Updating Revenue Recognition Plans
Revenue recognition plans can be updated automatically or manually depending on the setting of the accounting preference Revenue Plan Update Frequency. When you select the automatic option, NetSuite updates revenue plans every 3 hours to incorporate changes to transactions and revenue arrangements that affect revenue plans. When revenue recognition plans are updated automatically, administrator permissions are used and all plans are updated regardless of subsidiary restrictions. If you use Multi-Book Accounting, the accounting book status is ignored.
You can update revenue plans manually between automatic updates. When you update revenue recognition plans manually, your subsidiary restrictions determine which revenue elements have their plans updated.
If the accounting preference Create and Maintain Revenue Element Upon Closed Order box is clear, updates for closed sales orders and closed sales order lines are discontinued. These discontinued updates include revenue recognition plans.
The Status subtab list on the Update Revenue Arrangements and Revenue Plans page displays all update processes run for the selected date range. Processes displayed include updates for revenue elements, revenue arrangements, actual revenue recognition plans, and forecast revenue recognition plans, whether the update was manual or automatic. Processes are run only when eligible sources are identified for the update. If no eligible sources are identified, no processes are run or listed.
You can use the accounting preference Disable Creation of Forecast Plans to skip the generation of revenue recognition forecast plans. This preference disables both automatic and manual forecast plan updates. For information, see Setting Advanced Revenue Management (Essentials) Preferences.
To update revenue plans manually:
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Go to Financial > Other Transactions > Update Revenue Arrangements and Revenue Recognition Plans.
Revenue managers and revenue accountants can also use the Update Revenue Plans link on the Revenue dashboard or access the page through the Revenue menu. The Update Revenue Plans link begins the update process immediately, bypassing steps 2 and 3. If you want to use to the filters in step 2 before you begin the update process, use the Status link to access the page.
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Set the filters on the top of the page if desired.
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The Source From and Source To date filters let you select a date range for the sources of revenue elements from which revenue recognition plans are created. By default, these fields are blank. With the default settings, all revenue recognition plans are created and updated as needed, including those with future dates.
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Accounting Book – This filter appears only when the Multi-Book Accounting feature is enabled. When the filter is blank, revenue recognition plans are created and updated as needed for all accounting books. When you select a value from this list, revenue recognition plans are generated only for that accounting book.
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Source Record Type – This filter appears only when at least one of the additional features that the source records depend on is enabled. When the filter is blank, revenue recognition plans are created and updated as needed for all source record types. When you select a value from this list, revenue recognition plans are generated only for revenue elements from that source record type.
The source record options and feature dependencies are as follows:
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All – No filter is applied. This option is the default.
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Project Revenue Rule – This option is available only when Charge-Based Billing is enabled.
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Subscription Line – This option is available only when SuiteBilling is enabled.
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Third Party – This option is available only when the limited release Revenue Management Plug-In is enabled.
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Transaction Line – This option is always available when the filter is displayed.
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Click Update Revenue Plans.
The initial process, Revenue Plan Management, identifies the revenue recognition plans that the system needs to update. This process starts additional processes to update actual and forecast revenue plans as needed.
Note:If you click Update Revenue Plans again with overlapping filter settings before an earlier process finishes, you may receive an error message. NetSuite checks for overlapping date ranges and matching filter values within the previous seven days to determine whether the update process can proceed.
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Click Refresh until Complete is displayed in the Submission Status column.
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Click the Complete link for a revenue plan process to open a page with a link to the completed records.
If the revenue plan update process fails, the Message column includes an error count link to the error message.
For the Revenue Plan Management process, Complete is text only, not a link.
The revenue arrangement record includes an Update Revenue Plans button. Click this button to update revenue plans immediately after you edit the arrangement. If the update cannot be completed in a few seconds, the Process Status page opens. Click Refresh until the process is complete.
Revenue plans are not created if dates are missing in revenue elements whose revenue recognition rules get start or end dates from the element. For more information about these revenue recognition rules, see Rev Rec Start Date Sources and Rev Rec End Date Sources and End Date Change Impact.
If a revenue recognition plan update fails, the Revenue Plan Status for the related revenue arrangement and revenue element is Plan Failed. Revenue plan messages are included on the Revenue Arrangement Message subtab of revenue arrangements. The process is Planning.
If you use charge-based billing on your projects, you are using time as the billing base and also use the As Charged revenue rule while having the Planned Work feature enabled. Having planned time entries on respective projects is essential for this combination to work properly. Planned time entries (created from project task assignments) are used by the charge engine to create forecast charges. The forecast charges are also used by the revenue recognition engine and work as a cap for recognizing actual revenue. Forecast charges are critical for recognizing actual revenue. If there is no planned time, no forecast charges are created, and subsequently, no actual revenue can be recognized.