Payments without a subscription plan are grouped as One-time payments. The Total row matches the accrual Period summary of the same month: Revenue booked equals Deferred change from new billings, Net recognized revenue equals Net revenue, and Ending balance equals Ending balance.

See the payments behind a figure

Click a figure to open the list of payments behind it. The list covers the month of the figure you clicked and is titled after it, for example Cash collected for Sep 2026.

Card	Figures that open a list
Period summary	Processor receivable, ending balance, Cash collected, Cash refunded, Pending cash (in flight), Tax collected, Tax refunded, Deferred change from new billings, and Pending revenue (in flight), for the month shown
Cash vs accrual	Cash collected, Cash refunded, and Pending revenue (in flight), on each month row, the MTD row included

Total rows and the other figures don’t open a list.

What each list contains

List	Payments listed	Each payment counts at
Processor receivable, ending balance	Settled payments authorized by the end of the month that the processor settled after month end	Payment amount, including tax
Cash collected	Settled payments with a settlement date in the month	Payment amount, including tax
Cash refunded	Payments with a settled refund dated in the month	Payment amount, including tax
Tax collected	Settled payments with a settlement date in the month that carry tax	Tax
Tax refunded	Payments with a settled refund dated in the month that carry tax	Tax
Deferred change from new billings	Settled payments authorized in the month	Payment amount less tax
Pending cash (in flight)	Payments authorized in the month that are still authorized or settling	Payment amount, including tax
Pending revenue (in flight)	Payments authorized in the month that are still authorized or settling, oldest first	Payment amount less tax

Every list shows the counted figure first (Amount, Tax, or Revenue, excluding tax), then Status, Authorization date, Settlement date, Processor, and ID. The refund lists add Refund date, and the two in-flight lists have no settlement date. The tax lists also show Payment amount, and the Deferred change from new billings and Pending revenue (in flight) lists also show Tax and Payment amount. Refunds before March 2026 have no refund date, so they are dated on the payment’s settlement day, or on its authorization day when that is later.

Totals, limits, and filters

The footer shows the number of payments and their total, for example 152 payments · Total $4,380.25. The total covers every payment in the list.
The table shows at most the first 10,000 payments. When more match, the footer says how many, and the total still includes all of them.
When the total differs from the figure you clicked, the footer shows the report figure, the difference, and when the report was loaded. This happens mostly in an MTD month, as payments settle after the report loaded.
Each list uses the report’s period and the Dashboard payment filters, so it holds the same payments as the figure it opens from.

Journal entries export

In the Period summary, open Export and choose Journal entries (all months). The file contains one line per account pair per month for every month in the selected period. Zero amounts are skipped. Account names are placeholders; map them to your chart of accounts when importing.

Debit	Credit	Amount
`ProcessorReceivable`	`DeferredRevenue`	Revenue booked in the month, net of tax
`ProcessorReceivable`	`TaxLiability`	Tax on payments booked in the month
`Cash`	`ProcessorReceivable`	Cash settled in the month, including tax
`DeferredRevenue`	`Revenue`	Revenue recognized in the month
`Refunds`	`Cash`	Recognized revenue reversed by refunds
`DeferredRevenue`	`Cash`	Deferred revenue removed by refunds
`TaxLiability`	`Cash`	Tax returned on refunds

Lines for pending settlement carry memo=true. They describe authorizations still in flight and are not booked; exclude them when posting. Columns are accounting_period (YYYY-MM), debit, credit, amount (USD with two decimals), memo (true or false), and description.

accounting_period,debit,credit,amount,memo,description
2026-08,ProcessorReceivable,DeferredRevenue,29.99,false,"Billings booked at authorization, deferred (net of tax)"
2026-08,Cash,ProcessorReceivable,29.99,false,Cash settled by the processor (gross)
2026-08,DeferredRevenue,Revenue,12.85,false,Revenue recognized
2026-09,DeferredRevenue,Revenue,17.14,false,Revenue recognized

Close a month

Select the period

Choose a period that includes the month you are closing, such as Last month or Last 3 months. The report opens on Last 6 months.

Check pending settlement

In the Period summary, pick the month and confirm the pending rows in the memo are close to zero. Some payment methods settle several days after authorization, so a month usually needs the first week of the next month to settle. If the rows are not near zero, switch to the cash basis and click Pending cash (in flight) to see which payments are still in flight, then wait for them to settle or book the pending amounts as an accrual.

Reconcile the balances

Confirm the Period summary ending balance equals the roll-forward ending balance for the month, and that the Revenue by plan total equals the Period summary. In Cash vs accrual, confirm Other is zero or absent for the month, so accrual minus cash is fully explained by deferral, the receivable and tax.

Export the journal entries

Open Export → Journal entries (all months), keep the lines for the month you are closing, and drop the lines with memo=true.

Add what the report does not cover

Record disputes and chargebacks, processor fees, foreign exchange differences, and any refund reserve from your own sources before posting.

The report excludes disputes, chargebacks, processor fees, and foreign exchange differences between authorization and settlement. Add them from your processor statements before posting.

Month to date

The current month is labeled MTD, for example Oct 2026 MTD, and runs to the end of today (UTC). Every figure of it stops at that moment: cash, refunds, tax, bookings, the receivable, deferred balances, pending figures, recognized revenue, the payment lists, and the CSV exports. The rest of the month stays in deferred revenue and opens the future unwind. The MTD month is part of every Total, and its figures are final only after the month closes and late settlements have landed.

Period and filters

The period selects whole calendar months: This month, Last month, Last 3 months, Last 6 months, Last 12 months, Last 24 months, or Year to date. The default is Last 6 months. The other Dashboard tabs keep their date range.
Last month is the previous calendar month. Every other period ends with the current month.
The payment filters on the Dashboard apply to every card.
Export on each card downloads its table as a CSV. In the Period summary, choose Summary (this month) or Journal entries (all months).
Figures for the current and previous month can change until late-settling authorizations resolve. A payment is added when it settles and is booked back into its authorization month.

Introduction

Use Cases

Platform

Payments

Fraud Prevention

Advanced Features

Developers

Why use it

How revenue is recognized

Worked example

Period summary

Accrual basis rows

Cash basis rows

Memo

Cash vs accrual

Revenue waterfall

Deferred revenue roll-forward

Future unwind of ending balance

Revenue by plan

See the payments behind a figure

What each list contains

Totals, limits, and filters

Journal entries export

Close a month

Month to date

Period and filters

​Why use it

​How revenue is recognized

​Worked example

​Period summary

​Accrual basis rows

​Cash basis rows

​Memo

​Cash vs accrual

​Revenue waterfall

​Deferred revenue roll-forward

​Future unwind of ending balance

​Revenue by plan

​See the payments behind a figure

​What each list contains

​Totals, limits, and filters

​Journal entries export

​Close a month

​Month to date

​Period and filters

Why use it

How revenue is recognized

Worked example

Period summary

Accrual basis rows

Cash basis rows

Memo

Cash vs accrual

Revenue waterfall

Deferred revenue roll-forward

Future unwind of ending balance

Revenue by plan

See the payments behind a figure

What each list contains

Totals, limits, and filters

Journal entries export

Close a month

Month to date

Period and filters