What you should know about subscription payments processing

Subscription model businesses of all shapes and sizes are taking steps to optimize online payment processing to provide a seamless customer experience, as well as make internal processes more efficient. New state-of-the-art payment processing models are replacing old point-of-sale merchant PCI systems, with more versatility and features, as well as...

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How to calculate Monthly Recurring Revenue (MRR)

Consumers love their subscriptions, but a subscription business model also offers significant advantages for a company's financial health. Namely, monthly subscriptions mean predictable monthly revenue. Knowing your future revenue on a monthly basis makes it easier to hire more staff, invest in new product development, or sign a lease for...

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Why the subscriptions business model is the future

From food delivery to Microsoft Office to Webflow—it seems like there's a subscription service for everything these days. What's evident in the trend is that the subscription economy will only grow in the years ahead. In fact, 70% of business leaders say subscription business models will be key...

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Monthly Recurring Revenue (MRR) for subscription businesses

According to a recent survey, nearly 70% of Americans have multiple subscriptions, with 28% having at least four — and they expect these numbers to rise. Research shows 27% of global consumers will increase the number of subscriptions they have, including 36% of U.S. consumers. This research shows businesses...

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Navigating the complex world of tax compliance for streaming media

This blog post is in collaboration with Avalara. In the fast-paced world of the streaming industry, businesses constantly strive to remain competitive and adaptable to change. This dynamic market brings internal and external challenges that demand careful attention and strategic planning. Among the challenges that businesses in the streaming...

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Avoiding the drip: Fix & prevent subscription revenue leakage

Maintaining a steady revenue stream is crucial for long-term success in today's competitive business landscape. Subscription companies often invest their resources in marketing, sales, and customer acquisition strategies to boost revenue. However, revenue leakage is a frequently overlooked aspect that can impact the bottom line. Subscription revenue leakage refers to...

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16 Strategies to reduce subscriber churn

In the subscription business, winning a customer is only the beginning. If you're ready to take serious steps to reduce customer churn rates, there's a lot of good news. It takes some work, but it pays off. Noticeably in your monthly recurring revenue and customer feedback surveys. 1. Analyze why...

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How the right subscription and billing software helps you scale

The subscription industry is growing at a fast pace, and technology is crucial in driving transformative changes. For tech leaders of fast-scaling brands, there’s always one big challenge: allocating engineering resources to focus on product innovation while struggling with the limitations of inadequate in-house recurring billing systems.    At Recurly, we’ve...

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Scaling subscription tech stacks: Insights for product leaders

Consumers dictate today’s market pace, especially in the subscription industry, where customers demand and expect flexible, personalised, and valuable offers.  How can subscription businesses continue to expand globally amid challenging economic times? And how can they do it seamlessly? On the 19th of June, a panel of subscription experts consisting...

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Webinar recap: Engineering subscription & billing management to scale

Scaling IT infrastructures is a common challenge for subscription businesses. Engineering and product teams are strapped for resources, often lacking the tech stack to handle the complexities of scaling globally.  Regardless of your business size, success relies on optimized internal processes, especially in technology. However, technology teams invest in building...

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Subscription accounting: Revenue recognition must-haves

The changing landscape of monetization and pricing models, along with an increased demand for personalized plans and product offerings in the direct-to-consumer (DTC) realm, create a greater need for accounting automation to comply with complex global revenue recognition standards.  Moreover, due to the current economic downturn, businesses are shifting to...

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How SoundCloud achieves global growth by delivering subscriber value

Accurate tax calculations and localised compliance are essential for subscription brands seeking global expansion. Although just one part of the expansion puzzle, neglecting these elements can create great challenges when scaling operations on an international level. Professionals in this space can find invaluable resources at the Vertex Exchange Europe 2023...

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Recurring payment gateways guide

What is a recurring payment gateway?  Acting as payment processors, gateways allow companies to take debit cards and credit card payments online. When using a payment gateway, both customers, merchants, and their banks must work together to ensure secure transactions. When establishing a payment gateway, you make it possible for...

