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
Blueprint or Validation Rules for Invoices in Zoho Books
Can I implement Blueprint or Validation Rules for Invoices in Zoho Books? Example, use case could be, Agent confirms from client that payment is done, but bank only syncs transactions tomorrow. in this case, Agent can update invoice status to done, andFeature Enhancement Request – Text Formatting Options in Item Description (Zoho Books/Quotes Module)
Dear Zoho Development Team, Greetings from Radiant360 Integrated Technical Services LLC. We would like to bring to your attention a functional limitation we've encountered within the Item Table / Quote Description section of Zoho Books (and Zoho CRM Quotes).Add Option to Mass Dispatch by User
Hello! We are using the dispatch console to dispatch service appointments to our service ressources. Right now, the process is our dispatcher verifies each ressource's route for the day and dispatches it after validation. Sadly, there doesn't seem toBank Receipt Catagorization
Hi, how can I match a bank deposit to multiple customer's invoices ? For e.g. A single person paid to us on behalf of different five customers. I need to keep the separated invoices for each customerPer Level Approval for admins
We need Process admins like Zoho CRM in Zoho Books for per stage approval Currently in books, admins only have the option for Final Approval But for example, in cases like when an employee is on leave, we can't just approval one level we only have optionPayment on a past due balance
Scenario: Customer is past due on their account for 4 months. We suspend their billing in Zoho books. Customer finally logs into the portal and enters a new credit card. We associate that cardwith their subscription, which will permit the card to be usedHow to export all line-item descriptions for a specific item in Zoho Books?
I am trying to audit a specific item (“Item X”) that has been invoiced multiple times with different line-level descriptions. Here’s the situation: I am using Zoho Books (Professional). Each invoice may contain the same item but with different descriptionsList of hidden features
Hi Friends, I had another support chat today and low and behold the feature that I wanted just simply needed to be "enabled". I thought I'd share, and maybe see if others had some similar experiences. 1. This one is from 5 ish years ago. I asked if thereHow to change a BAS that has been filed
I have discovered that a group of expense transactions were accidentally placed in a asset account rather than an expense account. As a result I need to adjust the transaction and consequently most of my BAS to correct the error. Because the BAS haveHow to Export PDF with a custom Template
I need to export Sales Order with a Custom Template I have created How can I do it? I see an API to export the PDF but how can I choose which template to choose to generate the PDFAssociate email with a potential or project.
I have a pivotal requirement to associate emails from various suppliers (contacts) with different potentials or projects, on an email by email basis as they come in. This question appears to have been raised before but I cannot find a definitive yes "it can be done". Could anyone please tell me, yes or no. If the later I can stop wasting time and look at alternative crm systems. I would love not to have to do this. Thanks in advance.MTA - BAD IP reputation by outlook/hotmail
Messages to Microsoft email servers are bouncing back due to poor reputation. Message: 4.7.650 The mail server [136.143.188.206] has been temporarily rate limited due to IP reputation. For e-mail delivery information see https://postmaster.live.com (S775)Function with Search Records was working until a few weeks ago, around when "Connected Records" was released
I have a custom function that has been running for nearly a year now, which suddenly stopped working around the time Zoho released the "Connected Records" update. The function is no longer finding the record using the searchRecords function. I've changedIs CRM On Premise available
Hi Zoho team, Can you please let me know that CRM Zoho is available for On Premise as well? Thanks, DevashishHow to sync from Zoho Projects into an existing Sprint in Zoho Sprints?
Hi I have managed to integrate Zoho Projects with Zoho Sprints and I can see that the integration works as a project was created in Zoho Sprints. But, what I would like to do is to sync into an existing Zoho Sprints project. Is there a way to make thatOnline Assessment or any aptitude test
This video is really helpful! I have one question — if I share an assessment form link (through email or with the application form on my career page), how does Zoho Recruit evaluate it? Can a candidate use Google or external help while taking the test,Editing the Ticket Properties column
This is going to sound like a dumb question, but I cannot figure out how to configure/edit the sections (and their fields) in this column: For example, we have a custom "Resolution" field, which parked itself in the "Ticket Information" section of thisIncoming Threads Report
From data to decisions: A deep dive into ticketing system reports Customers raise questions and issues through multiple channels, such as email, chat, or tickets. To monitor the number of queries received on a specific day from each channel, leads canConditional layouts - support for multi-select picklists
Hi, The documentation for conditional layouts says the following: "Layout Rules cannot be used on the following field types: Auto Number Lookup Multi Select Lookup User Lookup Formula File Upload Multi Line" I have a custom module with a multi-pick listSamsung Keyboard Issues with Notebook
Dear Users, We're sorry to inform you that some of our users are experiencing certain issues like scrolling, delay/lag, cursor placement especially within the text notes. This occurs mainly due to Samsung Keyboard compatibility with Android 13 and someHow to apply customized Zoho Crm Home Page to all users?
I have tried to study manuals and play with Zoho CRM but haven't found a way how to apply customized Zoho CRM Home Page as a (default) home page for other CRM users.. How that can be done, if possible? - kipi Moderation Update: Currently, each user hasCloudflare Turnstile is now available in Zoho Forms!
