Revenue Management: #8 Revenue Recognition in Educational & Training Institutions

Revenue Management: #8 Revenue Recognition in Educational & Training Institutions

Educational Institutions and training centres typically collect course fees at the time of enrolment, sometimes for a one-day workshop and sometimes for a year-long certification course. You might also charge separately for course materials or evaluation. But when can you actually recognize that income? Would you be able to recognize it on payment? Spread it across the course period? What happens if a student cancels midway?


How do institutions manage revenue when learning is delivered over time?

Revenue Recognition Scenarios in Education & Training
Education institutions and training providers often deal with varying course durations, delivery models (online, in-person, hybrid), and fees collected upfront. Though the five-step revenue recognition model remains constant, the timing and allocation of revenue depend on the learning service's structure. Here are common revenue recognition scenarios for this industry:

Upfront Free for Long-Term Course
When a learner enrols in a course that runs for several months and pays the full fee in advance, the institution cannot recognize the entire amount immediately. Instead, the revenue should be spread out across the period the training is delivered.

Example: A $6000 certification course runs for 6 months. Revenue should be recognized at $1000 per month during the course period.

Short-Term Workshops & Seminars
For one-day or short-duration workshops, revenue can often be fully recognised once the sessions are delivered, assuming there is no refund window.

Example: A $500 weekend workshop is recognized on the day it occurs.

Course Materials & Exams
Institutions that charge separately for materials, exams, or certification must split those payments and recognize those amounts individually.

Example: $1200 total course fee, including $900 for training for three months and $300 for materials. Revenue should be recognized $300 upfront and $300/month for three months.

Cancellation, Refunds, and Attendance-Based Pricing
Refund policies and partial completions must be factored into recognition. If a student drops out after 1 month of a 3-month course, only one-third of the revenue should be recognized unless a refund is issued.

Example: A $900 course is cancelled after 1 month. You must recognize $300 and defer or refund the rest based on the policy. Credit note will be created, and the deferred $600 will be reversed to the customer as credits or issued a refund.

These scenarios show that educational institutions must align revenue with actual learning delivery and not merely based on fee collection. Automating this alignment avoids revenue overstatement and ensures compliance.


Info
Scenario :

A training company signs up a student for a three-month Data Analytics certification program for a fee of $3000. The payment is made in full at the start. The course includes three months of training and $600 worth of course material.  



Zoho Billing for Education Institution Revenue Recognition
Zoho Billing enables learning platforms to automate revenue recognition by setting up roles that separately reflect course delivery and service components.

For the above scenario, you can configure the recognition rule as follows,

Component

Recognition Frequency

Recognition Method

Recognition Time

Course Material

Once

One-Time (Daily)

Period Start

Training Session

Monthly

Evenly Distributed

Period Start

 

Although $3000 is collected upfront, only $600 for the course material can be recognized immediately according to the performance obligation. The remaining $2400 will be spread evenly across the three-month training period.


Reports in Zoho Billing

i) Recognized Revenue Report
Two months into the course, the course material is delivered, and one month of training is pending.

Component

Recognized Revenue

Description

Course Material

$600

Recognized fully at the start

Training Session

$1600

out of $2400 for two months of training given

Total Recognized

$2200

Recognized in two months

 


ii) Deferred Revenue Report
After two months, it will be left with the training session payment alone as deferred.

Component

Deferred Amount

Course Delivery

$0

Training Session

$800

Total Deferred

$800

 


iii) Revenue Waterfall Report

Month

Course Material

Training Session

Total

Month 1

$600

$800

$1400

Month 2

----

$800

$800

Month 3

----

$800

$800

Total

$600

$2400

$3000

 

Idea

Best Practices for Education Institution Revenue Recognition

  • Separate Instructional & Non-Instructional Items: Classify course material, training, certification, and exam components distinctly
  • Align Revenue with Course Delivery: Ensure the recognition rule is set based on course delivery and that the revenue is recognized when the student receives the instruction.
  • Set Return/Refund Policy Clearly: Establish a clear policy and terms to account for students who drop out or cancel courses after signing up.

 

Notes
Up Next: Revenue Recognition in Media & Publishing
    • 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's
    • Community 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 you
    • Community 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 most
    • Introducing: 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

    Nederlandse Hulpbronnen


      • Recent Topics

      • Quickly send emails and sync conversations with custom email addresses in CRM

        Editions: All editions DCs: All DCs Release plan: This enhancement has been released for customers in all DCs except IN and US. We will be enabling it for IN and US DC customers soon. [Update on 22 May 2024] This enhancement has been released for all
      • Zoho製品と生成AIツールの活用について

