A member pays $1,200 for a year of studio access. Under the accrual-bookkeeping assumptions below, January earns $100 and leaves $1,100 in deferred revenue. The bank receipt and the month's revenue answer different questions.
This walkthrough records that membership, a supplies purchase and an unpaid cleaning invoice, then reconciles the January close. The complete Beancount example ends with $1,170 in cash and $10 of profit for these transactions. Every name, date and amount is fictional teaching data in USD; this small slice is not a complete studio budget or a profit benchmark.
Set the membership terms before posting
Our fictional member pays the full $1,200 on January 1, 2026, for access from January 1 through December 31, 2026. The studio makes the same access service available evenly throughout the year. We use twelve equal monthly service periods, so January earns $1,200 ÷ 12 = $100.
There is no separate joining fee, visit-based package, bundled product or additional service obligation. The example assumes no freezes, cancellations, refunds, discounts, payment fees, indirect taxes, financing adjustment or other transactions. All six accounts begin at zero. These are book-accounting assumptions; they establish no tax treatment or eligibility rule. A session package or a materially different contract needs its own recognition analysis.
FASB's health-club illustration recognizes revenue as access is made available evenly, regardless of attendance. Its original example bills monthly. Here, we change collection to an annual advance and apply the separate contract-liability principle: money received before the promised service is provided initially represents an obligation. See paragraphs 606-10-45-2 and 606-10-55-184–186 in FASB's original ASU 2014-09, Section A, printed pages 42 and 90–91. That document introduced the amendments; it is not the current consolidated Codification. The IFRS 15 overview likewise explains recognizing revenue as the promised service is satisfied, using an appropriate measure of progress.
Record the four January events
The receipt creates deferred membership revenue. At month end, recognition reduces that liability and records the service earned. Supplies consumed and cleaning performed belong to January's expenses under this example's accrual convention, including the cleaning bill that has not yet been paid.
| Date | Event | Effect on January revenue or expense | Bank movement, USD |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jan 1 | Receive the annual access payment | Deferred revenue increases by 1,200; no revenue yet | +1,200.00 |
| Jan 10 | Buy supplies and consume all of them in January | Supplies expense 30 | −30.00 |
| Jan 31 | Cleaning completed; invoice unpaid, due Feb 5 | Cleaning expense and accounts payable each increase by 60 | 0.00 |
| Jan 31 | Recognize January's access service | Revenue 100; deferred revenue decreases by 100 | 0.00 |
Membership-only reconciliation at January 31, before including costs: $1,200 collected = $100 earned + $1,100 deferred. The $1,100 is the remaining access-service obligation in this scenario. It is not automatically a refund payable or a prescribed cash reserve. After paying for supplies, the full ledger's bank balance is $1,170.
Run the complete January ledger
The following file needs no plugins, invoice PDFs or opening-equity transaction. Account opens precede all activity. The February 1 balance directives check balances at the start of that day, after the January close; they create no February transactions. The file does not post the planned bill payment or future months of membership revenue.
; fitness-studio-starter — complete runnable January close
; Fictional teaching data in USD; all accounts start at zero.
; Annual access: Jan 1–Dec 31, 2026, available evenly over 12 monthly periods.
; No joining fee, separate service, freeze, cancellation, refund, discount,
; payment fee, indirect tax, financing adjustment or other transaction.
; Accrual-bookkeeping example only; no tax treatment is implied.
option "operating_currency" "USD"
2025-12-31 open Assets:Bank:Checking USD
2025-12-31 open Liabilities:DeferredRevenue:Memberships USD
2025-12-31 open Liabilities:AccountsPayable USD
2025-12-31 open Income:Memberships USD
2025-12-31 open Expenses:Supplies USD
2025-12-31 open Expenses:Cleaning USD
2026-01-01 * "Demo Member" "Annual access payment received"
membership: "DEMO-ANNUAL-001"
Assets:Bank:Checking 1200.00 USD
Liabilities:DeferredRevenue:Memberships -1200.00 USD
2026-01-10 * "Demo Supplies" "Supplies bought and fully consumed in January"
Expenses:Supplies 30.00 USD
Assets:Bank:Checking -30.00 USD
2026-01-31 * "Demo Cleaning" "January cleaning completed; invoice unpaid"
invoice: "DEMO-CLEAN-001"
due: "2026-02-05"
Expenses:Cleaning 60.00 USD
Liabilities:AccountsPayable -60.00 USD
2026-01-31 * "Demo Member" "January access earned: 1200 / 12"
membership: "DEMO-ANNUAL-001"
Liabilities:DeferredRevenue:Memberships 100.00 USD
Income:Memberships -100.00 USD
; These beginning-of-February assertions check the January close.
