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Revenue Recognition

Revenue recognition principles and accounting standards

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9 min read

Roller Skating Rink Bookkeeping: How to Account for Five Businesses Under One Roof

A roller rink runs admissions, skate rentals, birthday parties, concessions, and merchandise under one roof — and well-run rinks post 20–35% margins while others limp at 10% on the same traffic. This guide shows how to split the chart of accounts by revenue stream, hold party deposits as deferred-revenue liabilities until the event happens, capitalize the rental fleet, and track KPIs like revenue per visit and ancillary revenue share.

Mike Thrift

bookkeepingsmall-businessrevenue-recognition
7 min read

Bill-and-Hold Arrangements Under ASC 606: When You Can (and Can't) Recognize Revenue on Goods a Customer Hasn't Picked Up Yet

ASC 606 permits revenue recognition on bill-and-hold arrangements only when four criteria are all met — a substantive reason for the delay, goods segregated for the customer, readiness for immediate transfer, and no seller right to redirect them. This guide walks through each test, a worked allocation example splitting goods revenue from a separate storage obligation, legitimate use cases, and the seller-initiated-delay red flag that draws SEC scrutiny.

Mike Thrift

revenue-recognitionaccountingfinancial-reporting
8 min read

Restaurant Reservation Deposits and No-Show Fees: The Deferred Revenue Guide

Restaurant no-shows cost the U.S. industry roughly $16 billion a year, and the deposits that fight them create a bookkeeping trap — under ASC 606 a reservation deposit is a liability, not revenue, until the guest dines or forfeits. Here's how to record deposits as deferred revenue, book no-show forfeitures as breakage, and reconcile net payouts from OpenTable, Resy, and Tock.

Mike Thrift

restaurantrevenue-recognitionaccrual-accounting
9 min read

Talent and Modeling Agency Bookkeeping: Why "What We Kept" Is Not the Same as "What We Earned"

Talent and modeling agencies must record the full booking amount as gross revenue — not just the 10–20% commission they keep — hold client funds in a separate trust account (a legal requirement under California's Talent Agencies Act), and reconcile commission splits against contracts monthly. Five bookkeeping rules that prevent IRS 1099 mismatches, commingling violations, and talent payout disputes.

Mike Thrift

bookkeepingsmall-businesscreative-industries
9 min read

Indoor Ice Rink Bookkeeping: How to Handle Deferred League Revenue and Year-Round Refrigeration Costs

Ice rinks collect league fees, memberships, and lesson packages months before delivering the ice time, so prepayments must be booked as deferred revenue and recognized weekly as sessions are used — while refrigeration runs as a fixed cost every month. A practical five-step monthly routine covers deferral schedules, expense categorization, and cash-flow forecasting for rink owners.

Mike Thrift

bookkeepingsmall-businessrevenue-recognition
8 min read

Orthodontic Practice Bookkeeping: Contracts Receivable, Deferred Revenue, and Insurance AR Explained

Contracts receivable — typically 55–60% of trailing twelve-month production in a healthy orthodontic practice — is a distinct metric from accounts receivable, and tracking it correctly requires ASC 606-style deferred revenue schedules, monthly insurance write-off reconciliation, and a chart of accounts that separates production, collections, and write-offs.

Mike Thrift

bookkeepinghealthcarerevenue-recognition
8 min read

Bookkeeping for Professional Puppet Makers: Pricing Commissions, Deposits, and Design Rights

Custom puppets sell for $500–$1,500 yet take 20–100 hours to build, so untracked labor quietly destroys margins. How professional puppet makers should price commissions with the materials + labor + overhead + profit formula, book 50% deposits as deferred revenue instead of income, separate design-licensing from fabrication revenue, and handle post-Wayfair sales tax on interstate theater clients.

Mike Thrift

bookkeepingcreative-industriessmall-business
8 min read

CCRC Entrance Fee Accounting: Deferred Revenue, the Future Service Obligation, and the $190 Million Refund Problem

Since 2020, at least 16 CCRC bankruptcies have cost residents an estimated $190 million in unpaid entrance-fee refunds. Here is how continuing care retirement communities actually account for entrance fees — deferred-revenue amortization, the actuarially computed Future Service Obligation (FSO) liability, and the re-occupancy dependency that can make a community look solvent on paper right up until it fails.

Mike Thrift

healthcareretirementrevenue-recognition
9 min read

Swim School Bookkeeping: Deferred Revenue for Session Packs, Instructor Pay, and Pool Costs

A $400 session pack is a liability, not June revenue — swim school bookkeeping hinges on deferring prepaid lesson income, budgeting pool leases as fixed costs, and classifying certified instructors correctly. Covers franchise cost benchmarks ($95K–$3.75M), instructor pay of $19–$35/hour, USA Swimming fee pass-throughs, and a monthly close checklist.

Mike Thrift

bookkeepingsmall-businessrevenue-recognition
8 min read

Funeral Home and Cemetery Bookkeeping: How Pre-Need Trusts and Revenue Recognition Actually Work

Pre-need funeral contracts can span 40 years between payment and service, so GAAP defers the revenue as a liability until delivery — while cemetery plot sales are recognized immediately as real-estate-like transactions. A guide to state trusting percentages, perpetual care funds, and the bookkeeping separations that keep deathcare businesses compliant.

Mike Thrift

bookkeepingrevenue-recognitiontrust
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