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Recurring revenue management software

The recurring revenue model has taken the business world by storm. According to Forbes, more than 90% of technology organizations are in the process of moving to a recurring revenue model—or have plans to do so. However, only 55% consider themselves ready for the shift, which is likely far...

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What to consider when choosing revenue recognition software

Subscription revenue recognition continues to bring new challenges for businesses. The consumer demand for diverse monetization and pricing models creates a greater need for accounting automation to comply with complex revenue recognition standards, like ASC-606 or IFRS-15. While many companies set out to develop a revenue recognition solution, this extensive...

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The quick-start guide to alternative payment methods for subscriptions

Imagine this: A shopper wants to purchase your subscription, but their preferred online payment method is a card in their mobile wallet and it isn’t available at your checkout. Broken experiences like this can stop online transactions as some customers would drop the whole checkout process if they have to...

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Register for our upcoming live demo: Streamline subscription management

Have you ever wondered what the Recurly platform is like? Well, here’s your chance: a live demo of the Recurly platform is happening on April 20th.  Our speakers–also known as Recurly experts–will walk you through Recurly from the perspective of five common pain points that our platform will help you...

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Recurly Revenue Recognition: Simple, automated & accurate

Recognizing recurring revenue in subscriptions continues to become more complex and regulated. The trend toward diverse monetization and pricing models creates a greater need for accounting automation. And Recurly can help. If revenue recognition automation is of your top priorities this year, watch this 30-minute demo with Recurly’s...

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From startup to IPO: How Recurly supports global growth for brands like Paramount+ and BARK

From the beginning, Recurly has helped its customers make sound strategy decisions, forecast financial performance, close books on time, and ensure financial accuracy. For more than a decade, we have worked with category-defining brands like Paramount+, BARK, Sprout Social, and Sling TV to grow their businesses successfully.  As a...

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How to choose the right revenue recognition software

As companies continue to incorporate subscription-based business models, they start facing unique revenue recognition challenges that spreadsheet accounting can no longer support. A revenue recognition platform is crucial for accurate and timely accounting–helping you streamline accounting processes, minimize errors, and ensure compliance with ASC 606 and IFRS 15 standards. In...

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Revenue recognition in subscription-based business models: The role of contract modifications & incremental expenses

While subscribers are happy to have options to customize their subscription plans, subscription businesses must learn how to handle the impact of contract modifications and incremental expenses. When subscription contracts are straightforward, revenue recognition often runs smoothly. But when there is a need to account for contract modifications like an...

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Revenue recognition in subscription bundles & discounts

Revenue recognition specifies how and when businesses should recognize revenue and the associated costs over the life of the subscriber’s contract. The ASC 606 revenue recognition standard guides companies on how to account for revenue.  While the revenue recognition model may seem simple, it’s a more complex task in...

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Three ways to recognize revenue for subscription billing

Revenue recognition is the process of accounting for the revenue generated by a company. It’s a key concept in financial accounting as it affects your company's financial statements–providing a clear picture of its financial health to investors and stakeholders. Proper revenue recognition helps subscription businesses comply with ASC-606 and...

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Subscription revenue recognition: definition & steps

Cash flows differently for every business. Revenue recognition for subscription billing can be challenging to understand, calculate, and report. Traditional businesses sell and deliver products immediately, and thus they can recognize revenue immediately. Subscription-based businesses, however, deliver their services repeatedly and must recognize revenue over the time the service is...

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A CPO’s guide to building a frictionless subscriber experience

With subscription popularity soaring over the last few years, consumers increasingly demand a frictionless subscriber experience. If the subscriber experience isn’t optimized and personalized at every touchpoint, you increase the risk of losing new subscribers and retaining existing ones. From regular billing cycles and payment options at checkout to an...

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Recurly leads in G2 Mid-Market Subscription Revenue Management

G2, a peer-to-peer review site for business software and services, has given accolades to Recurly in its Mid-Market Implementation and Usability Indexes for subscription revenue management for the winter 2023 period.  Every quarter, G2 highlights top-rated industry solutions from customers themselves. Recurly has been ranked as the top-rated subscription...

