The SaaS industry is inherently complex, and startups often face numerous challenges as they grow. One of the biggest hurdles is scaling operations while keeping revenue recognition efficient. Want to know how to address it? Dive into Yoodli’s experience with Synder RevRec and learn how to automate your revenue recognition and save days in the process.
Introducing Yoodli: An innovative AI-powered speech coach
Yoodli is transforming the way we shape our public speaking and communication skills. It’s your personal coach offering private, real-time, and judgment-free feedback to help you sound confident and engaging, whenever you need it. Created to tackle the challenges that each of us faces in speaking — whether it’s overcoming a lisp, freezing up during a job interview, or feeling anxious as the only woman in a meeting — Yoodli aims to make improving your communication skills fun, uplifting, and collaborative.
Yoodli’s web-based platform allows users to role-play and practice for either their own self-improvement or as a part of their organization’s training program. Through this practice, users receive detailed feedback and AI-powered analytics customized to their needs and using their organization’s methods. Based at the Allen AI Institute in Seattle and supported by over $7 million from investors like Madrona and the Allen Institute for AI, Yoodli is embraced by users in 150 countries, including top business schools and Fortune 50 companies. The company is rapidly expanding, becoming a go-to tool for effective communication.
Accounting challenges: Expanding customer base and manual revenue recognition
Initially a startup selling directly to speech coaches, Yoodli grew into a larger business working with many organizations and allowing any user to sign up and subscribe. This shift meant more subscriptions and more complexity in revenue recognition.
In the early days, a contracting accountant manually handled revenue recognition, dealing with a smaller customer base and yearly invoices. However, as Yoodli grew, automating this process became essential for maintaining efficiency and scalability. Here’s how Derek Sessions, CTO at Yoodli, described the situation:
‘It was important to us that we weren’t doing everything manually and we made a process that actually would help us scale with potentially thousands of subscribers a year.’
While Yoodli wanted to use Stripe for its end user payment, they also wanted to keep using QuickBooks Online for accounting and for cheaper invoicing. Although they could try to use the Stripe revenue recognition, having to merge that revenue recognition with QuickBooks Online would have required more manual work.
‘We knew it would be very hard to reconcile between QuickBooks Online and Stripe. And we decided instead that we wanted to have QuickBooks Online be the source of truth and use Synder as the connector to smooth out that transition.’
This is how Yoodli’s Synder journey began, enabling them to automate revenue recognition, streamline accounting processes, and support their growing subscriber base effectively.
Facing challenges head on: Automating revenue recognition with Synder RevRec
Synder RevRec is an add-on allowing subscription-based businesses achieve GAAP-compliant revenue recognition, which helps Yoodli address all their main challenges.
Automatic tracking and transfer of Stripe subscription changes to QuickBooks
Yoodli relies on Synder RevRec to pull through all Stripe subscription data to QuickBooks Online, making it a hub for all their subscriptions. This automation eliminates manual tracking, especially as the number of subscriptions grows.
‘We have monthly and annual subscriptions. We’re relying on Synder to track these subscriptions and any changes to them and send them over to QuickBooks. Then the final pass of accounting is all done within QuickBooks.’
Deferring revenue until performance obligations are met
As a GAAP-compliant subscription-based business, Yoodli must recognize revenue when services are delivered, in other words when performance obligations of the contract are met. Synder initially records payments for yearly subscriptions in a deferred revenue account on the Balance Sheet, and throughout the year, it recognizes revenue in equal monthly amounts, which is reflected in the Profit and Loss statement.
Recognizing revenue net of discounts
Yoodli also needs to recognize revenue net of discounts, as metrics in SaaS companies are primarily driven by net transactions. Synder enables Yoodli to do just that, providing a clear and accurate financial picture.
Automated handling of invoices
Yoodli has numerous subscription invoices on a monthly basis. The moment an invoice is created in Stripe, Synder automatically picks it up, analyzes the billing period and builds a revenue schedule to recognize booked amounts throughout the service period.
Yoodli and Synder RevRec: Automated GAAP-compliant revenue recognition that’s efficient at scale
Synder helped Yoodli automate their revenue recognition and ensure GAAP compliance. Now, their QuickBooks is always up-to-date with every change and modification, and their revenue recognition schedules are seamlessly reflected in their reporting. Just like they wanted!
Synder’s automation has been a game-changer for Yoodli’s revenue recognition processes. With this automated solution, they have managed to scale their business cost-effectively without overloading their outsourced accountant.
‘Back then, when we had a much smaller subscriber base, our accountant was probably spending one to two days a month on manual revenue recognition. If we had to do it now with our much larger subscriber base, that revenue recognition would be a much larger lift and would take much longer.’
By automating the important and demanding task of revenue recognition, Yoodli is now ready to expand their customer base further and reach new heights with confidence. With Synder RevRec, they can handle it all!
‘Synder RevRec appears to be the best and most automated way to get Stripe revenue recognition into QuickBooks. That’s really impactful for startups, as we’re not going to be able to spend on NetSuite or other higher-end accounting software. So being able to scale your business across tons of subscriptions in a cost-effective and scalable manner is critical as a startup.’
Want to automate revenue recognition for your SaaS business?
Tired of spending days on manual revenue recognition for your subscription-based business? Sign up for Synder’s comprehensive 15-day free trial to explore our seamless Stripe and QuickBooks Online integration. Connect with our team to try out Synder RevRec and discover its potential for your business. Let Synder handle your complex revenue recognition challenges and get the perfect solution for your needs!
Thanks for the article! Was helpful to learn about these features of Synder.
Thank you so much David for your support!