Step 1 — Set up your recognition policy
Go to Accounting → Settings → Policy and create a new policy (or open an existing one).
Configure the following settings:
Recognition method: Over time
Calculation: Manual
Book revenue to: Consulting Income
Balance sheet accrual: Deferred Revenue
Discount: Consulting Income Discount
Refunds: Consulting Income Refund
💡 Tip: The 'Manual' calculation is the key setting — it lets you pick an exact recognition date later instead of spreading revenue automatically.
Step 2 — Create and post your invoice
Create a new invoice with your customer, invoice date, due date, and amount. Set the revenue type to Transaction Revenue — this is how invoices typically come in from Stripe.
Example invoice:
Invoice date: Feb 1, 2026
Due date: Apr 30, 2026
Amount: $500,000
Revenue type: Transaction Revenue
Post the invoice when ready.
💡 Tip: The invoice starts as Transaction Revenue. You'll move it to Service Revenue in the next step.
Step 3 — Apply your policy in Revenue Recognition
Go to Revenue Recognition and search for your invoice (search by amount or customer name).
Apply your manual policy to the invoice. This will:
Move the invoice from Transaction Revenue → Service Revenue
Move it from the Unconfirmed tab to the Confirmed tab
💡 Tip: After applying, go back to the invoice and confirm it now shows 'Service Revenue' and a recognition period of 'Manual'.
Step 4 — Check the deferred state
In the Confirmed tab, find your invoice. You'll see the full amount sitting in Deferred for the invoice month.
This means the revenue hasn't hit your P&L yet — it's parked in a holding account until you tell the system when to recognize it.
💡 Tip: Nothing flows through to your P&L at this point. The amount stays deferred until you complete Step 5.
Step 5 — Set your recognition date
Next to the invoice amount in the Confirmed tab, click View and Manage, then click Recognize and Close.
On this screen:
Enter the amount to recognize (full invoice or a partial amount)
Pick the recognition date — this can be any past or present date
Click Close to save
Example: Recognize the full $500,000 on March 30, 2026.
💡 Tip: You can recognize a partial amount here — useful for milestone-based contracts. The remainder stays in Deferred until you come back to recognize another portion.
Step 6 — Verify on the P&L and GL ( Refresh)
Refresh your dashboard. It may take up to one hour for the General Ledger and subledger to fully update.
Once updated, confirm:
Revenue on your dashboard has increased by the recognized amount
Clicking the amount opens the General Ledger
Switch to Accrual View — the entry date should match the recognition date you set in Step 5
💡 Tip: If the GL hasn't updated after an hour, try a hard refresh on the dashboard page.