Revenue Management: #5 Revenue Recognition in SaaS
If you're building or running a SaaS business, you've probably encountered this. You get paid upfront for a subscription and a one-time onboarding fee, but you end up with confusion about when to consider it revenue. Can I book all of it now? Should I spread it out? What if the customer upgrades or downgrades midway?
How do SaaS companies manage revenue recognition and stay compliant?
Revenue Recognition Scenarios in SaaS
In the world of SaaS, a business's billing of its customers has a direct impact on how and when it recognizes revenue. While the five-step model stays the same, the application varies significantly depending on the contract structure, billing frequency, and delivery pattern. Below are the common real-world scenarios that define these differences.
Annual Contract Paid Upfront
Most SaaS companies bill customers annually or quarterly in advance. However, accounting standards do not permit revenue to be recognized when cash is received. Instead, the revenue must be recognized over time, as the service is delivered.
For example, a $12,000 annual contract with $1000 onboarding. $1000 will be recognized immediately during billing, and $11,000 is spread across 12 months.
Monthly Billing
Customers pay monthly for access. There is typically no deferred revenue, and revenue is recognized in the same month the service is delivered.
Example: $500 per month subscription recognized monthly as it is earned.
Bundled Pricing
A typical SaaS contract might include platform access, onboarding, training and support as a part of the contract that gets billing as a bundle. According to ASC 606 and IFRS 15, these are separate performance obligations. The business must allocate revenue to each and recognize it based on how and when each is fulfilled.
Example: A $10,000 contract includes $2000 for setup, $6000 for software access, and $2000 for support. Revenue is recognized based on the timeline of each deliverable.
Amendments & Discounts
Customers often switch plans mid-cycle, receive promotional pricing, or get billed based on the actual usage. These changes introduce variable consideration and require contract modification, revenue reallocation, and recalculations for the remaining service term.
Example: A new allocation and recognition schedule must be set up if a customer moves from a $1000/month plan to a $1500/month plan mid-year.
Usage Based or Tiered Pricing
Some businesses charge based on consumption. For instance, API usage, user access, data storage, etc., they charge the customer again as and when the upper cap is met. This means revenue cannot be recognized until the service is used. Businesses must track usage data and apply the prorated or usage-based revenue rule to stay compliant.
Example: $0.10 per API call. If a customer makes 10,000 calls in March, $1000 is recognized in that month.
These scenarios illustrate the diverse billing models in SaaS and their direct impact on revenue recognition timing. Businesses that manage multiple pricing plans, onboarding services, or usage billing must ensure their recognition strategy aligns with the service delivery. This is where automation becomes critical.
Scenario:You sign an annual contract worth $1,20,000 with a client. The client pays the full amount upfront. The contract includes $20,000 onboarding and $1,00,000 for uninterrupted access to the software for 12 months.
Zoho Billing for SaaS Revenue Recognition
Zoho Billing simplifies SaaS revenue recognition by allowing the finance team to define a recognition rule based on the product or service offered.
For this kind of business, the Revenue recognition rule should be set in the following way:
There are two deliverables here: one is Onboarding, and the other is software access.
| For onboarding | For Software Access |
Recognition Frequency | Once | Monthly |
Recognition Method | One-Time (Daily) | Evenly Distributed |
Recognition Time | Period Start | Period End |
Although the full payment is collected in advance, you cannot recognize the entire $1,20,000 as revenue immediately. Only the onboarding revenue of $20,000 is recognized in the first month. The remaining $1,00,000 must be recognized evenly over 12 months at $8,333 monthly.
Reports in Zoho Billing
If you look at the reports in Zoho Billing after three months of service rendering, you will see,
i) Recognized Revenue Report
Onboarding is complete three months into the contract, and three out of 12 months of application access have been delivered.