        いつもありがとうございます。 弊社では、Zoho Oneを契約し、CRMを軸として、見込み客の管理から商談、その後の受注や請求の管理、サポート業務(Desk)、業務データのレポーティング(Analytics)などを行っております。 Zohoサービス自体には、Ziaというツールが搭載されているかと存じますが、それ以外の外部の生成AIツールと連携した活用などもできるのでしょうか?具体的には、CopilotなどがZohoに登録されているデータや情報を見て、対話型で必要なデータを提示してくれたり、商談や蓄積されたメモなどを分析してユーザが知見を得られるような活用ができないか、と考えております。
      • File Field Validation

        Hello all, We are tracking our customer NDA agreements in our CRM and have created 2 fields to do so, an execution date field and a file upload field. I want to create a validation rule to ensure that when the execution date field is populated that the
      • Work with Contacts who use multiple Emails / Manage obsolete Email addresses without loosing Emails in Context

        Hello List Work with Contacts who use multiple Emails Only after 1 week in using Zoho CRM productively we have contacts which randomly use 2 different email addresses. From the concept I've understood that Zoho CRM offers two email fields which are recognized
      • New Field in CRM Product Module Not Visible in Zoho Creator for Mapping

        I created a new single-line field in the Products module in Zoho CRM. Zoho CRM and Zoho Creator are integrated, but the newly created field in CRM is not visible in Zoho Creator when I try to map fields.
      • Send WhatsApp voice messages from Bigin

        Greetings, I hope all of you are doing well. We're happy to announce this enhancement we've made to Bigin. Bigin's WhatsApp integration now supports audio messages, so you can record and send voice messages. This makes it easier to handle customer questions
      • Microsoft Teams now available as an online meeting provider

        Hello everyone, We're pleased to announce that Zoho CRM now supports Microsoft Teams as an online meeting provider—alongside the other providers already available. Admins can enable Microsoft Teams directly from the Preferences tab under the Meetings
      • I want to subscribe 1 professional user but the email only 250 per day?

        When I subscribe 1 professional user, I am only able to send 250 email per day? So less? Or is it typo, 2500 rather than 250? Any sale agent or friends can clear my doubt? Thank You
      • How to add a % Growth column for year-over-year comparison (2024 vs 2025)

        Hello, I am trying to build a monthly revenue comparison between 2024 and 2025 in Zoho CRM Analytics. My current setup is: Module: Deals (Affaires) Filter: Stage = Closed Won Date field: Closing Date Grouping: By Month Metrics: Sum of Amount for 2024,
      • How do you map a user picklist field to another user picklist field.

        In Zoho Projects, I'm trying to map a custom field (user picklist) in Task Details to a field (user picklist) in the Project Details. How do you get the two to map to each other? This is what I currently have that works for my other fields but doesn't
      • Explore Competitive 3D Scanner Prices at Protomont Technologies

        The genesis of Protomont Technologies emerged from the collaborative efforts of the founders in 2019, both the founders shoulder an enormous experience in the world of 3D Printing. Protomont Technology aims to craft your vision with creativity, empowering
      • New and improved API resources for Zoho Sign Developers

        Hello, Developers community! We know that for you, an API's real value depends on how quickly, easily, and reliably you can integrate the it with your application. That's why we're excited to talk about the recent improvements to our developer resources,
      • stock

        bom/bse : stock details or price =STOCK(C14;"price") not showing issue is #N/A! kindly resolve this problem
      • Project Approval Process Workflow

        Issue: When a new Project is created, there is lack of process/workflow that provides their manager a process to approve or review. Suggestion/Idea: Similar to “Workflow”, we need “Workflow” ability at Project level, where based on the criteria of the
      • Marketing Tip #5: Improve store speed with optimized images

        Slow-loading websites can turn visitors away. One of the biggest culprits? Large, uncompressed images. By optimizing your images, your store loads faster and creates a smoother shopping experience leading to higher sales. It also indirectly improves SEO.
      • Why can I not choose Unearned Revenue as an account on items?

        Hello, I do not understand why we don't have the ability to code an item to unearned revenue. It is not an uncommon situation to have in business. I understand that there is the Retainer invoice as an option, however that doesn't really work for us. Our
      • Form Submission Emails

        Is there a current delay with submission emails being sent? We've had 10-20 forms completed today but only a handful of emails.
      • Rules not working properly

        I created a rule to display certain fields on certain states. But it seems to be not working. It hides the fields even when I selected California, (which is a state that should show the fields when selected)
      • Notebook font size issue

        If I copy something from somewhere and paste it in my notebook, the font size becomes smaller.
      • Sign in process is beyond stupid. I'd rather plug my phone into USB and copy files than sign in to this POS.

