Revenue Management: #9 Revenue Recognition in Media & Publishing
Media & Publishing industry has evolved in recent times. It offers subscriptions, bundles digital and print access, runs sponsored content, and sometimes even sells ad spaces. If you run a media or publishing business, you will always get into a situation where you get paid in advance, but how do you determine what part of the money is earned today versus what needs to be deferred for the future? Can you recognize all of them upfront? Or should it spread across issues or impressions?
How do publishers and media platforms handle revenue?
Revenue Recognition Scenarios in Media & Publishing
Subscriptions, advertising contracts, bundled content, and sponsored campaigns often complicate revenue recognition in media and publishing. Though accounting guidelines like ASC 606 and IFRS 15 apply, how you use them varies based on how you deliver content.
Subscription Revenue
When a customer pays for a weekly, monthly, or annual subscription, the revenue must be spread across the subscription period, as content is delivered over time rather than upfront.
Example: A $120 annual magazine subscription should be recognized at $10 monthly over 12 months.
Bundled Offerings
You may offer print+digital access, or magazine+e-book bundles. Each component should be recognized separately based on delivery schedules and relative values.
Example: A $240 subscription includes $180 of weekly print magazines and $60 for e-book access. Revenue is recognized $15/month for print and $60 once access is granted.
Advertising Revenue
Advertising may be sold per issue, impressions, or based on clicks. You can recognize revenue only after delivery of an impression or publication, not when the ad is sold or paid for.
Example: A $5000 ad campaign for 1,00,000 impressions recognizes revenue only as impressions are delivered (say $500 for every 10,000)
Sponsored Content or Paid Articles
Sponsored stories or influencer placements should be recognized on publication date or campaign completion, depending on the agreement.
Example: A $2000-paid article is published on July 5th, and revenue is recognized on the same day.
Cancellations & Refunds
If a subscriber cancels mid-cycle and gets a partial refund, revenue must be adjusted with only the earned portion as recognized.
Example: $120 yearly subscription cancelled after 3 months. Only $30 will be considered recognized.
These scenarios highlight how delivery, not payment, drives revenue recognition. With multiple formats and monetisation models in place, manual revenue recognition handling is a huge task prone to errors and misstatements.
Scenario:
Your publishing company sells an annual subscription package at $240. This subscription covers weekly print magazine work of $15 and on-demand access to the digital library, which is valued at $60. The customer pays upfront on the 1st of January.
Zoho Billing for Media Revenue Recognition
Publishers and content creators will be able to work with Zoho Billing to define revenue recognition rules based on content delivery and access architecture.
For the scenario above, you may go with the following revenue recognition rule configuration,
Component | Recognition Frequency | Recognition Method | Recognition Time |
Print Magazines | Monthly | Evenly Distributed Prorated | Period Start |
Digital Library | Once | One-Time (Daily) | Period Start |
Even though the $240 is received upfront, revenue must be split evenly for the subscription-based service.
Reports in Zoho Billing
Let's say you are checking the reports during March.
i) Recognized Revenue Report
Component | Recognized Revenue | Description |
Digital Library | $60 | Fully recognized on the subscription start date |
Print Magazine | $45 | $15x3 issues delivered |
Total Recognized | $105 | recognized at the end of three months |
ii) Deferred Revenue Report
After three months of offering, nine print issues are still pending delivery.
Component | Deferred Amount |
Digital Library | $0 |
Print Magazine | $135 (9 months of deliverables) |
Total Deferred | $135 |
iii) Revenue Waterfall Report
Month | Digital Library | Print Magazine | Total |
Month 1 | $60 | $15 | $75 |
Month 2 | ---- | $15 | $15 |
Month 3 | ---- | $15 | $15 |
Month 4 (upcoming) | ---- | $15 | $15 |
Month 5 (upcoming) | ---- | $15 | $15 |
Month 6 (upcoming) | ---- | $15 | $15 |
Month 7 (upcoming) | ---- | $15 | $15 |
Month 8 (upcoming) | ---- | $15 | $15 |
Month 9 (upcoming) | ---- | $15 | $15 |
Month 10 (upcoming) | ---- | $15 | $15 |
Month 11 (upcoming) | ---- | $15 | $15 |
Month 12 (upcoming) | ---- | $15 | $15 |
Total (after 3 months) | $60 | $45 | $105 |
Only at the end of one year will the full payment you received be considered recognized revenue.