; They add no February activity or future recognition/payment entries.
2026-02-01 balance Assets:Bank:Checking 1170.00 USD
2026-02-01 balance Liabilities:DeferredRevenue:Memberships -1100.00 USD
2026-02-01 balance Liabilities:AccountsPayable -60.00 USD
2026-02-01 balance Income:Memberships -100.00 USD
2026-02-01 balance Expenses:Supplies 30.00 USD
2026-02-01 balance Expenses:Cleaning 60.00 USDDownload the file above, or save the complete example as fitness-studio-starter.bean. With bea installed, run bea --file fitness-studio-starter.bean check from the folder containing the file. Its balance assertions help catch missing or changed postings. Still reconcile the amounts to the contract and source records: a ledger can balance while recording the wrong business event.
Reconcile the January closing balances
In the ledger, debit balances are positive and credit balances are negative. Thus Income:Memberships at −100.00 USD means $100 earned revenue, and the negative liability balances represent amounts owed as services or cash payments. The signs are bookkeeping conventions, not negative sales or a cash shortfall.
| Account | Signed closing balance, USD | What to reconcile |
|---|---|---|
Assets:Bank:Checking | 1,170.00 | Receipt 1,200 less supplies payment 30 |
Liabilities:DeferredRevenue:Memberships | −1,100.00 | Annual payment less January service earned |
Liabilities:AccountsPayable | −60.00 | Unpaid January cleaning invoice |
Income:Memberships | −100.00 | One of twelve equal monthly service periods |
Expenses:Supplies | 30.00 | Supplies purchased and fully consumed in January |
Expenses:Cleaning | 60.00 | Cleaning completed in January |
| Sum of posting balances | 0.00 | Every entry balances without an adjustment account |
Use these checks when closing the month:
- Match the membership terms and receipt. Keep the access dates and the payment record together.
DEMO-ANNUAL-001connects the receipt and recognition in this example. Confirm the promised service before choosing a recognition schedule. - Reconcile the bank. Starting cash of zero, plus the $1,200 receipt, less the $30 supplies payment, equals $1,170. Match both movements to the bank statement. Neither the unpaid cleaning invoice nor the revenue-recognition entry moves cash.
- Roll forward deferred revenue. The member schedule should show zero opening liability + $1,200 collected − $100 earned = $1,100 remaining. Agree that schedule to the ledger's liability, allowing for its negative sign.
- Keep the unpaid bill in the close.
DEMO-CLEAN-001supports the $60 cleaning expense and payable, with a February 5 due date. Paying it later clears the payable; it does not create another January cleaning expense. No payment has occurred in this ledger. - Review the result and its cash bridge. Revenue of $100 less $30 supplies and $60 cleaning produces $10 profit for this slice. The remaining balances explain why cash is much higher.
| January reconciliation | Independent calculation, USD | Result, USD |
|---|---|---|
| Earned membership revenue | 1,200 ÷ 12 | 100.00 |
| Remaining deferred revenue | 1,200 − 100 | 1,100.00 |
| Total expense | 30 + 60 | 90.00 |
| Profit for these transactions | 100 − 90 | 10.00 |
| Closing cash | 0 + 1,200 − 30 | 1,170.00 |
| Liabilities plus current-period result | 1,100 + 60 + 10 | 1,170.00 |
| Cash increase from profit | 10 + 1,100 increase in deferred revenue + 60 increase in payable | 1,170.00 |
The balance sheet therefore has $1,170 of assets, $1,160 of liabilities and a $10 current-period result. That result is computed from income and expenses; it is not a separate cash receipt or an opening-equity posting. The cash bridge follows the distinction between earnings and cash explained in the SEC's financial-statement guide: changes in operating liabilities help reconcile the two.
Adapt the close to your own records
Replace the teaching records with your actual contract, receipt, bank statement, supplies evidence and unpaid invoice. Keep membership schedules and bank reconciliation separate so you can trace each receipt, earned amount and remaining obligation.
If a processor deducts fees, withholds settlement, issues a refund or sends a duplicate record, reconcile those facts to its settlement report and the bank before posting. Those events are absent from this starter; it does not handle them automatically. Revisit recognition when the contract or service changes, and add only activity that actually occurred through your closing date.
The completed January close gives you three distinct starting points for the next decision: $100 earned revenue, $1,100 still owed in access service and $1,170 cash with a $60 bill awaiting payment.
Use the monthly profitability example to calculate contribution, break-even membership count and class capacity with the existing calculators. Use the cash-planning continuation to schedule the February 5 bill payment and adapt the 13-week forecast guide. The monthly pricing model is a separate scenario; the cash continuation starts from this January close.