Component | Recognized Revenue | Description |
Onboarding | $20,000 | Fully recognized in Month 1 |
Software Access | $25,000 | $8333/month for 3 months out of ($1,00,000) |
Total Recognized | $45,000 | Recognized at the end of 3 months |
ii) Deferred Revenue Report
After three months, the company will have nine months of software access remaining.
Component | Deferred Amount |
Software Access | $75,000 (9 months x $8333) |
Total Deferred | $75000 |
iii) Revenue Waterfall Report
Months | Onboarding | Software Access | Total |
Month 1 | $20,000 | $8,333 | $28,333 |
Month 2 | ----- | $8,333 | $8,333 |
Month 3 | ----- | $8,333 | $8,333 |
Month 4 (upcoming) | ----- | $8,333 | $8,333 |
Month 5 (upcoming) | ----- | $8,333 | $8,333 |
Month 6 (upcoming) | ----- | $8,333 | $8,333 |
Month 7 (upcoming) | ----- | $8,333 | $8,333 |
Month 8 (upcoming) | ----- | $8,333 | $8,333 |
Month 9 (upcoming) | ----- | $8,333 | $8,333 |
Month 10 (upcoming) | ----- | $8,333 | $8,333 |
Month 11 (upcoming) | ----- | $8,333 | $8,333 |
Month 12 (upcoming) | ----- | $8,333 | $8,333 |
Best Practices for SaaS Revenue Recognition
- Disaggregate Contract Elements: Break down your subscriptions, onboarding, support, and other one-off deliverables as separate individual obligations.
- Use Automated Rules: Configure a Recognition Rule based on the billing method and avoid tracking them manually.
- Handle Modifications: Plan changes and upgrades should trigger reallocation of revenue.
- Monitor Revenue Waterfall: Visual schedules ensure predictable reporting and forecasting.
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
Exporting Charts from ZohoCRM
Hi...I'm relatively new to ZohoCRM, but very happy with it so far. I have all my leads and potentials accurately entered, and like the reports that I can view, with charts at the top of the data. But when I export the data, I'm receiving only the data, whether I export as excel, csv or pdf. How can I export both the chart and the data? In case it makes a difference, I'm using the free version right now. I tried researching the other editions to see if a paid version of the software offered the ability"Authorize to Access Your Account"
Hi, I'm trying to log into cliq on my phone but I can't. It says "Authorize to access your account - Verify your identity to access your account using oneAuth credentials", and asks for a password. I tried maybe 100 different passwords and nothing works.Automatically Update Ticket Status in Zoho Desk Based on Actions in Zoho Projects
Hi Zoho Desk Team, Hope you’re doing well. We’re using the Zoho Desk–Zoho Projects integration to manage tasks related to customer tickets, and it works well for linking and tracking progress. However, there are a few important automation capabilitiessms long credits
I’m trying to purchase Long Code credits so I can send SMS campaigns to my contacts. However, when I click the “Buy Now” button, the page appears blank and doesn’t load any purchase options. Could you please assist me in purchasing the Long Code creditsWhatsapp Limitation Questions
Good day, I would like to find out about the functionality or possibility of all the below points within the Zoho/WhatsApp integration. Will WhatsApp buttons ever be possible in the future? Will WhatsApp Re-directs to different users be possible basedTip #48- Power Your AI Workflows with Zoho Assist on Zapier’s MCP- 'Insider Insights'
We’re thrilled to announce that Zoho Assist is now part of Zapier’s Model Context Protocol (MCP), bringing remote support automation right into your AI ecosystem. What is MCP? The Model Context Protocol (MCP) is Zapier’s new framework designed to connectInsert Cookie Policy in Zoho Sites
Hello, i need to insert a banner on my site because i'm in Italy so i have to respect EU laws for Cookie Policy and Privacy Policy. I see that i need to insert a code in <head> section of my site to show a banner/popup with cookie info. How i can do this? Thank you LucaNimble enhancements to WhatsApp for Business integration in Zoho CRM: Enjoy context and clarity in business messaging
Dear Customers, We hope you're well! WhatsApp for business is a renowned business messaging platform that takes your business closer to your customers; it gives your business the power of personalized outreach. Using the WhatsApp for Business integrationMarketing Tip #1: Optimize item titles for SEO
Your item title is the first thing both Google and shoppers notice. Instead of a generic “Leather Bag,” go for something detailed like “Handcrafted Leather Laptop Bag – Durable & Stylish.” This helps your items rank better in search results and instantlyCustomer Parent Account or Sub-Customer Account
Some of clients as they have 50 to 300 branches, they required separate account statement with outlet name and number; which means we have to open new account for each branch individually. However, the main issue is that, when they make a payment, theyForced Logouts - Daily and More Frequent
