Deferred Revenue Methods
In Nimble AMS, staff need to set up a deferred revenue method and attach it to a product in order to record revenue in a deferred GL account until the recognition date occurs. A deferred revenue method can be configured for membership, registration, or subscription revenue.
In this section, you will find information and steps for working with deferred revenue methods.
Beginning in Nimble AMS Spring '19, we enhanced the deferred revenue methods capabilities to comply with FASB regulations. The information in this section is all updated to reflect the new functionality. To understand more about what changed in Spring '19 and how to transition from the legacy functionality to the new functionality, read FASB Regulations.
Deferred Revenue Method Record Types
The record type of your deferred revenue methods must match the type of revenue you are deferring. The types of deferred revenue supported by Nimble AMS are:
- Membership
- Registration
- Subscription
- Coupon
Key Fields on a Deferred Revenue Method
Let's cover some more details about important fields on a deferred revenue method record.
For specific instructions on setting up a deferred revenue method, see Create a Deferred Revenue Method.
Deferred Schedule Calculator Class
A deferred revenue method is used to calculate a deferred schedule. If left blank, the standard deferred schedule calculator will be used. This is available to all deferred revenue method record types.
Recognition
The picklist values for the recognition fields depends on the deferred revenue method record type:
| Deferred Revenue Method Record Type | Available Picklist Values |
|---|---|
Membership |
|
|
|
Subscription |
|
Coupon |
|
[1] These are new picklist values as of Nimble AMS Spring '19.
What happened to the "Event Recognition" and "Membership Recognition" Fields?
As of Spring '19, the Event Recognition and Membership Recognition fields are legacy fields, which means Nimble AMS stills support them (they are grandfathered in) but they do not have as much functionality as the new recognition field.
Frequency
For deferred revenue methods with the Membership and Subscription record types, a new type of recognition is available as of Spring '19: Frequency. Previously, revenue for Memberships and Subscriptions could only be deferred All On Start Date or monthly (Straightline).
When you submit an order with a subscription or membership product associated with a frequency-based deferred revenue method, a deferred schedule is created based on the occurrence, length, and number of revenue recognitions defined in the frequency record (Ex: bi-monthly, weekly, quarterly, etc.).
Frequency recognition is essentially a much more flexible Straightline recognition because you aren't confined to monthly recognition.
If you select the Frequency Recognition, you must populate the frequency lookup field.
For a detailed example of a membership deferred schedule being processed based on frequency, see Detailed Examples of Deferred Schedule Recognition.
Days From Event Start Date
With this field, you can specify the number of days after the event start date that deferred revenue will be recognized. The Days from Event Start Date is required when recognition is set to X Days From Start Date.
Publication
If you don't see the Publication lookup field on the page layout for subscription deferred revenue methods, your admin needs to add it.
As of Spring '19, a new type of recognition is available exclusively to subscription deferred revenue methods: Publication. With the new Publication recognition, revenue will be recognized according to the specific Issue Date(s) of the issues related to the publication record.
Everything else should function the same as Straightline recognition, the only difference being that you are not confined to monthly recognition. For example, if you have a publication every four months, the revenue is recognized to exactly match the issue dates (which does not necessarily have to be the same day every month).
Make sure the issue dates are all in the future. Since the deferred schedule's Start Date will be automatically set to the first issue's Issue Date, then you could create a situation where the initial transaction date is erroneously after the deferred schedule's Start Date. The nightly deferred revenue job won't retroactively run deferred schedule with a Start Date in the past.
Related Products
In Nimble AMS, a deferred revenue method is tied to one or more product. The deferred revenue method is not required, and is populated by staff.
The record type for a deferred revenue method and any related products must be the same. For example, a subscription product can only be related to subscription deferred revenue method.