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Deferred revenues: how to automate them?

Deferred/unearned revenue is an advance payment recorded on the recipient's balance sheet as a liability account until either the services have been rendered or the products have been delivered. Deferred revenue is a liability account because it refers to revenue that has not yet been earned, but represents products or services that are owed to the customer. As the products or services are delivered over time, the revenue is recognized and posted on the income statement.

For example: let's say you sell a 2 year support contract for $24,000 that begins next month for a period of 24 months. Once you validate the customer invoice, the $24.000 should be posted into a deferred revenues account. This is because the $24,000 you received has not yet been earned.

Over the next 24 months, you will be reducing the deferred revenues account by $1,000 ($24,000/24) on a monthly basis and recognizing that amount as revenue.

Configuratie

Module installatie

In order to automate deferred revenues, go to the settings menu under the application Accounting ‣ Configuration and activate the Assets management & revenue recognition option. This will install the Revenue Recognition Management module.

Define deferred revenue types

Once the module is installed, you need to create deferred revenue types. From the Accounting application, go to the menu Configuration ‣ Deferred Revenues Types.

Voorbeeld: 12 maanden onderhoudscontract

Some example of deferred revenues types:

  • 1 jaar dienstencontract

  • 3 jaar dienstencontracten

Set deferred revenues on products

Once deferred revenues types are defined, you can set them on the related products. On the product form, in the Accounting tab, you can set a deferred revenue type.

Here are some examples of products and their related deferred revenue types:

ProductDeferred Revenue Type

Ondersteuningscontract: 3 jaar

3 jaar dienstencontracten

Netflix abonnement: 3 jaar

3 jaar dienstencontracten

Bloemen elke maand

1 jaar product contract

Verkoop en factureer producten

Once the products are configured, you can create a customer invoice using this product. Once the customer invoice is validated, Odoo will automatically create a deferred revenue for you, and the related journal entry.

Rekening

DrCr
Accounts receivable24000
Deferred revenue account24000

Then, every month, Odoo will post a journal entry for the revenue recognition.

Rekening

DrCr
Deferred revenue account1000
Service revenue account1000

Rapportering

To analyze all your current contracts having a deferred revenue, you can use the menu Reporting > Deferred Revenue Analysis.