ASC 606 automation for B2B SaaS
ASC 606 Automation Software for B2B SaaS on QuickBooks Online
Your accountant decides how ASC 606 applies. TrueRev applies it the same way every month. Each SaaS contract becomes a revenue schedule, a deferred revenue balance and journal entries for QuickBooks Online, so you can stop maintaining ASC 606 schedules in Excel.
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Definition
What is ASC 606 automation software?
ASC 606 automation software builds and maintains the revenue schedules that ASC 606 requires, so finance does not rebuild them by hand each month. For a B2B SaaS company, that means a schedule for every contract, a clear view of billed, deferred and recognized revenue, and journal entries ready for the books.
It does not replace accounting judgment. Your team and your accountant decide how ASC 606 applies to each contract. The software applies those decisions consistently and keeps the schedules current when contracts change. TrueRev is ASC 606 automation software for B2B SaaS finance teams on QuickBooks Online. It builds on TrueRev’s revenue recognition feature, and our guide to how revenue recognition works covers the accounting basics.
Why spreadsheets stop working. A single contract can include a subscription, implementation, set-up fees and variable fees. Customers upgrade, expand and cancel mid-term. Each change touches the schedule, so each spreadsheet needs another manual fix, and the numbers get harder to trust with every new contract.
- 1Contract→
- 2Method per product→
- 3Invoices→
- 4Revenue schedule→
- 5Journal entries to QuickBooks Online
From contract to journal entry
Step 1
Add the contract
Enter new deals, or import closed-won deals from HubSpot. TrueRev suggests the matching QuickBooks customers and products, and your finance team confirms them before a contract is created.
Step 2
Choose how each product is recognized
Add each product to the contract’s revenue schedule and pick its method. Ratable spreads revenue across a period. All-at-once recognizes it on a single date. TrueRev also supports percentage of completion.
Step 3
Associate the invoices
Link each QuickBooks Online invoice to the right product. An amount counts as deferred once its invoice is marked Sent.
Step 4
Read the schedule
The Report section shows Revenue, Deferred and Unbilled by month for each contract.
Step 5
Review the journal entries
They are prepared for your QuickBooks Online books and ready for your accountant to review.
TrueRev connects to QuickBooks Online and syncs your customers, invoices and chart of accounts. See the QuickBooks Online integration.
What the software does, and what your accountant decides
ASC 606 uses a five-step model. This is how the work is split.
| ASC 606 step | Who decides | What TrueRev does |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Identify the contract | Finance | Keeps the contract record: customer, dates, terms and later changes. |
| 2. Identify performance obligations | Finance and your accountant | Holds the fees on the contract, such as subscription, services and set-up, so each can follow the policy you set. |
| 3. Determine the transaction price | Finance and your accountant | Uses the amounts you enter on the contract. |
| 4. Allocate the price | Your accountant | Builds schedules from the allocation you approve. |
| 5. Recognize revenue | TrueRev, using your policy | Builds the schedule for each product and tracks billed, deferred and recognized revenue. |
What automation cannot do
It cannot decide whether a promise in your contract is a separate performance obligation. It cannot decide how to allocate the price; it builds schedules from the allocation you approve.
Contract changes and audits
It cannot decide how a contract change should be treated; it records the change and keeps the schedule current. It cannot guarantee an audit result.
Automation handles the repeated calculation and the recordkeeping. The accounting judgment stays with your team. For more detail, see our ASC 606 automation guide for QuickBooks.
Two contracts, from policy to schedule
Example A: a bundled contract
A new customer signs a $30,000 first-year contract starting 1 January. Your accountant has approved this allocation: $24,000 for the subscription (ratable over 12 months), $4,000 for implementation (all-at-once at go-live on 1 March) and $2,000 for training (all-at-once on delivery on 1 April).
| Month | Subscription (ratable) | Implementation (all-at-once) | Training (all-at-once) | Total recognized |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | $2,000 | $0 | $0 | $2,000 |
| February | $2,000 | $0 | $0 | $2,000 |
| March | $2,000 | $4,000 | $0 | $6,000 |
| April | $2,000 | $0 | $2,000 | $4,000 |
| May to December | $2,000 each month | $0 | $0 | $2,000 each month |
| Full year | $24,000 | $4,000 | $2,000 | $30,000 |
One contract, three products, three timing patterns. In a spreadsheet, that is three formulas to keep in sync. In TrueRev, each product is added to the contract’s revenue schedule with its own method and dates. Illustrative example, not customer data, using the monthly basis. Which method applies to each fee, and how the price is allocated, is a decision for you and your accountant.
