Get to know reporting terms in ROLLER

If you've ever opened a ROLLER report and seen terms like deferred revenue, net revenue, or tax payable, you might have wondered how they all connect. Understanding these terms is key to interpreting your reports correctly and producing accurate month end figures. In this video, we'll define each core reporting term and show how they connect across the revenue lifecycle.

Let's start with a clear definition.

Revenue is the income your venue earns when it delivers goods or services to a guest. Revenue is not simply money received. A venue can collect payment today, but revenue may not be earned until the booking date, when the service is delivered.

In Roller, every purchase is recorded against a booking. A booking is a record of a guest's purchase.

Roller supports both cash and accrual accounting.

Cash recognizes revenue when payments are received.

Accruel recognizes revenue when it's earned, when tickets are redeemed, or expire.

Let's follow a simple example. A guest books a party for next month. The total booking value is one thousand dollars.

Today, they pay a one hundred dollar deposit. We'll track what happens to this booking at each stage.

When the one hundred dollar payment is processed, Roller records funds received.

Funds received is the total value of processed payments. It reflects the actual money collected by your venue, including fees and taxes, unless any discounts applied at the time of payment.

If this payment had been for a gift card, it would appear as gift card deferred revenue.

Gift card deferred revenue represents funds received from gift card sales that have not yet been redeemed for products.

The venue has the money, but revenue has not yet been earned.

Because the party is scheduled for next month and we're using accrual accounting, the one hundred dollar deposit becomes deferred revenue.

Deferred revenue represents funds received for bookings that have not yet been redeemed at POS or expired.

In simple terms, you've been paid, but you haven't earned the revenue yet.

Deferred revenue becomes recognized revenue when the booking is redeemed or expires.

Now fast forward to the party date. When the check's in and the tickets are redeemed, Roller records a recognition entry.

At that point, deferred revenue moves into gross revenue.

Gross revenue is the total recognized revenue inclusive of tax. If discounts were applied, they appear as recognized discounts.

Recognized discounts represents the total value of discounts applied to recognized revenue during the selected period.

Next, Roller calculates tax payable. Tax payable is the total value of tax owed on recognized revenue.

Finally, net revenue is calculated. Net revenue equals gross revenue minus tax payable.

Net revenue represents revenue earned by the venue after removing tax obligations.

Gross sales is the total value of booking item sales before discounts and including tax.

Gross sales reflects total sales value, not cash collected and not revenue earned.

Fee revenue is the total value of fees collected on funds received.

Tax collected represents the total value of tax collected on funds received.

Discounts, in a payment context, represents the total value of discounts applied at the time of payment.

These figures appear in payment focused reports and help explain why sales, payments, and earned revenue may differ.

In the revenue recognition report, you'll see three entry types.

Transaction entries represent payments or refunds related to a booking.

Recognition entries represent when revenue is earned, through redemption or expiry.

Adjustment entries occur when booking changes shift funds between revenue accounts.

These entry types show exactly how revenue moves over time.

Let's recap the journey. Payment taken, funds received increases.

Outstanding balance, accounts receivable.

Future booking, deferred revenue.

Redemption, gross revenue recorded.

Tax calculated, tax payable.

Final figure, net revenue.

Each term represents a different stage in the same financial journey. They are not separate numbers. They are connected steps.

Understanding these terms helps you interpret reports accurately, validate monthly figures, and communicate clearly with finance teams.

If you'd like to revisit any term individually, short explainer clips are available in the help center guide linked below.

You're now ready to read roller reports with clarity and confidence.