In the last month or so, I've been getting "power logged out" of all of my Zoho apps at least daily, sometimes more frequently. This happens in the same browser session on the same computer, and I need to re-login to each app separately after this happens.Paste issues in ZOHO crm notes
Hi, since a week or so I have issues with the paste function in ZOHO CRM. I use "notes" to copy paste texts from Outlook emails and since a week or so, the pasting doesnt function as it should: some text just disappears and it gives a lot of empty lines/enters.....ENTER key triggering Submit
Is it possible to stopped the ENTER key from the mandatory triggering of the Submit button on Creator form? I want forms submitted "ONLY" when the Submit button is pressed.Is it possible to assign Client user to external task ON PROJECTS' TEMPLATES?
Is it possible to assign Client user to external task ON TEMPLATES PROJECTS?What happens when someone clicks 'unsubscribe' in a zoho CRM email
Hello, As per, i am going round in circles trying to find an answer to these 2 question. I have an email template that has an unsubscribe link in the footer in zoho CRM. First, what happens when someone clicks it - where does the contact get unsubscribedDraft & Schedule Emails Directly in Bigin
Greetings, I hope all of you are doing well. We're happy to announce a few recent enhancements we've made to email in Bigin. We'll go over each one in detail, but here's a quick overview: Previously, you couldn't draft or schedule emails in Bigin, butCannot Invert Axis for Rankings
Hi there I want to be able to create a ranking graph in Analytics/BI, with 1 at the top of the Y axis, but I am unable to invert the axis. Super simple example in Excel below. Higher rankings need to be higher up on the graph to give the correct visualZoho CRM Workflow and Function Backup Options
Hi everyone! I have been able to make several backups of my CRM data and noticed that the Workflows and Functions are not included in these backups. To my knowledge, there is no backup feature for workflows and functions, which is problematic in of itself.Cliq iOS can't see shared screen
Hello, I had this morning a video call with a colleague. She is using Cliq Desktop MacOS and wanted to share her screen with me. I'm on iPad. I noticed, while she shared her screen, I could only see her video, but not the shared screen... Does Cliq iOS is able to display shared screen, or is it somewhere else to be found ? RegardsCliq does not sync messages after Sleep on Mac
I'm using the mac app of Cliq. When I open my mac after it was in sleep mode, Cliq does not sync the messages that I received. I always have to reload using cmd + R, which is not what I want when using a chat application.Free Webinar : Unlock AI driven business insights with Zoho Inventory + Zoho Analytics
Are you tired of switching between apps and exporting data to build customized reports? Say hello to smarter & streamlined insights! Join us for this exclusive webinar where we explore the power of the Zoho Inventory–Zoho Analytics integration. LearnPO receive quantities
At last, Zoho has finally got around to allowing us to receive a larger qty than recorded in the PO :-) Saves us all from editing the PO's before receiving larger quantities ( usual for us ) ! It's still in "beta" but available upon request, I've testedLink to images
I have added images in pages. I would like to link those images with linked in URL so that they open in new window. There is an option of image -> link but I am not able to use the same to open URL in new window. Please check the attached image. Can youCanvas View - Print
What is the best way to accomplish a print to PDF of the canvas view?What's New in Zoho Analytics - October 2025
Hello Users! We're are back with a fresh set of updates and enhancements to make data analysis faster and more insightful. Take a quick look at what’s new and see how these updates can power up your reports and dashboards. Explore What's New! ExtremeRespond faster and smarter with Zia in your IM Inbox
You’re in the middle of a busy chat queue. New messages keep popping up. One customer sounds upset. Another is asking a long list of questions. You need context. You need speed. You need help. That’s exactly when Zia Insghts jumps into action. It showsMeeting impossible to use when sharing screen
he Meeting tool in Brazil is practically unusable when sharing anything, whether it’s a presentation or simple navigation. When accessed via Cliq, the situation gets even worse: even basic calls fail to work properly, constantly freezing. And as you areLet's Talk Recruit: Meet Zia, your all-in-one AI assistant (Part-2)
Welcome back to Let’s Talk Recruit series. In Part 1, we introduced Zia and how AI is reshaping the way recruiters work. This time, we’re taking a closer look at how far Zia has come and how each update continues to simplify your everyday tasks. WhenWARNING : Smart list automatically unsubscribes your contacts.
