Revenue Management: #7 Revenue Recognition in Construction & Real Estate Industry

Revenue Management: #7 Revenue Recognition in Construction & Real Estate Industry

If you are in the construction or real estate business, you are used to long project timelines and progressive invoicing to keep up with your billing. But when does revenue get recognized? Will it happen when the contract gets signed? At different milestones or only at the end of the project? Each phase has its own pace, and the revenue needs to be tracked carefully throughout the end.


How do long-term projects and contract-driven businesses recognize revenue?   

Revenue Recognition Scenario in Construction & Real Estate

With long-term projects and multiple deliverables in place, construction and real estate businesses often stretch the process across months or even years. Revenue recognition in these industries is less about timing and more about progress.


Long-Term, Multi-Phase Projects

Construction projects often span many months or years. Recognizing revenue based solely on billing milestones (say 30% upfront, 40% midway, and 30% on completion) doesn't reflect the actual progress or value delivered. Companies must track and report revenue based on performance progress, not payment terms.


Example: $5,00,000 real estate development, $1,00,000 recognized after land acquisition, $2,00,000 during construction in progress and remaining during handover.

Percentage of Completion Method

This industry often uses the percentage of completion method, where revenue is recognized based on the cost incurred or work completed relative to the entire project. Misjudging this percentage can result in misstated finances.


Example: For a $1 million project, if 40% of the work is completed, $4,00,000 is recognized regardless of its payment terms.

Retainage Clauses

In construction, it's common for clients to withhold a portion of the contract until completion. Although the work is completed, the revenue may remain deferred depending on the contract terms.

Example: 10% of the $2,00,000 contract is retained as a deposit. That is, $20,000 will be kept as deferred revenue until completion.

Change Orders and Delayed Delivery

Projects might include design, foundation, electrical, plumbing, and landscaping. Each component might have a separate delivery schedule and must be tracked as a performance obligation. When the scope changes during the progress, companies must reassess the total contract value and the revenue allocation accordingly. On the other hand, if the project execution is postponed, all the revenue earned will remain deferred even if an upfront payment was made.


Example: If a client makes a $5,00,000 upfront payment but the work is delayed, the entire amount will stay in deferred revenue until the obligations are fulfilled.

Proper recognition in this space depends more on accurately tracking project progress and billing terms. It's hard for any business to track all these manually, as any deviation in this might lead to the risk of under- or over-recognition. Sometimes, automated recognition rules may not fit a construction contract, specifically when project timelines are uncertain, milestones don't follow a uniform schedule, or the scope frequently changes.

Businesses may prefer manual revenue recognition to mitigate the risk of miscalculation or inappropriate revenue recognition. This ensures revenue is recorded only when specific deliverables are actually completed.


Info

Scenario:

A construction company signs a $600,000 contract to build a commercial warehouse. The client pays the full payment upfront, but the contract specifies that revenue will only be recognized at key stages of the project completion and not based on the period.

Project stages are defined as:

  •  Site Preparation & Foundation: $100,000

  • Structural Framework: 30% of contract value

  • Roofing & Utilities Installations: 40% of the contract value

  • Interior Finishing & Handover over: Remaining balance


Revenue Recognition with Zoho Billing

Zoho Billing enables businesses like the one above to create flexible revenue recognition rules tied to the project progress and with several deliverables.


Companies rely on manual revenue recognition in most construction projects because project timelines and deliverables are often unpredictable. Manual recognition ensures revenue is recorded only when specific milestones are completed. Automated rules like the percentage of completed or scheduled milestones can still be configured where timelines are more predictable, but manual recognition remains the default approach in this industry. In such cases, rules don't need to be pre-configured; the revenue is recognized manually when the milestone is completed.

Reports in Zoho Billing

At the end of the project, recognition happens only at milestone completions based on the manual entry made by the project management team.


