Because Vision is an accrual-based system, you can recognize revenue when it is earned, rather than when payment is received, and recognize expenses when they are incurred, rather than when they are paid.
This system of revenue recognition allows you to increase the accuracy of project reports and financial statements.
Vision accrues revenue when you run the Revenue Generation routine. Revenue Generation calculates revenue on a project-by-project basis (or phase-by-phase, task-by-task) according to the revenue methods that you assign to each project, phase, and task.
If you do not use the Revenue Generation feature, Vision recognizes revenue as it is billed. Job-to-date billings may not be the best way to recognize revenue for the following reasons:
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A project may be billed not on a monthly basis, but only when it reaches certain milestones.
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Your firm may post invoices in a different period than it posts expense accruals.
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Amounts billed on projects with "lump sum" billing terms may not match the labor expense incurred.
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Your financial statements become dependent on your firm's billing cycle.
Timing
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Because Revenue Generation calculates revenue on a job-to-date basis, you can run it whenever you want (multiple times during the same accounting period if necessary). To keep your project reports accurate and up-to-date, run Revenue Generation at least once a month or at the end of each accounting period.
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To see current period revenue, run Revenue Generation and then subtract the prior job-to-date revenue from the new job-to-date revenue.
Project Reports
Revenue displays in the job-to-date, year-to-date, and current sections of the Office Earnings report and in the financial analysis section of the Project Progress report.