The SaaS founder's guide to revenue reconciliation

Billing can get increasingly difficult as SaaS companies grow. More customers mean more chances for financial errors when it comes to reporting on revenue, which can lead to failed audits and lost trust.

The key to avoiding this is having a robust revenue reconciliation process that helps you monitor how money flows into your organization.

In this guide, we’ll go over:

• A quick definition of revenue reconciliation in SaaS
• Why it’s different from revenue recognition
• The key pillars of revenue reconciliation
• A step-by-step guide to performing SaaS revenue reconciliation
• Some common pitfalls to avoid and solutions

Let’s get started.

What is revenue reconciliation exactly?

Revenue reconciliation (sometimes called sales reconciliation) is the process of comparing and verifying different records of your company's revenue streams. 

Think of it as double-checking your financial homework. It's where you ensure your internal accounting systems accurately reflect the money coming into the business from your SaaS subscriptions and services.

How does it differ from revenue recognition?

Revenue recognition is the accounting principle that governs when revenue is officially recorded in financial statements. Specific rules (like GAAP or IFRS) ensure that revenue is reported in the correct period. 

Revenue reconciliation comes after this and is about making sure those records are accurate.

The critical role of revenue reconciliation in SaaS financial reporting

For SaaS businesses, revenue reconciliation is absolutely essential. 

Think about it: You have recurring billing cycles, contracts with varying terms, and perhaps usage-based fees. All this makes it a bit trickier to track what money has actually hit your bank accounts compared to what you should be earning based on your contracts.

Revenue reconciliation is where you catch any discrepancies. This is vital because your financial reports are used by investors and lenders, and for your own strategic decision-making. Inaccurate data can lead to a lot of trouble, from misleading stakeholders to making poor choices about your company's future.

Key pillars of revenue reconciliation

Successful revenue reconciliation for a SaaS business depends on several essential components. Let's break down these key pillars:

1. Invoicing that makes sense

Your invoices are the initial records of what you expect to be paid. Here's where clarity is king:

• Accurate terms: Double-check that your invoices precisely match the terms in your customer contracts. Pay attention to subscription periods, add-ons, and any usage-based fees. Mismatches here can lead to underpayment or delays.
• Clarity leads to timely payments: Design invoices with clear payment due dates, instructions, and remittance information. Confusing invoices can cause frustration and unintentional late payments.
• Automation helps: Integrating invoicing software with your customer database can prevent errors caused by manual data entry and keep your records consistent.

2. Payment processing where money meets the records

How you process payments directly impacts what shows up in your accounts. Here's what to watch out for:

• Multiple gateways: Do you use PayPal, and Stripe, and also take bank transfers? Make sure every payment gateway is feeding data into your accounting system, or you risk missing revenue.
• The timing of it all: Track when payments actually clear in your bank account. Sometimes there's a delay between a customer paying and the money hitting your books, which can cause temporary mismatches.
• Fees matter: Don't forget to account for processing fees, as they reduce your actual revenue. 

3. Making sure recognized revenue aligns with cash flow

This is where things get particularly important for SaaS companies. It's about making sure the revenue you've recorded in your financials lines up with the actual cash in your accounts.

• Recurring revenue's tricky side: With SaaS, you might recognize revenue across a contract period, but the customer might pay upfront. This needs careful tracking to avoid misalignments between your income statement and your actual cash balance.
• Refunds and cancellations: These directly impact your cash flow, and they need to be mirrored correctly in your revenue recognition. Failing to do so leads to inaccurate financial reports.
• Constant vigilance: The best way to spot discrepancies early is to regularly compare your accounting records to bank statements. Investigate and resolve them quickly to prevent issues with compounding.

How do you perform SaaS revenue reconciliations? 

A strong revenue reconciliation process for a SaaS business requires you to tackle two main areas: Revenue recognition and account reconciliation. Let's break down the steps involved:

Revenue recognition

1. Know your contracts: Carefully analyze the terms of your customer contracts. Pay close attention to subscription periods (monthly, annual, etc.), base fees, add-ons, usage-based charges, and any potential discounts or promotions.
2. Follow the rules: Strict adherence to accounting principles like GAAP or IFRS is critical. These guidelines dictate when revenue can be recognized, such as when a service is fully delivered or within a specific timeframe. 
3. Track what's delivered: Revenue recognition must align with the service you provide. For SaaS, this often means spreading recognition across the subscription period. Ensure your accounting system can handle this based on your contracts.
4. Documentation is key: Keep detailed records of all sales transactions: Contracts, invoices, payment receipts, and any additional relevant documents. These are your backups in case of discrepancies or audits.

Account reconciliation

Account reconciliation is the process of comparing the balances in your accounting records with those from external sources like bank statements or payment processor reports. It's your way of ensuring everything matches, catching discrepancies, and preventing errors from distorting your financial picture.