Recognised Revenue Report: 

Phases

Completion Date

Recognized Revenue

Site Preparation & Foundation

15/Jan/2025

$100,000

Structural Framework

10/Mar/2025

$180,000

Roofing & Utilities Installation

25/May/2025

$240,000

Interior Completion & Handover

30/Jul/2025

$80,000

Total Recognized

 

$600,000

 


Deferred Revenue Report: 

Month

Deferred Amount

Jan 2025

$500,000

Feb 2025

$500,000

Mar 2025

$320,000

Apr 2025

$320,000

May 2025

$80,000

Jun 2025

$80,000

Jul 2025

$0

 


Revenue Waterfall Report

Billing Date

Total Billed

Jan 2025

Feb 2025

Mar 2025

Apr 2025

May 2025

Jun 2025

Jul 2025

Recognized Revenue

Deferred Revenue

Jan 2025

$600,000

$100,000

$0

$180,000

$0

$240,000

$0

$80,000

$600,000

$0

 


Zoho Billing can efficiently handle change orders, as revenue is recognized manually (Manual Recognition Method). It also allows contract amendments and dynamic revenue reallocation based on project alignment.

Idea

Best Practices for Construction & Real Estate Firms' Revenue Recognition

  • Break Down Phases as Obligations: Identify architecture and construction as distinct deliverable components.
  • Use Percentage of Completion Metrics: Set the base recognition based on cost or time progress, not on the invoicing period.
  • Handle Change Orders: Adjust the revenue schedule dynamically when the scope of the project changes. 
    • 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

      • Where to Add Machines as Products to Map with Assets in Zoho FSM?

        implementing Zoho FSM for a clinical equipment supply company. The business sells and installs clinical machines in hospitals and clinics, and they also handle service requests, scheduled maintenance, calibration visits, and general machine upkeep. In
      • Show Zoom Link in Recipient's Calendar

        We set up meetings within a record, selecting the "Make this an online meeting".  We use Zoom. Most of the recipients go to their calendar (usually Gmail or Outlook, corporate) to join the Zoom meeting, but there is no Zoom link in the calendar. Can this
      • Zoho Bigin - should be able to link a "contact" to multiple "companies"

        Hello Support, I called into telephone support and was told that a contact can only be linked to one company. We have situations were director are contacts of and directors of multiple companies so that seems a basic weakness in Bigin. When go to add
      • Does Thrive work with Zoho Billing (Subscriptions)?

        I would like to use Thrive with Zoho Billing Subscriptions but don't see a way to do so. Can someone point me in the right direction? Thank you
      • Radio button data won't update

        Wondering if anyone is experiencing the same problem. I tried bulk updating our data on Zoho Creator using API and noticed that the radio button field wasn't updated. I have tried updating it manually, it didn't work. When I tried updating a text field
      • Introducing Global Sets for easy management of similar picklists in CRM

        Latest update (December 2025): You can now apply color coding to the values inside a global set, the same way you color code values in regular picklist fields. Update (Sep 2024): We've increased the maximum count limit for global sets. These new limits
      • No Ability to Rename Record Template PDFs in SendMail Task

        As highlighted previously in this post, we still have to deal with the limitation of not being able to rename a record template when sent as a PDF using the SendMail Task. This creates unnecessary complexity for what should be a simple operation, and
      • New in CPQ: Smarter suggestions for Product Configurator by Zia, and additional criteria in Price Rules

        Hello everyone! CPQ's Product Configurator in Zoho CRM allows sales teams to define structured product bundles through configuration rules, ensuring that the right product combinations are applied consistently in quotes. Admins set up these configurations
      • Process between CRM and Campaigns to ensure double opt-in contacts?

        I would like to ask for a few clarifications to ensure we fully comply with best practices and legal requirements: According to the documentation (Zoho Campaigns CRM sync – Default option), the best and recommended way to sync contacts is by using the
      • Zoho Books - New Interface keep details with PDF View

        Hello, The Zoho Books Interface has changed for estimates etc... One thing is causing issues though. Before the change, in PDF view you could see the detail information including custom fields entered for the estimate. Now, you have to switch between
      • Tip #52- Zoho Assist Downloads: Everything You Need in One Place- 'Insider Insights'

        Looking to start remote support sessions faster, manage unattended devices effortlessly, or join sessions without any hassle? The Zoho Assist Downloads Center has all the tools you need—across desktop, mobile, IoT, and browser environments. With our range
      • Condition based aggregate fields in subforms

