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

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• Hari Hara Sudhan. S

  

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