Subscription
Billed up front, the amount defers and releases over the term. Billed in arrears, it is already earned — recognised when invoiced. Metered usage earns as it is consumed, whenever the invoice happens to go out.
09 · Revenue
Billed is not recognised.
A year billed in January is not a year earned in January. Sonic posts from the invoices you already sent. The waterfall is the story. The journal is the books — and the invoice is the link when someone asks why a period contains an amount.
The waterfall
Booked is what you invoiced. Remaining is still a debt.
Bill a year in April and you still owe eleven months of service. Each month a slice moves from remaining to recognised. Click any amount to see the invoice behind it. A month where booked and recognised match usually means everything billed in arrears — not that the numbers are healthier.
Freight does not use deferred revenue. The first grouping is the shipper, then the shipment, then each rate. Recognised always sits on the haul date; billed sits on the invoice date. Same calendar day merges them.
Sonic AI
Search by name…
Total booked
₹ 1,64,200
Recognised (as of Jun)
₹ 89,200
Remaining
₹ 75,000
| Customer | Booked | Recognised | As of Jun | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Name | Total | Apr | May | Jun | Recognised | Remaining |
| ▾Nimbus Cloud | ₹ 1,00,000 | ₹ 8,333 | ₹ 8,333 | ₹ 8,334 | ₹ 25,000 | ₹ 75,000 |
| Platform | ₹ 20,000 | ₹ 1,667 | ₹ 1,667 | ₹ 1,666 | ₹ 5,000 | ₹ 15,000 |
| Seats | ₹ 80,000 | ₹ 6,666 | ₹ 6,666 | ₹ 6,668 | ₹ 20,000 | ₹ 60,000 |
| ▸Apex Tools | ₹ 64,200 | ₹ 64,200 | — | — | ₹ 64,200 | ₹ 0 |
| Total | ₹ 1,64,200 | ₹ 72,533 | ₹ 8,333 | ₹ 8,334 | ₹ 89,200 | ₹ 75,000 |
Click an amount to see the invoice behind it.
Two families
Subscription defers.
Freight does not.
Sonic derives the method from how the line is priced — you rarely pick it. A per-product override exists; it is almost never the right answer.
Shipment
Point in time on the haul date. Billed on the invoice date. If the haul is first, Unbilled is the bridge until the invoice day — never Deferred. A list price set to none never appears.
When it becomes revenue
Same cash, very different-looking accounts.
Straight-line
Evenly across the service period. An annual subscription paid up front books a twelfth each month.
Point in time
All at once, on the trigger date. A setup fee, or a freight haul at the net of its rates.
Usage-based
As they consume. Metered usage and prepaid drawdown earn when the unit is delivered.
On invoice
When the invoice is raised. Anything billed after the period it already covered.
How the slice is counted
An organisation setting. Daily is the default. It only changes how a straight-line period is split.
Daily
Each day of the service period gets the same amount. March (31 days) earns more than February (28). Set this when the contract is really a day-by-day obligation.
Monthly
Each calendar month in the term gets the same amount, whether the month has 28 days or 31. Set this when finance books a twelfth, not a daily rate.
The trail
The waterfall is the story. The journal is the books.
Every line links back to a source invoice or credit note. When someone asks why a period contains an amount, that link is the answer.
The journal
Debits equal credits, or the batch does not publish.
The waterfall is the story. This is what finance posts. Subscriptions consolidate into product blocks — one product is one entity, not a row per account. Freight is one shipment, net of rate lines, with a shipment ID instead of a product name. Credit notes reverse in proportion to how the original was recognised.
Sonic AI
Billed revenue
₹ 1,00,000
Deferred revenue
₹ 91,667
Still owed
Recognised revenue
₹ 8,333
This month
Nimbus Cloud · INV-10421–30 Apr
| Product | Account | Debit | Credit |
|---|---|---|---|
| Platform | Billed revenue | ₹ 20,000 | — |
| Platform | Deferred revenue | — | ₹ 20,000 |
| Platform | Deferred revenue | ₹ 1,667 | — |
| Platform | Recognised revenue | — | ₹ 1,667 |
| Seats | Billed revenue | ₹ 80,000 | — |
| Seats | Deferred revenue | — | ₹ 80,000 |
| Seats | Deferred revenue | ₹ 6,666 | — |
| Seats | Recognised revenue | — | ₹ 6,666 |
| Total | ₹ 1,08,333 | ₹ 1,08,333 | |
Debits equal credits. The invoice is the link.
Invoice
Sent, so the amount is deferred or recognised.
Usage accrual
Consumed during the period. The later invoice settles it — that is not double counting.
Credit note
Reverses in proportion. Freight has none — correct the file, or void.
Forfeit
Prepaid quota expired unused. The obligation is gone, so it becomes revenue.
00
Platform
One chain. The order.
01
Contracts
PDF to a typed agreement
02
Catalogs
Who you bill, what you sell
03
Subscription
The schedule is the core
04
Shipment model
Rate cards, not months
05
Usage & seats
Events and snapshots
06
Shipment uploads
Process, confirm, create, invoice
07
Invoices
Drafts grow. Sent do not.
08
Watchtower
Inbox, cadence, a person
09
Revenue
Billed is not recognised
10
Bank rec
A deposit is a fact
11
Integrations
Pipes in and out
Next
See it on your contracts
A walkthrough on the agreements and files you actually bill from — not a slide deck.