        Hello everyone, We're excited to inform you about the latest enhancements made to our aggregate field capabilities in subforms; create aggregate fields based on conditions! An aggregate field is a column on which a mathematical function has been applied.
      • SalesInbox

        Sorry for saying this but SalesInbox is a really mess. BIG FAIL. Bad UX and VERY bad IMAP sync. I don't know how can someone use this to be more productive. It's just the oposite. I'm trying to use SalesInbox for a while but sales people do not have just sales activities so we still have to came back to the mail app anyway. Folders of SalesInbox are not in sync with folders of mail server (wich syncs Ok to mobile) and vice-versa wich leads to double work as now you have to cleanup 3 inboxes (Mail
      • Print labels on selected view

        How can I print labels for select view. Always defaults to ALL contacts when I select View = Mailing Labels. Thanks!!
      • Update CRM Price Books to include volume discounts as per Zoho Books/Inventory

        Once again, Zoho has 3 great products that all store information in different ways (which is not helpful when you attempt to integrate the 3 products - one of the best features of Zoho). Zoho CRM Price Books are basic at best. Zoho Books/Inventory Price
      • Tip #40- Strengthen Remote Support with IP-based Restrictions in Zoho Assist– ‘Insider Insights’

        Protecting sensitive data and preventing unauthorized access is a top priority for any organization. With IP-based restrictions in Zoho Assist, you can ensure that only users from trusted networks can initiate remote support sessions. Say your IT team
      • Printing Client Lists

        I was looking for a way to print out client lists based on the account. For example if I want all my contacts from company A on one sheet, how would I do this. Moderation Update (3rd December 2025): There are two challenges discussed in this thread. 1.
      • Qwen to be the default open source Generative AI model in Zoho Desk

        Hello everyone, At Zoho Desk, we will make the latest Qwen (30B parameters) the default LLM for our Generative AI features, including Answer Bot, Reply Assistant, and others. As a subsequent step, we will discontinue support for Llama (8B parameters).
      • ZOHO Blueprint and Workflow

        Hi, Correct me if i'm wrong, Blueprint triggers when a record that meets the criteria is created. It follows a specific transition that you will be setting up. Does blueprint work if the first state was triggered by a workflow? For example, In my custom module 1, I have a field named status. The statuses are 1, 2, 3 and 4. As soon as I create a new record, a workflow triggers that updates the status field to 1. Can a blueprint start from 2? My other concern is, can blueprint transitions work at the
      • Zoho CRM Participants Automatic - Invite Using Deluge

        Hi Zoho! Is there a way to make the invitations automatic via API? I'm using this one but it doesn't work or reflect in the CRM: participantUser = Map(); participantUser.put("type","email"); participantUser.put("participant",email); participantUser.put("invited",
      • Greek character in Deluxe script

        Hi, We have been using a script since 2022 which replaces characters in Greek contact names using replaceAll. Since this morning, all the Greek characters used in the script have turned to question marks. I tried retyping the characters, copy-pasting
      • Work Order Assignment for Engineers Handling Their Own Requests

        I’m setting up FSM for a business where there are multiple engineers, but each engineer handles their own process end-to-end receiving the service request, creating the work order, and completing the field service job. I noticed that I must create an
      • Experience Zoho Show on Mac now!

        Work today isn’t tied to a single place, time, or routine. It happens in cafes between meetings, on flights, or late at night when ideas strike. And when ins, your tools need to be ready, wherever you are. That’s why we built the Zoho Show app for Mac.
      • 【開催報告】東京 ユーザー交流会 Vol.4 | Zoho CRM 自動化のコツ ・Bookings のビジネス活用シーンとおすすめ機能を紹介

        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。 11月28日(金)に新橋で「東京 ユーザー交流会 Vol.4」を開催しました。ご参加くださったユーザーの皆さま、ありがとうございました。ユーザー交流会の年内開催は、今回が最後でした。 この投稿では、当日のセッションの様子や使用した資料を紹介しています。残念ながら当日お越しいただけなかった方も、ぜひチェックしてみてください😊 ユーザー活用事例セッション:関数やクライアントスクリプトまで、CRMをもっと便利に Zoho CRM には、ワークフローやブループリントなど、さまざまな自動化に役立つ標準機能が備わっています。さらに、関数(Deluge)のようにスクリプトを記述して高度な自動化を実現することもできます。
      • Kiosk Button Actions

        I need to add an action to a Kiosk Button to loop me back to start the kiosk again and I am not sure what that looks like (function, etc.).
      • Dependent drop-downs... how?