Hello form builders! We have added a new layer of protection to help you keep your forms free from bots. Instead of forcing users to prove they are human, Cloudflare Turnstile quietly checks browser signals in the background. Your real users glide through,Power of Automation :: Unique Task & Issue Prefix Format and Sequencing Rule
Hello Everyone, A custom function is a software code that can be used to automate a process and this allows you to automate a notification, call a webhook, or perform logic immediately after a workflow rule is triggered. This feature helps to automate【Zoho CRM】キャンバス機能のアップデート
ユーザーの皆さま、こんにちは。コミュニティチームの藤澤です。 今回は「Zoho CRM アップデート情報」の中から、キャンバス機能のアップデートをご紹介します。 目次 グリッドについて フォーム表示のタブについて 1. グリッドについて ビジュアルデザインは細部の調整に手間がかかりますが、キャンバスのグリッドを使えば要素を整理し、バランスよく配置できます。 画像やデータなどの要素をグループ化せずに簡単に配置できます。 余白を調整することで、要素間の視覚的なバランスを保つのに役立ちます。 「表示切り替え基準の幅」を設定すると、デザインをレスポンシブに調整できます。Deleting unwanted ticket replies
Hello, In a Zoho Desk Ticket thread, sometimes one of the recipients has auto-reply activated. This creates a new message in the Ticket thread that not only pollutes the thread, but most importantly cannot be replied properly because usually auto-reply e-mails don't do "reply all", so the other recipients are not included. I want to delete such a message in the Ticket thread. I searched the help of Zoho Desk, but only found a way to mark as Spam (https://help.zoho.com/portal/kb/articles/marking-support-tickets-as-spam)Issue: Ticket Export Does Not Include Ticket Threads
Dear Zoho Desk Support Team, I hope you’re doing well. I wanted to bring to your attention that the current ticket export feature in Zoho Desk does not seem to include the ticket threads or conversation history. When exporting tickets, only the summaryAbility to Set Client Name During Portal Invitation
Hi Zoho Team, We would like to suggest an important enhancement to the Zoho Creator Client Portal functionality. Zoho Creator recently introduced the option to set a client’s display name in the Client Portal settings, which is very helpful for creatingスマホでキャンペンメールを見ると正しく表示されない
キャンペーンのメール（HTML）を作成しましたが、スマホ表示に切り替えると正しく表示されません（添付参照）過去に作成したキャンペーンでは特に意識してませんでしたが、問題なく表示されていたようです。うまく表示される場合とされない場合の違いは何でしょうか？136.143.188.51 blocked by spamcop
Zoho mailserver seems to be blocked by spamcop. Cant send mail to my customer. Not sure what to do.Zoho Calendar Integrated Into CRM?
I've searched around the forums but couldn't find anything addressing this . . . Is there a plan to integrate Zoho's stand alone calendar solution into Zoho CRM? The CRM calendar does an OK job but is very basic and the Zoho calendar is great, but I've only figured out to subscribe to my CRM calendar within ZCalendar - there is no 2-way sync. My preferred solution would be for ZCal to become the default calendar/event solution within Z CRM. Is this on the roadmap? ThanksCan I Create Different Page Layouts Based on a Specified Module Pick List Field
I am trying to work out how to create different page layouts based on a specified module pick list field value, like the Salesforce feature where you can define multiple record types and then create custom page layouts for each record type. This is a super important feature as for almost all the modules we are using (Leads, Potentials, Accounts) we need to be able only show fields relevant to the record type. E.g. We need a very different page layout for a consumer lead Vs a commercial lead, sameScheduling Tasks in Relation to Project End Date
I use Zoho project to help manage tasks that relate to a number of specific business events that take place. I would like to be able to have my project end date be the date of the event and then work "back" from that date to say... Add a task 2 weeks before the project end date to remind me to XYZ. Does anyone know if there is a way to base task timings back from a project due date rather than a project start date?Notes of Tasks in Zoho CRM
Hello, Is there a way to filter the Notes that appear on a Task to only show the notes related to that specific Task and not display all the Notes of the objects related to that Task (Accounts, Contacts, Deal, etc). In essence, our team struggles to understandPassing the CRM
Hi, I am hoping someone can help. I have a zoho form that has a CRM lookup field. I was hoping to send this to my publicly to clients via a text message and the form then attaches the signed form back to the custom module. This work absolutely fine whenHow to next stage blueprint in Zoho Creator
Hello, I have question, its possible to next stage blueprint? in case, Start - (first stage) Leader 1 (with condition 1) - (second stage) Leader 2 (with condition 2) - (third stage) Leader 3 (with condition 3) - (fourth stage) After first stage, i wantFeature Request: Email Follow-Up Sequences Similar to Zoho CRM
I’m wondering if Zoho Recruit is planning to introduce a feature similar to the Email Automation – Follow-Up Sequences that is available in Zoho CRM. In CRM, this allows users to send a series of timed follow-up emails triggered by specific actions (forDuplicated Notebooks
Out of the blue, almost all of my notebooks got duplicated and the different copies contain different information. Some seem like older copies than the others. I use the linux desktop app and sometimes the Android app. I assume that the sync failed at some point and was unable to merge the two versions together. But I'm afraid to add anything else to my notebook because if it can't properly sync 5 notebooks with only a handful of notes each, what will happen when I have hundreds of notes and I loseCurrency limitation when integrating Zoho CRM & Zoho Books
Brief Video of Problem: https://www.loom.com/share/d61d1d07d0904e149d80c1901a22418e. Background · Our business is based in Australia and we have to have Zoho Books in AUD to comply with tax and reporting regulations in Australia. · We sellMulti-select Lookup does not have Advanced filter options in CRM
With much fanfare Zoho announced the advanced filter options for CRM lookup fields which was a nice addition. This feature is not available for Multi-Select lookup fields. Will it be rolled out in the next 3-6 months, considering the standard lookup filterExperience effortless record management in CRM For Everyone with the all-new Grid View!
Hello Everyone, Hope you are well! As part of our ongoing series of feature announcements for Zoho CRM For Everyone, we’re excited to bring you another type of module view : Grid View. In addition to Kanban view, List view, Canvas view, Chart view andNext Page