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Subscription Show 2022: Industry insights, fighting churn & a VIP dinner

From November 8 to 10, Subscription Insider hosted Subscription Show 2022 with FlexPay and keylight. Taking place in New York City’s Convene Conference Center this year, Subscription Show is “the leading subscription business conference for subscription-specific strategy and intel.” A few of Recurly’s...

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Everything your subscription business needs to know about ASC 606 revenue recognition

Technology changes constantly. Consumer demands, economic trends, and even supply chain pressures (and how businesses adapt to them) change at a regular, if not surprising, pace. Other fields don't change all that often. When they do, it can be a confusing time for business leaders and experts. Consider accounting, for...

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Simplifying revenue recognition for companies with subscription and recurring revenue models

At Recurly, we know how to simplify the complex–we’ve been helping merchants scale while streamlining recurring revenue and subscription billing for over a decade. And now, we’re bringing that same focus to revenue recognition automation. We’re thrilled to announce the acquisition of LeapRev, a global revenue recognition and forecasting solution....

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What is subscription revenue recognition (rev rec)?

To maximize revenue and capture more market share, subscription businesses need to understand the revenue recognition principle. Traditionally, revenue recognition (rev rec) is a generally accepted accounting principle (GAAP) that notes how you recognize revenue. In the case of subscription revenue accounting, revenue is only recognized and counted when...

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Recurly sees pay-as-you-go subscription models continuing to accelerate

Recurly sees no end in sight for pay-as-you-go subscription models. See our press release below. Recurly to Exceed $10 Billion in Transaction Payment Volume as Pay-As-You-Go Subscription Models Accelerate Consumer and Business Behavioral Shifts Unlock New Revenue Streams for Subscription Companies; Recurly Now Cash-Flow Positive SAN FRANCISCO, Nov. 17, 2021 -- 

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Trying to Choose a Subscription Billing Platform? Start Here

We’ve all been there. After a long, tiring day, you plop onto your couch and start browsing through your go-to streaming app or just start flipping through the channels. The only problem? You’re so overwhelmed by all the options available that you end up choosing nothing at all. It’s called...

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Thinking of Building Your Own Subscription Billing Solution? Read This First

There's no shortage of benefits for companies that decide to adopt a subscription business model: lower customer acquisition costs, better customer retention, and a more predictable revenue revenue stream, just to name a few.  But even after you’ve decided to focus on a recurring revenue model, the game's not over....

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How to streamline payment processes for revenue efficiency

Now, more than ever, payments play a pivotal role in subscriptions. Clunky and complicated payment procedures can lead to customer churn and missed opportunities. Instead, recurring billing should give you a competitive advantage and simplify your business. If the phrase “simple payment process” sounds like an oxymoron, keep reading. We've...

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The 3 Stages of Creating Sustainable Revenue Streams

Building a sustainable revenue stream requires two things: A powerful recurring revenue engine and relationships that drive engagement and loyalty. Both key to surviving during these uncertain times. We recently sat down with Robbie Kellerman Baxter, a leading expert on subscription pricing and membership models and the author of The Membership Economy and The...

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Use Recurly + Zapier to Automate Subscription Processes

Many key business processes today are run on a suite of SaaS business applications. From marketing automation to inventory management to accounting, best-in-breed applications have permeated even the stodgiest of industries. While these applications have created tremendous efficiencies, it’s critical to ensure that each application is using comprehensive, up-to-date data....

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A CFO’s Guide to Maximizing Subscription Revenue Webinar

Most CFOs would agree, there's a lot to like about subscriptions - from predictable, compounding revenue to deep, long-term customer relationships. However, nothing jeopardizes subscription profits faster than involuntary churn due to failed payments. In this webcast, you’ll learn how leading finance executives are leveraging the latest in machine...

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Streamlining Financial Operations: Key Learnings From Our Webinar

Recurly recently presented a webinar entitled “Scaling Subscription Billing: A Guide to Streamlining Financial Operations” which received a terrific response from the attendees. This response prompted us to publish this recap along with a link to the recorded webinar for those who missed the live webinar last week. This webinar,...