        Good day. I have 2 different situations where I need a dependent drop-down field. First is for a subform, where I want to show related fields for a specific customer on the main form. In my case it is a parent whose children make use of our school transport
      • Reporting Limitation on Lead–Product Relation in Zoho CRM

        I noticed that Zoho CRM has a default Products related list under Leads. However, when I try to create a report for Lead–Product association, I’m facing some limitations. To fix this, I’m considering adding a multi-lookup field along with a custom related
      • Series Label in the Legend

        My legend reads 'Series 1' and 'Series 2'. From everything I read online, Zoho is supposed to change the data names if it's formatted correctly. I have the proper labels on the top of the columns and the right range selected. I assume it's something in
      • Dynamic Signature - Record owner

        Hi everyone, I’m using Zoho Writer merge templates from Zoho CRM and have two questions: Owner signature: How can I automatically insert the CRM record owner’s signature in the merged document? I’m not sure where this signature is stored or how to reference
      • Set Warehouse based on Vendor

        Greetings. I would like to set automaticaly the Warehouse based on the Vendor. Context: I am working on an adaptation of a Purchase Order to be used as a Quotation. I have defined that when a user has to raise a quote the Vendor will be "PROCUREMENT" I would like to set the Warehouse to a predefined value when "PROCUREMENT" is set as Vendor. I have tried to do with the Automation feature using the Field Update option, but Warehouse does not is listed as a field. Can you help? Thanks in advance.
      • Printing from Zoho Creator hosted on my own server to printers hosted on my clients local network

        Hello. Fairly new to Zoho Creator and looking for best options to be able to print from my application hosted on my own server to any printer hosted on my clients own local network. Any advice is welcome. Thank you.
      • Add System Pre-Defined Lookup Field to Subform?

        Hi there! New to using Zoho, so this may already exist, but I'm having trouble figuring it out. Is there a way to get the system pre-defined Account Lookup field (in our case, renamed to Company Name), as the starting point for a subform? In our company,
      • Numbered / bullet point List in Zho Cliq

        Hi, is there a way to format chat messages in Cliq like this Topic 1 Hey, I finished this project yesterday etc... Topic 2 I am still working on this etc...
      • Cannot Access Subform Display Order in Deluge

        As highlighted in this community post, we still have to deal with the significant limitation of not being able to access the user-sorted order of subform rows through Deluge. This creates a major disconnect between the UI capabilities and backend automation,
      • How many groups in Zoho Mail can I make?

        I'm currently on the free plan, which has a limit of 10 users. Does that limit includes groups too? If not, what is the limit for groups? Thanks!
      • Feature Suggestion for Zoho Social: Auto-reply to Comments or Keywords

        Hi Zoho team, I'd like to suggest a very specific feature that would be extremely helpful for customer engagement: the ability to automatically send a reply to comments on posts — either all comments or those containing specific keywords. For example,
      • Already have Zoho account. Not letting me log in

        I already have a Zoho account that is associated with my Google email and my phone number. Even though I'm already logged in to Zoho, when I click on the mail icon to access my email, it takes me to the pricing page. When I click on the free option, it
      • ZOHO Mail App Not working

        There seems to be an issue with Zoho Mail App today. It is not connecting to server, internet is working fine, tried uninstalling app and reinstalling, loading circle keeps spinning round. Is there an update on the way?
      • facing error 550 5.4.6 while sending emails

        Please help me fix this issue
      • Allow Itemization for Recurring Expenses

        For whatever reason, one cannot itemize a Recurring Expense. This capability should be added. The use cases to support this are largely the same as what they were to allow for itemization in Expenses. Anything that would need to be itemized for a regular
      • Next Page