Let's dive into the specific steps:

1. Gather your data: Collect information from all your financial sources, including bank statements, payment processor reports (Stripe, PayPal, etc.), accounting software, and (ideally) the data from your billing platform.
2. Find your checkpoints: Focus on your revenue-related accounts in the general ledger: typical ones include accounts receivable, deferred revenue, and, of course, your revenue account. You'll then need the corresponding cash accounts where this revenue ends up.
3. Compare and contrast: This is the heart of reconciliation. Compare data side-by-side. Look for mismatched dates, incorrect amounts, missing transactions, or unexpected entries. This takes patience and keen attention to detail.
4. Investigate and resolve: Identifying mismatches is just the start. Dig deeper to see why they occurred: Was there a processing delay on a payment? A billing error? Once you find the root cause, you can make corrections to your accounting records.
5. Make it a habit: Establish a consistent monthly (or more frequent, if your business is complex) reconciliation schedule. Early problem detection prevents major headaches later on and keeps your finances clean and trustworthy.

Common SaaS revenue reconciliation mistakes to avoid

Mistake 1: The risks of manual data entry

Even in a world that’s almost completely digitized, many SaaS businesses rely on manual processes like spreadsheets for part of their financial tracking. This is a recipe for errors. Mistyped numbers, duplicate data entries, or missed transactions can occur, sabotaging the entire reconciliation process.

Solution: The most powerful solution is automation. A billing platform designed for SaaS can automate invoicing and data transfers into your accounting system. This drastically reduces errors and saves you a ton of time.

Mistake 2: Misaligned systems

SaaS businesses often use a mix of software tools: payment processors, a billing platform (potentially), and their accounting software. If these systems don't integrate, discrepancies are almost guaranteed. Data gets entered differently, dates might not match up perfectly, and reconciling turns into a confusing mess.

Solution: Seek out software solutions that integrate as seamlessly as possible. A billing platform specifically designed for SaaS will likely have strong integrations with your accounting software and common payment gateways. Thorough testing of data flow before going live is important to catch any unexpected hiccups early on.

Mistake 3: Neglecting deferred revenue

Deferred revenue (payments received in advance for future services) is a key concept in SaaS revenue recognition. Failing to track and reconcile deferred revenue throws off your financials. You might accidentally recognize all the revenue upfront, inflating current revenue numbers while making future periods look weaker than they are.

Solution: Your accounting system needs to handle deferred revenue tracking properly. This likely means setting up specific accounts and having automated rules to move revenue from deferred revenue to recognized revenue over the correct time period. 

Mistake 4: Ignoring the small discrepancies

It's tempting to write off small discrepancies as not worth bothering with, but this attitude can lead to bigger problems down the road. Seemingly minor issues might point to a process error that, when repeated, creates significant mismatches.

Solution: Always investigate any discrepancies, no matter the size. This instills discipline and helps you identify process breakdowns early, preventing them from snowballing into major problems.

Mistake 5: Reactive instead of proactive reconciliation

Performing reconciliation only when a problem arises or at year-end is a risky approach. You're missing the chance to prevent errors, detect fraud, and make timely adjustments to keep your data accurate.

Solution: Establish a proactive reconciliation schedule and stick to it. Monthly at the very least, and more frequently if your business has a high transaction volume or is growing rapidly.  Making it a habit ensures accurate, up-to-date financial information for better decision-making.

The easy solution to revenue reconciliation for SaaS

You should now have a clear grasp of what SaaS revenue reconciliation is and the complexities it brings. However, applying these concepts accurately and consistently as your business grows can still be challenging. 

One of the key hurdles is maintaining precision and speed during ongoing data collection, complex calculations, and reconciliation tasks that ensure accurate financial reporting. 

Orb is a done-for-you and data warehouse-native billing platform that offers a complete suite of easy-to-use tools to make revenue reconciliation quicker and hassle-free. 

Here's how Orb supports your SaaS revenue reconciliation process:

• Accurate invoices: With Orb you can match usage to invoices, making it easy to investigate discrepancies or answer questions. The granular invoices built for usage-based billing also give your customers full transparency.
• Clear visibility and reporting: Orb's dashboards and customizable reports provide real-time views of revenue streams, deferred revenue balances, and key reconciliation metrics. 
• Robust auditability: Orb keeps clear data lineage and audit trails, ensuring you have solid documentation to support your financial statements in the event of an audit.
• Usage data integration: Since Orb is data warehouse-native, it seamlessly connects with your usage data sources, ensuring that usage-based billing is precisely reflected in your revenue reconciliation processes.
• Adapts to your business: Orb's flexibility handles complex pricing models (including hybrid variations) and evolving contract structures, ensuring the platform grows with your specific needs.

Learn more about how Orb can solve all your billing needs.