I created a smart list of my team members based on the criterion that their email domain was @_____. The list refreshed as expected — but it ended up unsubscribing almost all members of my team. I contacted support, but it took two months to get a reply,Export Purchase orders as Excel
Is it possible to export purchase orders as excel rather than PDF? Our suppliers don't want orders made in PDF, they need it to be excel5名限定 課題解決型ワークショップイベント Zoho ワークアウト開催のお知らせ (10/31)
ユーザーの皆さま、こんにちは。Zoho ユーザーコミュニティチームの中野です。 10月開催のZoho ワークアウトについてお知らせします。 今回はZoomにて、オンライン開催します。 参加登録はこちら（無料）：https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/BGYTysOnSqa9LA9eY2IKww ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ Zoho ワークアウトとは？ Zoho ユーザー同士で交流しながら、サービスに関する疑問や不明点の解消を目的としたSubforms in Stateless Forms
Stateless Forms are very useful, but we can't build complex data entry pages without Subforms. Can this be implemented? This would make Stateless Forms truly powerful.Custom Function not getting package details when triggered from Workflow Rules.
I have a custom function for Packages that submits a form in our Creator app that we use to generate custom shipping labels (internal staff complete deliveries so we cannot generate shipping labels straight from Inventory). When the function is executedBilling Preferences per Account
Hello, We are trying to setup Billing Preferences in Zoho Desk to set up a different pricing per account. We charge different pricing per hour per customer/account. Account A = 100 per hour Account B = 125 per hour In the Billing Preferences in Time EntryTime entry preview for custom time entry templates.
Our company needed time entries in a specific format to document our client interactions. Since we are using a custom time entry layout, we have lost the "preview" on the time entry tab. Using the default time entry layout, you get a small preview ofSet to Review for all
We are testing the use of Writer as part of an internal review process for statement of work documents and have found that when the document is changed from Compose to Review by one person, that is not reflected for all others who view the document. IsImplementing a Self-Invoicing/Vendor Portal in Zoho Creator
Hello Zoho Community / Creator Experts, We would like to build a Self-Invoicing Portal (Vendor Portal) in Zoho Creator for our external contractors. Our goal is to allow approved contractors to log in, submit their invoice details (hours worked, projectBlocked Email
We are a Zoho One subscriber and use Yahoo as our MX provider. A few times each year, for the past four years, CRM blocks one or more of my Zoho One users from receiving internal email from CRM. This includes "@mentions" in all modules, and emails fromAble to change project on timelog entries
Ability to move the timesheet entry from one project to another. When a user adds a wrong entry a manager can change/update the timesheet entry to the correct project.What formula to use in computing total hrs and decimal hrss
So , my data includes log im column , 2 breaks with 2 columns that says back and lunch and 1 column that says back and logged out. What formula should i use to be able to automatically have my total hours as I input time in each column? ThankyouNext Page