Quick poll of ARM users/administrators. Since it's not possible to have a single order that has both rev rec rule items and direct revenue posting items, what do you/your users do to avoid confusion or conflicts if you need rev rec on some but not all items on a given transaction? Option A - set all items with rev rec rules (EVEN DIRECT ITEMS), set rev rec start and end dates in the same month for direct revenue items and flow 100% of income through deferred revenue each month? Option B - Split transactions into multiple as needed to avoid the conflict Rev Rec Rule vs Direct but create billing complexity? Option C - maintain Direct and ARM versions of all items so that you can mix and match as needed but be SUPER specific on naming? Something else? Asking for a friend.

Option A for sure, even if it is counter intuitive. If you ever need to reallocate revenue due to fair values, you can only do so if an item has an associated revenue element.

Interesting. @suitetastic a followup question. what if there's never any revenue allocation based on the business model so no need for FMV? (full disclosure - I'm NOT an accountant so I just take statements like that as requirements and hope they don't change their minds later) Any OTHER reason why option A is preferred?

I prefer A because it just keeps everything clean and reduces errors. Currently I am dealing with this issue where I have 2 items 1 for ARM and 1 Direct.

Merging revenue arrangements. For example, software companies where customers "SWAP" or upgrade or downgrade contracts. You would want to merge the arrangements from the original SO and then RMA/credit memos.

One question I have is I chose to go the 2 item route because I have memorized transactions and the Rev Rec Start/End Date do not update when entering them. Is there any way to automatically have that update or is the only way to manually do it?

@Chris - you can set them up updating systematically rather than manually (and still be able to update manually if needed) but it will eat some system resources

@Karina Yea I was hoping to use the automatic so I created 2 items, but I probably should have just used a single item and manually adjusted or through CSV.

yes, good idea, otherwise you are relying on end users to make revenue decisions 🙂 🚫

Option A. It is annoying that you lose all narrative in the P&L, all you're left with is Account, DCL+ custom segments, but worth it for simplifying the billing process.