Glossary

Subscription Billing, Revenue Recognition, SaaS Metrics

A B C D E F G H I J K L M O N P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

A

July 30, 2025 in A, Glossary

Account Hierarchy

What It Means (Simple Explanation) Account hierarchy refers to the structured relationship between multiple customer accounts or sub-accounts within a parent organization. It enables SaaS companies to manage sales, customer success, billing, contract commitments, accounting,…

September 10, 2025 in A, Glossary

Accounts Receivable

Learn how accounts receivable works in SaaS. Discover its impact on cash flow, DSO, revenue audits, and billing-to-cash sync.

November 20, 2025 in A, Glossary

Accounts Receivable Collections

Learn how collections work in SaaS finance, how automation reduces DSO, and why disciplined AR workflows strengthen cash flow and audit control.

August 14, 2025 in A, Glossary

ACH Payment

ACH stands for Automated Clearing House. It’s a way to move money straight from one bank account to another.

July 8, 2025 in A, Glossary

Advance Billing

Invoicing customers before the service period begins. It’s common in SaaS and subscriptions.

July 23, 2025 in A, Glossary

Annual Recurring Revenue (ARR)

The total predictable revenue a SaaS company expects from subscriptions in a year.

August 13, 2025 in A, Glossary

ARR Movements

New bookings, renewals, expansions, contractions, and churn are all ARR movements.

B

July 29, 2025 in B, Glossary

Billing Waterfall

Automates invoicing schedules and payment allocations for recurring billing models.

August 8, 2025 in B, Glossary

Batch Invoice Generation

Batch invoice generation is the automated process of producing multiple invoices in a single billing run.

C

July 17, 2025 in C, Glossary

Credit Memo vs Debit Memo

What It Means (Simple Explanation) A credit memo reduces what a customer owes you. A debit memo increases it. In SaaS, both are adjustments to invoices—used when things change after the original bill goes out…

September 12, 2025 in C, Glossary

Churn Rate

Learn what churn rate means in subscriptions and SaaS. Understand types of churn, how to calculate it, and benchmarks for customer and revenue retention. Improve churn with data-driven strategies.

November 7, 2025 in C, Glossary

Chart of Accounts (CoA)

The organized list of all accounts a company uses to record financial transactions in its general ledger.

D

July 17, 2025 in D, Glossary

Deferred Revenue Waterfall

What It Means (Simple Explanation) A deferred revenue waterfall is a month-by-month schedule showing how unearned revenue will be recognized over time. It turns your deferred revenue liability into a clear forecast of future revenue.…

July 23, 2025 in D, Glossary

Deferred Revenue

What It Means (Simple Explanation) Deferred revenue is money you’ve been paid—but haven’t earned yet. If a customer pays upfront for a year, you can’t call it revenue right away. It sits as a liability…

August 29, 2025 in D, Glossary

Deferred Billing

Delaying invoicing or payment for goods or services even after they have been delivered or accessed.

F

August 14, 2025 in F, Glossary

Financial Statements

The three primary financial statements are the income statement, balance sheet, and cash flow statement.

G

October 27, 2025 in G, Glossary

General Ledger (GL)

The master accounting record that consolidates all financial transactions of a company into a complete, balanced system of accounts.

I

August 13, 2025 in Glossary, I

What’s an Income Statement?

Profit and loss statement that shows how much money your business made or lost over a period of time.

July 30, 2025 in Glossary, I

Invoice Number

What It Means (Simple Explanation) To the average person the invoice number is just that—a number stamped on a bill. But in SaaS finance, it's more than a label. It's how billing systems keep track…

J

October 29, 2025 in Glossary, J

Journal Entry

Formal, chronological record of a financial transaction within the double-entry bookkeeping system

M

July 23, 2025 in Glossary, M

Monthly Recurring Revenue (MRR)

The predictable, recurring revenue software or subscription companies earn every month.

N

August 28, 2025 in Glossary, N

New ARR

ARR generated exclusively from newly acquired customers versus from existing accounts.

July 23, 2025 in Glossary, N

Net Revenue Retention (NRR)

Measures how your revenue from existing customers changes from expansion, contraction, and churn.

P

August 28, 2025 in Glossary, P

Proration

Adjusting the charges a customer owes when there is a change to their contract during a billing cycle

R

July 16, 2025 in Glossary, R

Ramp Deal

Contract with scheduled pricing increases over time. Allows a customer to start small and grow.

S

July 23, 2025 in Glossary, S

Subscription Upgrade

When a customer moves to a higher-priced plan or adds more features, seats, or services to their existing subscription.

August 12, 2025 in Glossary, S

Subscription Plan

Defines the pricing, billing frequency, feature entitlements, and usage allowances a customer receives in exchange for a recurring fee.

July 16, 2025 in Glossary, S

Subscription Pause

Temporarily suspends billing and service for a customer—without canceling their contract.

November 5, 2025 in Glossary, S

SOX Compliance

U.S. federal law that requires public companies to maintain strong internal controls over financial reporting (ICFR)

U

July 22, 2025 in Glossary, U

User Based Pricing

Pricing is based on how many registered users or seats a customer needs for a subscription or software.