Example B: a mid-term upgrade
The customer from Example A adds $6,000 of extra seats on 1 July for the rest of the year. You update the product on the contract, set up a revenue schedule for the added value with its own method and dates, and associate the invoice once it exists. The original schedule stays as it was.
| Month | Original subscription | Added seats (ratable, July to December) | Subscription total |
|---|---|---|---|
| June | $2,000 | $0 | $2,000 |
| July | $2,000 | $1,000 | $3,000 |
| December | $2,000 | $1,000 | $3,000 |
| Full year | $24,000 | $6,000 | $30,000 |
The change is recorded as a contract event with history. Your accountant decides how ASC 606 applies to the upgrade. TrueRev keeps the original schedule, the added schedule and the history together. Illustrative example, not customer data, using the monthly basis. Rounding may differ by a cent.
Bring a real contract to the demo.
Built for B2B SaaS contracts that are not simple
More than one fee on a contract
Many SaaS contracts mix a subscription with implementation, training or set-up fees, and each fee can be recognized differently. Perch, for example, recognizes hardware, SaaS subscriptions and client services on different cadences. Read the Perch case study.
Daily or monthly calculation
TrueRev gives you two revenue bases. The default is daily: revenue for a month depends on the number of days in that month. The alternative is monthly with proration: every full month gets the same amount and a part month is prorated by days. The year total is the same either way. Choose the one that matches your policy.
Changes and renewals
Upgrades, cancellations and expansions are recorded as contract events. A renewal is a new term linked to the existing contract, so finance does not start a new spreadsheet tab. Attivo Partners stopped recalculating revenue every time a contract changed. Read the Attivo case study.
Deferred revenue and journal entries
Every contract shows billed, deferred and recognized revenue over time, so finance can see what has been billed, what is still deferred and what to accrue. ARR, MRR, bookings and churn come from the same contract data. Revenue start and end dates on a schedule affect only the revenue schedule report, not MRR or booking dates.
Five month-end checks that catch ASC 606 errors early
Check 1
Is every invoice marked Sent?
A scheduled invoice that has not been sent does not count as deferred.
Check 2
Is there unbilled revenue?
Earned revenue with no associated invoice shows as unbilled. That is a missed invoice to chase before close.
Check 3
Do the revenue dates match the service period?
The schedule follows the dates you set, not the invoice date.
Check 4
Did any contract change this month?
A new term, upgrade or added value needs its own schedule.
Check 5
Do the journal entries tie to the schedule?
Review the entries prepared for QuickBooks Online with your accountant.
Show where every number came from
When an auditor or investor asks why an amount was recognized, finance should be able to trace it to the customer, the contract, the schedule and any changes along the way. TrueRev keeps contracts, schedules and contract history together, and generates schedules and reports from your contract data to support ASC 606 accounting and audit requests.
| Question you may get | Where finance looks |
|---|---|
| Why was $6,000 recognized in March? | The contract, the implementation product, its method and its date on the revenue schedule. |
| Why did this customer’s revenue go up in July? | The contract event for the upgrade and the added-value schedule. |
| What is deferred at month-end? | The Deferred row in the Report section, by contract. |
| Is anything earned but not invoiced? | The Unbilled row in the Report section. |
| Which invoice supports this amount? | The QuickBooks Online invoice associated to the product. |
TrueRev supports your process. It does not guarantee an audit result, and your accountant decides how ASC 606 applies to your contracts.
