GL - Unearned / Deferred Revenue

GL - Unearned / Deferred Revenue

Unearned revenue is a liability to the entity until the revenue is earned. Learn the concept of unearned revenue, also known as deferred revenue. Gain an understanding of business scenarios in which organizations need to park their receipts as unearned. Look at some real-life examples and understand the accounting treatment for unearned revenue. Finally, look at how the concept is treated in the ERPs or automated systems.

What is unearned revenue?

Unearned revenues sometimes referred to as deferred revenues, are items that have been initially recorded as liabilities but are expected to become revenues over time or through the normal operations of the business. Unearned revenues (or deferred revenues) are revenues received in cash and recorded as liabilities prior to being earned. Unearned revenue is a liability to the entity until the revenue is earned.

Prepaid expenses and unearned revenues are created from transactions that involve the receipt or payment of cash. In both cases, the recording of the related expense or revenue is delayed until the end of the period or to a future accounting period as per accounting prudence and matching and accrual principles. It results from the company's receiving payments in advance for services or products that have not yet been provided. The company now ''owes'' that amount of services or products to its customer. This '' debt'' will be satisfied when those services or products are provided.

Examples of Unearned Revenue:

Some examples of unearned revenue are unearned rent, tuition received in advance by a school, an annual retainer fee received by an attorney, premiums received in advance by an insurance company, and magazine subscriptions received in advance by a publisher. Another example of unearned revenue would be if the customer paid a deposit for a custom ordered machine that has not been delivered, the deposit would be recorded as unearned revenue.  A magazine subscription results in deferred revenue for the publisher because the payment is received in advance; it will be converted into actual revenue as issues of the magazine are delivered.

An airline that receives advance payment for tickets should also record the transactions as unearned revenue. Similarly, professional service providers such as accounting, legal, and contracting firms that accept deposits should record them as unearned revenue. Companies that provide warranties to their customers for an extended time period and charge for these warranties also deal with unearned incomes.

Accounting Treatment of Deferred Revenue:

Companies using the accrual accounting method should adhere to the revenue recognition principles and matching principles. Companies should recognize revenue only in the same accounting period in which it is earned. Consequently, when companies accept deposits or advance payments, they should record them as unearned revenues at the time of the receipt. Then, in the future when the goods or services are provided to the customers, they should adjust the entries as earned income.

Unearned revenue is treated as a short- or long-term (or both) liability on a company's balance sheet, based on the nature of the entry and underlying business contract. This type of adjusting entry will be adjusted by another entry as and when the revenue will be earned to recognize revenue and offset the deferred revenue.

Examples of industries having unearned revenue:

Unearned revenue can be applied in almost all industries however it becomes very important in the case of some industries where advance payments are the norm like subscriptions for magazines. Companies providing extended warranties need to treat their sales as unearned revenues at the time of sale.

Industries dealing in products that require installation services are accounted for as multiple-element arrangements, where the fair value of the installation service is deferred when the product is delivered and recognized when the installation is complete. For installations with customer acceptance provisions, all revenue is generally deferred until customer acceptance. 

Warranty billings are generally invoiced to the customer at the beginning of the contract term.  Revenue from extended warranties is deferred and recognized ratably over the duration of the contract. When a dealer sells (sells being the keyword) a service contract not all of the revenue is recognized at the time of sale. Instead, it is recognized over the life of the contract and recorded as Deferred Service Contract Revenue in the liability section of the balance sheet. Each month and or year a portion of the deferred revenue is moved from liabilities to income. Unearned extended warranty revenue is reflected as unearned revenues in accrued liabilities in the balance sheets.

Revenue from separately priced, self-insured service contracts is deferred at the point of sale and generally recognized on a straight-line basis over the life of the contract for GAAP presentation.

Accounting Entries for Unearned Revenue:

In automated systems, you can define rules that can determine the event which triggers the revenue recognition. Till the time that recognition event is triggered, the amount remains parked in an unearned revenue account as a liability. If you enter an invoice with a Bill in Advance invoicing rule, Receivables creates the following journal entries.

In the first period of the rule:

Debit: Receivables

Credit: Unearned Revenue

In all periods of the rule for the portion that is recognized:

Debit: Unearned Revenue

Credit: Revenue

Related Links

Creation Date Tuesday, 30 November -0001 Hits 30474

You May Also Like

  • What is a Business Eco System?

    What is a Business Eco System?

    The goal of a business is to generate capital appreciation and profits for its owners or stakeholders by engaging in provision of goods and services to customers within the eco system/framework governed by respective laws(local/international).  The eco system involves various entities that the business works with for delivery of a product or service.

  • Matrix Organizational Structures

    Matrix Organizational Structures

    In recent times the two types of organization structures which have evolved are the matrix organization and the network organization. Rigid departmentalization is being complemented by the use of teams that cross over traditional departmental lines.

  • Global Business Services (GBS) Model

    Global Business Services (GBS) Model

    Global business services (GBS) is an integrated, scalable, and mature version of the shared services model. Global Business Services Model is a result of shared services maturing and evolving on a global scale. It is represented by the growth and maturity of the Shared services to better service the global corporations they support.

  • GL - Inquiry & Drilldown

    GL - Inquiry & Drilldown

    An account inquiry is a review of any type of financial account, whether it be a depository account or a credit account. In this tutorial, you learn what we mean by drill through functionality in the context of the general ledger system. We will explain the concept of drill-down and how it enables users to perform account and transaction inquiry at a granular level and the benefits of using this functionality.

  • Different Types of Organizational Structures

    Different Types of Organizational Structures

    Modern business organizations run multiple product and service lines, operate globally, leverage large number of registered legal entities, and operate through complex matrix relationships.  To stay competitive in the current global business environment, they must often develop highly diverse and complex organizational structures that cross international borders.

  • Equity and Liability Accounts

    Equity and Liability Accounts

    Funds contributed by owners in any business are different from all other types of funds. Equity is the residual value of the business enterprise that belongs to the owners or shareholders. The funds contributed by outsiders other than owners that are payable to them in the future. Liabilities are generally classified as Short Term (Current) and Long Term Liabilities. Current liabilities are debts payable within one year.

  • Defining Reporting Dimensions

    Defining Reporting Dimensions

    Multitude of these legal and operational structures clubbed with accounting and reporting needs give rise to many reporting dimensions at which the organization may want to track or report its operational metrics and financial results.  This is where business dimensions play a vital role.

  • GAAP to STAT Adjustments

    GAAP to STAT Adjustments

    Understand what we mean by GAAP to STAT adjustments. This article discusses the different standards that are used for multiple representations of the financial results for global organizations. Understand the meaning of US GAAP, Local GAAP, STAT, IFRS, and STAT. Finally, understand why accounting differences arise and how they are adjusted for different financial representations.

  • GL - Errors & Reversals

    GL - Errors & Reversals

    Explore the concept of journal reversals and understand the business scenarios in which users may need to reverse the accounting entries that have been already entered into the system. Understand the common sources of errors resulting in the reversal of entries and learn how to correct them. Discuss the reversal of adjustment entries and the reversal functionalities in ERPs.

  • Prepayments and Prepaid Expenses

    Prepayments and Prepaid Expenses

    Prepayments are the payment of a bill, operating expense, or non-operating expense that settle an account before it becomes due. Learn the concept of prepaid expenses. Understand the accounting treatment for prepaid expenses. Understand the concept by looking at some practical examples and finally learn the adjusting entry for these expenses. 

Explore Our Free Training Articles or
Sign Up to Start With Our eLearning Courses

Subscribe to Our Newsletter


© 2023 TechnoFunc, All Rights Reserved