Best Practices for the Media Industry while recognizing revenue
- Break Down Subscriptions: Separate print, digital, access, ads, and events into individual deliverables.
Match Revenue to Delivery: Recognize only when issues go out, impressions are served, or access granted.
Account for Returns & Refund: Handle cancellations by adjusting the deferred revenue schedules automatically.
Monitor Reports Monthly: Revenue Waterfall and Deferred reports ensure timely recognition tracking.
Up Next: Common Mistakes while Recognizing Revenue
Topic Participants
Hari | Zoho Billing
Sticky Posts
Community Learning Series | Digest #5 — September 2020
Dear customers, We're happy to bring you the September edition of our #CommunityDigest! Keep track of your subscription KPIs right from your smartphone: Last month, we enhanced our Android mobile app to help our customers get daily updates on their business health. We got to know from a lot of customers that this has made their job much more easier because they no longer have to keep a reminder to manually check on the previous day's revenue or activations. If you have not downloaded it yet, here'sCommunity Learning Series | Digest #4 - August 2020
Dear customers, We hope you're staying safe and healthy. I'm happy to bring you the fourth edition of our #CommunityDigest with some brand-new updates from us. 1. Daily Business Updates (for Android users) The Zoho Subscriptions Android app has got a cool new update: You can now get a push notification to your smartphone that lets you know how many activations and cancellations have taken place, and what's the net revenue for the previous day. The best part is, you can tell the app when exactly youCommunity Learning Series | Digest #3 - July 2020
Dear customers, We hope you're staying safe and healthy. We're glad to bring you the July edition of our #CommunityDigest. New community members can view our previous newsletters here. This time, we have two major updates and three interesting topics for you: 1. Zoho Subscriptions Developer Community Since the inception of Zoho Subscriptions, our team believed that the recurring billing platform we provide should be able to offer an extensive API library that empowers businesses to automate mostIntroducing: Community Learning Series | Digest #1 - May 2020
Dear customers, We hope you are staying safe and healthy. Helping businesses manage their customer subscriptions more efficiently has always been, and always will be, our goal at Zoho Subscriptions. We strongly believe this is possible if we grow together as a community and share what we know with each other. To nurture this shared learning experience, here is our brand-new Community Learning Series! Welcome to the first edition of our digest! Each edition of our community digest includes guides
Recent Topics
ZOHOLICS Japan 2025 開催のお知らせ（再投稿）
【コミュニティユーザーの皆さまへお知らせ】 Zoho 最大のユーザーイベント「ZOHOLICS Japan 2025」を9月19日（金）に開催します。 AI活用に関する特別講演、ユーザー事例、Zoho 製品の活用例のご紹介など、Zoholicsならではのセッションをご用意しています。 Zoho コミュニティ開催のMeetupとはまた違った雰囲気のイベントです。 ご都合のつく方はお気軽にご参加ください✨ 詳細はこちら https://events.zoho.jp/zoholics2025#/?affl=forumpost2Phone Number format for Bulk Upload via csv for Zoho Sign
What is the phone number format that we need to use for a bulk recipient upload via csv in zoho sign, should the country code be included for ex if its US should it be +18889007865 ior 18889007865 or without country code 8889007865? the sample csv providedFilter Page Elements By Selectable Date Range
I have created a basic Page that will serve as a client dashboard with elements that will provide simple counts & sums of data in reports. There are no reports or forms added to the page, just elements. It currently functions as needed, but shows theCan’t Enter my Notebook is Locked
I’ve been using Notebook for taking notes at my college for a month and I never signed in and I never established a password. Today I tried to enter the app after the update and it asked me for a password. I need to access to my notes urgently and I can’tSend Email Directly to Channel
Hi, We are coming from Slack. In Slack each channel has a unique Email address that you can send emails too. I currently forward a specific type of email from my Gmail InBox directly do this channel for Verification Codes so my team doesn't have to askSecure your external sharing process with OTP Authentication
For any business, it's crucial to share files externally in a way that is both secure and controlled. Let's say you want to share confidential data with your partners and vendors. You must ensure that only your intended recipients can access the sharedItems attribute questions
Many of my items have attributes, such as size and color. How can I add new fields to the "New Items" screen to capture that in my Purchase Orders, Items, and Sales Order pages? I only see these attribute fields when adding an Item Group. Also, on theIs there a way to search mail for items you haven't yet responded to?