Excel ASC 606 schedules vs. TrueRev
| Task | Excel and QuickBooks alone | With TrueRev |
|---|---|---|
| Building a schedule | Formulas written and checked by hand for each contract | Products added to the contract’s revenue schedule |
| Mixed fees on one contract | Separate formulas kept in sync | Each product follows its own method and dates |
| Deferred balance | Reconciled against invoices by hand | Moves when an invoice is marked Sent |
| Missed invoices | Found at month-end, if at all | Shown as unbilled until the invoice is associated |
| Mid-term changes | Formulas rewritten | Recorded as contract events; added value gets its own schedule |
| Renewals | New tabs or copied rows | A new term linked to the same contract |
| Audit requests | Digging through files and versions | Contracts, schedules and history in one place |
QuickBooks fit
Keep QuickBooks and add the SaaS contract layer
TrueRev is built for B2B SaaS companies on QuickBooks Online, and it is an official QuickBooks Partner. You can connect QuickBooks Online in minutes. QuickBooks stays your accounting system. TrueRev adds contracts, revenue schedules, deferred revenue and SaaS metrics around it, and you do not need to change your billing system. See the QuickBooks Online integration.
Is QuickBooks Online Advanced enough?
QuickBooks Online Advanced includes revenue recognition schedules for eligible products and services. That can be enough when contracts are simple and change rarely. A dedicated SaaS platform fits better when contracts change often, customers upgrade or downgrade mid-term, fees are mixed, or finance needs ARR and MRR, renewals and contract history alongside the schedules.
Five questions to ask any ASC 606 automation tool
1. Who makes the accounting judgments?
Be wary of any tool that claims to decide performance obligations or allocation for you. In TrueRev, your team and accountant decide.
2. Can each fee on a contract follow its own method?
In TrueRev you set the method for each product on the contract.
3. What happens when a contract changes mid-term?
TrueRev records the change as a contract event, and added value gets its own schedule.
4. Can you trace a number back to its source?
TrueRev keeps the customer, contract, schedule and history together.
5. Does it fit your ledger and your budget?
TrueRev works with QuickBooks Online. Plans are on the pricing page, and a 14-day free trial is available.
Fit
Who TrueRev fits, and who should look elsewhere
Not sure? Bring a real contract to a demo and we will say plainly whether TrueRev fits.
TrueRev fits when
You are a B2B SaaS company on QuickBooks Online. ASC 606 schedules and deferred revenue live in spreadsheets. Contracts mix subscription, services and set-up fees. Contracts change mid-term and finance needs one place for history.
Look at other options when
You need multi-entity consolidation or enterprise ERP revenue accounting. Most of your revenue is metered usage. You are not on QuickBooks Online.
What finance teams say
Comparing ASC 606 tools?
See how TrueRev compares with Tabs, Maxio, Chargebee, ScaleXP and Zuora.
ASC 606 automation questions
Do I still need an accountant if I use ASC 606 automation software?
Yes. Your accountant decides how ASC 606 applies to your contracts, including which promises are separate and how the price is allocated. The software applies those decisions consistently and keeps the schedules current.
Can TrueRev handle contracts that bundle a subscription with services?
Yes. Each product on a contract has its own recognition method and dates, so subscription, implementation and training can follow different patterns. To see how your bundle would be set up, bring it to a demo.
What happens when a customer upgrades or cancels mid-term?
The change is recorded as a contract event, and the schedule changes with it. Added value gets its own schedule with its own method and dates. Your accountant decides how ASC 606 applies to the change.
When does an amount count as deferred revenue?
Once its invoice is marked Sent. A scheduled invoice that has not been sent is not counted. Earned revenue with no associated invoice shows as unbilled.
Does TrueRev replace QuickBooks?
No. QuickBooks stays your accounting system. TrueRev adds contract records, revenue schedules, deferred revenue and SaaS metrics, and connects to QuickBooks Online.
Can TrueRev support an audit?
TrueRev keeps contracts, schedules and contract history together, and generates schedules and reports from your contract data to support ASC 606 accounting and audit requests. It does not guarantee an audit result.
Do the revenue dates change my ARR or MRR?
No. Revenue start and end dates affect only the revenue schedule report, not MRR, SaaS metrics or booking dates.
How long does setup take?
Connecting QuickBooks Online takes minutes. Loading contracts depends on how many you have. LineVision describes about 10 minutes to enter a contract.
Does TrueRev handle usage-based or metered revenue?
TrueRev is built for contract-based B2B SaaS revenue such as subscriptions, services and set-up fees. It is not a metering or usage-rating tool. If most of your revenue is metered usage, ask about your model at a demo.
See how your contracts would look in TrueRev
Bring a real contract to the demo, ideally one with mixed fees or a mid-term change. A 14-day free trial is available, and you can see current plans on the pricing page.