SaaS accounting: the deferral that separates billing from MRR
Nextica Law & Tax keeps a software company's accounts with the specifics that define them: recognising subscription revenue across the contracted period, with deferred income on the balance sheet where a year is collected up front; the treatment of capitalised in-house development and how it fits with tax credits and with the intangibles licensing regime; accounting for option and phantom share plans; and reconciling what the accounts say with the metrics the company reports to its board and its investors.
The investor asks for MRR and the accounts give billings. They are not the same number, and the difference is called deferred revenue.
What's included
1. A subscription revenue recognition policy
revenue goes to the income statement as the service is delivered, not when the annual fee is collected.
2. Controlling deferred income on the balance sheet, which is a liability and at the same time one of the first figures an investor looks at.
3. A basis for capitalising in-house development, with the per-project documentation that supports it: hours allocated, milestones and a technical report.
4. Coordinating that file with the tax credit and the intangibles licensing reduction, which rest on the same paperwork.
6. Treating infrastructure costs and sales commissions, which accrue differently from revenue.
7. A documented bridge between the accounts and the metrics reported externally, so both tell the same story.
THE INVESTOR ASKS FOR MRR AND THE ACCOUNTS GIVE BILLINGS
They are not the same number, and the difference has a name: deferred revenue. These three are what throw a subscription company's accounts out.
An annual fee collected up front booked entirely as the month's sale
it inflates the year's result and leaves the next year without revenue that has already been spent. Revenue is recognised as the service is delivered and the rest is a liability on the balance sheet.
Spanish General Accounting PlanIn-house development capitalised without per-project documentation
the bar requires an individually identified project, a clearly established cost and well-founded reasons to expect technical success and profitability. Without that, capitalising is an estimate that also complicates the tax credit and the licensing reduction.
Spanish General Accounting PlanMetrics reported externally with no bridge to the accounts
when the dashboard's MRR and the turnover in the accounts cannot be reconciled, due diligence stops there until someone explains the difference.
TWO SERVICE MODES — WHAT'S YOURS
| Accounting Review or Supervision | Integrated Accounting Outsourcing | |
|---|---|---|
| Who for? | Companies that manage their accounting internally but need periodic expert review. | Companies that prefer to fully outsource accounting management to a specialized provider. |
| What does it include? | Review of records, detection of errors and inconsistencies, validation of accounting closure, and improvement recommendations. | Full scope: transaction recording, bank reconciliation, tax filing, and financial reporting. |
| Ideal for | Startups and SMEs with an internal accountant or administrative officer who manages the accounting. Family businesses that want additional control. | Companies without their own accounting department. Companies looking to reduce fixed structural costs. Subsidiaries of multinationals reporting to headquarters. |
| Main advantage | Independent external control without replacing the internal team. Detection of problems before they become sanctions. | Zero accounting worries for the entrepreneur. Scale without the need to hire permanent staff. |
Who for?
What does it include?
Ideal for
Main advantage
Frequently asked questions
I collect a year of subscription up front. Is that all revenue for this month?
No. Revenue is recognised as the service is delivered, so from an annual fee collected in January one twelfth goes to the income statement each month and the rest sits on the balance sheet as deferred income, which is a liability: money collected for a service not yet delivered. Booking it all as this month's sale inflates the year's result and leaves the next year without revenue that has already been spent. And there is an added effect worth knowing: that deferred revenue liability is one of the first figures an investor looks at, because it measures contracted commitment.
Can I capitalise what I spend developing my product?
Only the part that meets the conditions, and the bar is demanding: the project must be specifically identified, with its cost clearly established so it can be spread over time, and there must be well-founded reasons to expect technical success and commercial profitability. Research has its own, more restrictive treatment. In practice what decides it is per-project documentation: hours allocated, milestones and a technical report. Without that, capitalising is an estimate, and it also complicates claiming the tax credits and the intangibles licensing regime, because all three rest on the same file.
Cases we have worked on
- tecnologia
Pacto de socios que desbloqueó la entrada de un inversor
Content reviewed by
Elena Bosch Prat
Directora · Consultoría Contable y Financiera
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