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

Stax

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. So, what differentiates ‘earned’ versus ‘unearned revenue’?

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Is Deferred Revenue a Liability?

Baremetrics

But, if you want to know why, you might need to read a bit more of this article — this article will dive into what are liabilities, what is deferred revenue, and how you need to document these values in your accounting. Sign up for the Baremetrics free trial , and start monitoring your subscription revenue accurately and easily.

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Revenue Modeling for a Subscription vs. Non-Subscription Business

SaaSOptics

Revenue Modeling for a Subscription vs. Non-Subscription Businesses . Revenue modeling. It’s the most difficult aspect of financial planning, especially for startups that don’t have historical data to extrapolate future revenues. Revenue Modeling: Revenue Growth Over Time. See the following example:

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Understanding Subscription Revenue

Baremetrics

Subscription revenue can be defined most simply as a model which generates income from customers through recurring fees that are paid at regular intervals. Before we get into the more complicated stuff, let’s consider the difference between earning revenue and collecting revenue. Subscription Revenue is Easier to Scale 3.

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The Top 10 Important Finance Mistakes First Time Founders Make

SaaStr

With early revenue, you start thinking about churn and scalability of every aspect of the business, including product, infrastructure, customer support, sales and marketing. Simply put, you recognize revenue or cost in the month it incurred. Advice: You are not doing yourself a favor if you look solely at that revenue number.

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What Is Working Capital?

Baremetrics

For a SaaS business, the deferred revenue category is particularly important. Deferred Revenue: Counterintuitively, if you have collected money for services that have not yet been rendered, this is a liability because you owe the client for those services. Many SaaS businesses have zero inventory. Try Baremetrics Free.

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What Is Unearned Revenue and How to Account for It

Baremetrics

This puts you in the position of having “unearned revenue”. Unearned revenue, sometimes called deferred revenue, is when you receive payment now for services that you will provide at some point in the future. Sign up for the Baremetrics free trial , and start monitoring your subscription revenue accurately and easily.