I'm trying to create a search to show emails that haven't been responded to and that have also been assigned a tag or label. Is there a way to search for the inverse of replied?Zobot and Sales IQ
What will happen to the Zoho Sales IQ being integrated to the website after creating the Zobot on the website tooSubtotals per Header
Hey, we would like to display subtotals per header in our invoices:upgrade storage
how to upgrade my storageLinking items from books and subscription
Linking books and subscription It is a pity that it is not possible to associate with a product an article present in ZohoBooks This would make it possible to manage products composed of a nomenclature of articles of booksAdd the ability to view number of hours planned for a workorder while in the Dispatch Console
Hi Zoho, When dispatching a work order through the Dispatch Console, there's currently no way to view the number of planned hours for the service tasks associated with that specific work order. Having to click into the details each time to check plannedUploading Files from uploads api
I tried uploading the image from the API call but its giving me unauthorized error even i have given valid token in header. After uploading i need that id to pass in create ticket api uploads but its not uploading that file. Please help me out in thCategorize Items with Item Headers
Hello customers, Did you ever want to classify items based on specific categories to help your customers understand your invoice better? With the new Item Header feature, you can easily categorize items in your invoices and estimates and give them a common title. Item Headers are available in the Invoices, the Recurring Invoices and the Estimates module. It can be carried forward from estimates to invoices at the time of converting the estimates. To add an item header: Go to the Estimates, InvoicesURLs being masked despite disabling tracking
Hey, We had disabled click tracking from an email update we are sharing with our users. Despite this, the URL the end user is receiving is masked, and looks like "https://qksyl-cmpzourl.maillist-manage.net/click/1d8e72714515cda6/1d8e72714515ca70" insteadChange format of quantity format
Hi, I would like to change the qunatity format from 1,00 to 1. Is this possible? thanks!square up and Zoho books
Since we set up the app connection between square up and Zoho books we have realised that when the amounts are getting transferred Zoho is adding VAT again making the numbers 20% more than they should be. We have checked our settings and they VAT/ TaxHow to provide Access rights to specific Bank accounts
We have several bank accounts. I want to provide certain members access to only 2-3 accounts. It appears that when I give permissions, they are for ALL bank accounts. How do I do that?Errors Getting a Bank Transaction
Using Postman(for testing), I am receiving errors when attempting to get a single bank transaction. I am able to receive the list of bank transactions with https://www.zohoapis.com/books/v3/banktransactions/?organization_id={org_id} but when I try toSubscriptions Plans and CRM Products Integration?
