Revenue Recognition overview
You can sign up for revenue recognition in the Stripe Dashboard.
Revenue recognition is a fundamental component of accrual accounting. Generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) state that you should recognize revenue when you realize and earn it, which may be earlier or later than when you actually receive cash. Correctly recognizing and deferring revenue enables you to have the most accurate insights into your business profitability and financial health.
Who needs revenue recognition
Revenue recognition is critical for many types of businesses, especially:
- Public companies or large businesses with over 25 million USD in annual revenue—because they’re legally required to comply with ASC 606 and GAAP and IFRS accounting standards.
- Startups that may need to follow accrual accounting to raise money from investors or get a loan from a bank.
- Subscription and service-based business and businesses that sell digital or physical goods where customers pay upfront before receiving the good or service.
Revenue recognition can provide these businesses with a clear picture of their performance.
Revenue recognition gets complicated quickly as businesses scale, and payments volumes and product lines increase. For subscription businesses that need to manage changes, refunds, disputes, and prorations, revenue recognition can be especially complex because these subscription updates can complicate the process of recognizing and deferring revenue accurately and compliantly.
Stripe Revenue Recognition
Stripe Revenue Recognition helps you simplify the process of recognizing revenue for your accounting process without the need for engineering involvement or lengthy configurations.
- Recognized and deferred revenue summaries at-a-glance
- Downloadable accounting reports and waterfall charts
- Interactive revenue numbers for full audit transparency
- Configurable revenue recognition rules and accounting period controls
Read more about Stripe’s revenue recognition methodology.