        792 clicks and fields to fill in just to get into a 3rd rate app is too stupid for me.
      • Ampersand in URL parameter // EncodeURL does not work

        Hi Zoho, I have a url link with a parameter. The parameter is including ampersand in some cases (Can be "H&M" or "P&I") When trying to use %26 instead of "&"  (the result I get using EncodeURL()) I get H%26M instead of H&M in the parameter field. How can I solve this? Thanks! Ravid
      • how can we create in zoho crm a new contact when the looup does not find a similar existing one

        In forms/integrations/zoho crm / ne w record tab, contact name is to be mapped with my form contact name. When I go in biew edit/lookup configuration, I don t get the options (help dedicated page simply repeat the same info you get in the app) and does
      • Directory Websites

        Directories are a good website category to gain search engine traffic. Directories for a professional service category as an example can help their members in search results over their individual website. It would be nice to have a directory template
      • Manage Task on Mobile

        How do we manage our task on mobile devices? It seems that there should be a standalone mobile app to handle the new task features. The new features released in regards to Task management are great by the way! Now we need to bring that all together in
      • Set Default Payment Method & Default account

        Hi, I would like to know how to set the default payment method and default bank account when recording payments in zoho books. At present we have to change these fields everytime we record a payment, which leads to potential error and as we have a very
      • Customer Portal on Zoho Desk

        Hi, I'd like to know more about the items below I found when setting up the Customer Portal on Zoho Desk. Could someone help me explaining these in details? Especially the 2nd and 3rd point. Thanking you in advance! Permissions Customers can sign up for Customer Portal Customers can view tickets of their organization (contacts) Customers must register to access Customer Portal Display Community in Customer Self Service portal
      • Slow Performance on desk.zoho.com. 11/3/2025

        I’m not seeing any active service alerts for desk.zoho.com, but everyone on our account is currently experiencing very slow load times when opening or navigating tickets. We’ve already tried the standard troubleshooting steps — clearing cache and cookies,
      • Computer Showing Offline in Unattended Access

        I have a computer that was connected to the internet but showing offline in Assist. I tried uninstalling the program and deleting it from Zoho Assist the reinstalling and it still does not show up. I have been a user for several months and am not pleased with the lack of connectivity with Assist. If this continues I will have to find another product. The computer I reinstalled it on is not even showing up in Assist now. The name is NYRVLI-PC. Thanks
      • Closing Accounting Periods - Invoice/Posting dates

        Hi, I have seen in another thread but I'm unsure on how the 'transaction locking' works with regards to new and old transactions. When producing monthly accounts if I close December 24 accounts on 8th Jan 25 will transaction locking prevent me from posting
      • Zoho CRM Portal Error

        Hi, We’re experiencing an issue with the Zoho CRM Portal. When we try to access it, we receive an HTTPS connection error: net::ERR_CERT_COMMON_NAME_INVALID. If we proceed past that, we then get a 400 Bad Request error. Could you please help us resolve
      • Can we do Image swatches for color variants?

        We want to do something like the attached screenshot on our new zoho store. We need image swatches instead of normal text selection. We want to user to select an image as color option. Is this doable? I don't see any option on zoho backend. Please h
      • Integrating Zoho CRM EmbeddedApp SDK with Next.js — Initialization and Data Fetching Issues

        You can get an idea from my code I have given in end: First, I worked on a React project and tried the same thing — it worked. My goal was to import the Zoho script and then load contacts using the Zoho Widget SDK, which was successful in React. Now,
      • Feature enhancement: Highlight rows based on a cell value

        Hello Sheet users, We're excited to announce a new feature enhacement, shaped directly by your valuable feedback! As you might know, conditional formatting is a great tool for anyone dealing with large data sets. Previously, if you’ve ever wanted to draw
      • Script Editor not an option

        I am trying to apply a script to a sheet and Script Editor is not an option. I don't want to go outside Sheets to do this (like Creator) if it can be done inside Sheets.
      • monetizing the courses

        Can I add a price for course enrollment ?
      • Can we add zoho books features like invoices estemates etc on our zohocommerce website. When our customer login with their account they can able to see all books features in one place on zohocommerce?

        Can we add zoho books features like invoices estemates etc on our zohocommerce website. When our customer login with their account they can able to see all books features in one place on zohocommerce?
      • Copy paste from word document deletes random spaces

        Hello Dear Zoho Team, When copying from a word document into Notebook, often I face a problem of the program deleting random spaces between words, the document become terribly faulty, eventhough it is perfect in its original source document (and without
      • Create custom rollup summary fields in Zoho CRM

        Hello everyone, In Zoho CRM, rollup summary fields have been essential tools for summarizing data across related records and enabling users to gain quick insights without having to jump across modules. Previously, only predefined summary functions were
      • Download a file from within a zoho creator widget

        I have a widget running in Zoho Creator , it displays uploaded documents in a table file, and I have added a download link in the view. ( The widget is created with html, css and javascript). I do not succeed in getting the download working. Do I have
      • Taxes for EU B2B Transactions

        Currently, ZC doesn't seem to have a procedure for validating VAT numbers of businesses purchasing in another EU state, and removing local VAT is valid. This is essential for all inter EU B2B trade.
      • Next Page