Is there any way to set up plans and pricing in Zoho Subscriptions and have those available as Products in the CRM? We are trying to set up the CRM and the Products seem to be more geared toward selling products that are not subscription based. So if we sell annual or monthly contracts which are $10/seat/month, I can set this up as a plan in Subscriptions, but how can I set the same thing up in the CRM for the salespeople to sell/quote? What is the best practice for setting up the CRM Products toMapping Zoho Subscription Plans and Products to CRM and Books
We have products that are one time products and subscription products. 1) We would like to have the ability to create an opportunity in CRM that includes both one-time charge products and subscription products. Currently the only way of creating a subscription product is by defining a "Product->Plan" hierarchy in Zoho Subscription. It appears that the only SYNC between Subscription and CRM is around contacts and the Product->Plan hierarchy doesn't sync to CRM, thus, you would need a duplicateZoho People Attendance Module - Split Shifts
Hello, Our business employs a number of college students who often split their workdays between work hours and class schedules, resulting in split shifts. For example: Employee 1 works 9am to 11:30am and then leaves for class, returning to work at 3pmBulk update fields based on date
Hi! I need all the quotes with "Quote Stage" set to "Next Year" to update to "Draft" every January 8 (every year). Can you help?Target for a campaign
Hi, Hope you can help me. I need to create a report (for a marketing campaign) that combines Deals and Contacts to export all the contacts with closed deals. I can easily do that, what I cannot do is to remove from the target the contacts that have moreZoho Desk + Jira integration - Email notifications and comments posted by administrator instead of real user
Dear All, I set up the integration under my admin account, and now when users leave comments in Jira (to created tickets in Zoho Desk), the email notifications show that the ‘Administrator’ left a comment, not a real user. The same happens in the ticketCelebrating the power of visuals
On World Photography Day, we would like to highlight the power of visuals in customer service. Visuals promote learning and understanding in less time. A photograph can rekindle a memory, convey more than words, and give a fresh perspective. How doesCustomer address in Zoho Bookings
Hello, Is it possible to add customer address information to the Zoho bookings appointment screen? Or have it pull that information automatically from the CRM? We are wanting to use this as a field management software but it is difficult to pull the address from multiple sources when it would be ideal to have a clickable address on the appointment screen that opens up the user's maps. It would also be advantageous for the "list view" to show appointment times instead of just duration and bookingBlocking / black listing customers
Hi, We have a situation, we observed that certain customers are blocking multiple appointments with our advsiors but not showing up. Some of these are repeat offenders. This leads to those service hours getting blocked and not available for genuine customers.Option to block bookings from specific email address or ip adresss in zoho booking
Sometime few of our client keep booking irrelevant booking service just to resolve their queries and they keep booking it again and again whenever they have queries. Currently its disturbing our current communication process and hierarchy which we haveFeature Request: Email Templates for notifications accross all services
Currently in Zoho Bookings, email notifications (such as booking confirmations, reminders, and cancellations) must be customized individually for each service. This becomes time-consuming and error-prone when managing multiple services that require consistentAllow customers to choose meeting venue and meeting duration on booking page
My business primarily involves one-to-one meetings with my clients. Given the hybrid-work world we now find ourselves in, these meetings can take several forms (which I think of as the meeting "venue"): In-person Zoom Phone call I currently handle theseApproval-based booking with Zoho Creator and Zoho Bookings
Hi community members, We have developed a workaround for approval-based booking using Zoho Creator and Zoho Bookings! This provides a temporary solution as we work on the native feature, and it's useful for anyone needing an approval workflow when confirmingMember Accounts in Related List
Hi Team, Currently, when a parent account is associated with an account in FSM, there is no related list displaying the associated member accounts under the parent account’s related list section. To view member accounts, I have to manually search usinghow do i remove a specific Zoho Service from my account
I no longer need Zoho CRM, ZRM Assist nor ZRM BugTracker. How do I remove them from the list of apps for my account?I Want migarte all invoice details to zoho sheets
I want to migrate all existing invoice details to Zoho Sheet, and automatically update the sheet whenever a new invoice is created.were can i find my invoices i need this for my accountant
were can i find my invoices i need this for my accountant, how can i get id direct to my email?ONLY email field not populating Writer fillable document (randomly)
I have a Zoho Writer fillable document that has pulled all my data from my Zoho Sheets file, EXCEPT the email column. It pulled every data before and after that column with no issues. Screenshots attached. It's not my first time using the app or the feature,My number is marked as spam
Hello Zoho Mail Support, My phone number was incorrectly flagged as “spam” during sign-up. This is my personal number, and I have not engaged in any spam activities. Kindly review and verify my account so I can proceed with my email setup. Thanks.Personnalisation des paramètres dans Zoho Mail
Pourquoi cela compte-t-il ? La personnalisation des paramètres dans Zoho Mail permet aux administrateurs de configurer l’environnement de messagerie en fonction des besoins spécifiques de leur organisation. Que ce soit pour alléger l’interface pour certainesNext Page