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Live Webinar: The CFO’s Guide to Maximizing Revenue

Increasingly, CFOs and other business leaders are recognizing the many benefits of the subscription model—from predictable, compounding revenue to deep, long-term customer relationships. However, nothing jeopardizes subscription revenue faster than churn. Imagine if you could automatically repair a major factor in churn, involuntary churn due to failed payments?In this webinar,...

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Ditch Those Spreadsheets and Improve Revenue Recognition

In the best of circumstances, financial reporting can be a complicated and sometimes difficult task. Accuracy is critical but not always easy to achieve. Subscription-based businesses face added challenges in accurately recognizing revenue. The business may have different billing models with different terms, have numerous customer upgrades and downgrades that need...

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Recurly's integration with QuickBooks Online Streamlines Accounting for Subscription Commerce

Technology has revolutionized many aspects of business, perhaps none more so than the accounting industry which has gained incredible efficiencies. New accounting software reduces workloads, increases productivity, and improves accuracy and access to real-time data. QuickBooks Online brings those advantages to the cloud, enabling businesses to benefit from transformative technology...

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Best Practice Guidelines for Year-End Closing the Books

For consumers and retailers, the end of the year means holiday shopping, parties, eating too much, and sleeping too little. For another segment of the population, the end of the year heralds another less festive activity: closing the books. An organization’s year-end closing procedures, the accuracy of the results and...

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Recurly for QuickBooks Online: Streamline Your Accounting Process

In order to give our customers access to best-in-class applications in both subscription billing and accounting, Recurly has integrated with QuickBooks Online. Our integration will give you the ability to accelerate your month-end close process, automate your revenue accounting flow, and eliminate manual processes. The QuickBooks brand is synonymous with...

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New Automated Revenue Recognition Speeds Month-End Close

At Recurly, we’re dedicated to creating best-in-class subscription management tools for our customers. One aspect of subscription management that is particularly meaningful, and challenging, to our customers is ensuring that they are able to properly account for their subscription revenue and close the books quickly and accurately each month. We’re...

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Show Me the Money: Adobe Sees Record Results from Going Subscription-Only

In 2011, Marc Andreessen, technology pioneer and currently General Partner at Andreessen Horowitz, declared that “software is eating the world.” What was true then is now even more so with the incredible growth of the subscription model. Indeed, Emir Alaguizy—Zynga CTO, Y Combinator alum and founder and CEO of Cratejoy—did...

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Key Metrics You Need to Know to Ensure Your Business is Profitable

There are certain metrics that a subscription business lives and dies by. For example…   Monthly Average Revenue Per User (ARPU)Monthly Subscriber Churn Percent (or simply “churn”)Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC); also known as CPA or SACSubscriber Lifetime Value (LTV); also known as CTV or TLVGrowth Margin Percent …and a handful...

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Recovered Revenue, Now Right at Your Fingertips

A few months ago, we discussed the methodology behind the revenue that Recurly recovers for you each month.  We heard from many of you who enthusiastically wanted to learn more about this valuable behind-the-scenes feature. Starting today, you'll now see your Recovered Revenue right in your monthly invoice to see just...

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Pro Tip: Calculating Your Monthly Recurring Revenue

Recurly’s Monthly Recurring Revenue (MRR) report is a helpful tool that gives you a best effort approximation of your monthly recurring revenue at any given time. Using the MRR report in your admin console, you can drag your cursor along the graph to find your MRR on any given day,...

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Top Ten Reasons to Use Recurly vs. Payment Gateway Subscription APIs

The short answer is: Flexibility and Total Cost Of Ownership We’re glad you asked - because this could save you many hours of development, and many curse words before learning the hard way – on your own precious company’s dime. Every payment gateway is designed to handle one-time transactions. Some...

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Planning a "Freemium" Revenue Model

When entrepreneurs come up with an idea- revenue plans are rarely the first thing that come to mind. After all, asking "how do we solve this incredibly painful business issue" can be a lot more exciting then "how are we going to monetize this". Since the first dot-com-boom, several models...

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