This page walks you through Recurly's Payment Integration for Revenue Recognition (RevRec) — how it captures cash receipts, manual payments, and on-account credits in real time, and what changes once you turn it on. You'll find the setup steps, the new Payments tab in the Revenue Workbench, and a full reference for the journal entries the system generates automatically.

Available on all Recurly plans

1Definition 2Key benefits 3How it works 4Setup 5What changes after activation 6Data flow architecture 7Journal entry reference

Definition

The RevRec Payment Integration automatically captures, records, and accounts for every cash receipt, manual payment, and on-account credit in Recurly RevRec. Before this integration, only billed and invoiced revenue synced to RevRec — cash events stayed outside the system, so finance teams built journal entries and reconciled everything by hand. This integration closes that gap by bringing cash event data into RevRec in real time.

Key benefits

Reduced monthly close time Skip the manual reconciliation — teams typically cut their monthly close cycle by 30–50%, freeing up time for higher-value work.

Real-time journal entry creation Journal entries generate within seconds of payment confirmation, so your financial records always reflect the latest transaction activity.

Audit-ready, compliant records Every journal entry and payment record follows ASC 606 and IFRS 15 standards, giving you reliable, audit-ready documentation at all times.

How it works

Payment Integration builds a real-time data pipeline between Recurly Subscription Management (RSM) and RevRec, so payment events move between the two systems without manual intervention. When a payment event happens in RSM — a gateway charge, a manual payment, a credit application, or a refund — RevRec automatically runs through this sequence:

Payment ingestion & association

RevRec ingests the payment confirmation and links it to the invoice and charge lines it belongs to.

Validation & account mapping

The transaction is validated and mapped to the correct chart-of-account codes for consistent GL categorization.

Journal entry generation

Compliant double-entry journal entries post automatically, based on applicable accounting standards — no manual entry required.

AR subledger & roll-forward update

The Accounts Receivable (AR) subledger and roll-forward balances update immediately, keeping downstream reporting accurate and reconciled.

Setup

Activating Payment Integration

NoteAdmin access required. Only users with RevRec admin permissions can enable this feature flag. Contact your system administrator if you don't have access to the RevRec Admin window.

Payment Integration is a feature flag you enable from the RevRec Admin window.

Open the RevRec Admin window

Locate the feature flag

Find Payment Integration in the feature settings section.

Enable the flag

Toggle the feature flag to Enabled.

Save your changes

Once you save, RevRec starts syncing payment events from RSM in real time.

Next, configure the two core components below to complete setup.

Configure segmentation and your dataset

A. Segmentation

Navigate to the RevRec segment configuration section. Payment Sync introduces two new segments you'll need to configure:

Cash segment

Define the GL account code for cash receipts and outflows. This segment is debited when a payment is received and credited when a refund is issued.

AR segment

Define the GL account code for accounts receivable. This segment is debited when an invoice is created and credited when a payment is received.

B. Dataset configuration

Configure the dataset RevRec uses to ingest payment data from RSM. This includes mapping RSM payment fields to RevRec accounting fields — verify that every required payment data field is mapped correctly before moving on.

What changes after activation

Once the Payment Integration flag is enabled, two things become visible in the system.

Payment Integration scheduled job

A new job called "Payment Integration" appears under Scheduled Jobs (Import/Export → Scheduled Jobs). This job manages the ongoing sync of payment events from RSM into RevRec.

Go to Scheduled Jobs

Navigate to Import/Export → Scheduled Jobs.

Run the Payment Integration job

Existing invoices and payment events begin flowing into RevRec.

Payments tab — Revenue Workbench

A new Payments tab has been added to the Revenue Workbench, giving you invoice-level visibility into all payment activity. This tab consolidates key payment details into a single view, so you can quickly review how payments are being processed and recorded.

Field	Description
Payment Type	Identifies the nature of the payment transaction — Credit Card (CR) for card payments, or Credit (CA) for payments made through a credit.
Payment Method	Provides additional detail on how the payment was fulfilled — through a credit card transaction or a credit payment.
Gateway Type	Indicates the payment gateway the transaction was routed through, useful for tracking which gateway was used when multiple are configured.
Payment Date	Shows the date the payment was completed and recorded, so you can track timelines and reconcile against invoice due dates.
Amount	Shows the total monetary value paid or credited for the invoice, reflecting the actual amount received for accurate revenue tracking.

Data flow architecture

Here's how a payment event moves from RSM through RevRec to your General Ledger and ERP:

Stage	Trigger	System	Action	Output
Subscription event	New subscription, renewal, or upgrade	RSM	Creates and publishes invoice	Invoice sent to RevRec
Payment initiated	Customer makes payment	Payment gateway	Processes and confirms the transaction	Payment confirmation sent to RSM
Payment recorded	Gateway confirmation received	RSM	Records payment, updates invoice status to "Paid"	Status change published to RevRec
Cash receipt entry	Invoice status = "Paid"	RevRec	Generates cash receipt journal entry instantly	Dr: Cash Cr: AR
Revenue recognition	Performance obligation fulfilled	RevRec	Releases deferred revenue to recognized revenue	Dr: Deferred Revenue Cr: Revenue
GL export	Journals posted in RevRec	RevRec → GL	Journals exported to the General Ledger	Entries reflected in financial statements
ERP sync	GL updated	GL → ERP	GL data consumed by the merchant's external ERP	Full financial records updated (e.g., NetSuite, SAP)

NoteStage 1 happens at invoice creation, before any cash moves. Stages 2–4 happen at payment confirmation, triggered by the "Paid" status change — not by invoice creation. Stage 5 is independent of cash timing; revenue is recognized when the obligation is fulfilled, not when payment arrives. Stages 6–7 are downstream of RevRec and occur after journals are posted.

Journal entry reference

This table shows the debit/credit pair RevRec posts for each payment event.

Payment event	Debit	Credit	Description
Invoice created	Accounts Receivable (AR)	Deferred Revenue	ASC 606 requires revenue to be deferred until the performance obligation is fulfilled. AR opens; revenue holds in deferred status.
Obligation delivered	Deferred Revenue	Revenue	When the performance obligation is fulfilled, deferred revenue releases to the income statement as recognized revenue.
Payment received	Cash	Accounts Receivable (AR)	When payment is confirmed and invoice status = Paid, cash is recognized and the outstanding AR balance reduces accordingly.
Refund issued	Accounts Receivable (AR)	Cash	The original payment entry fully reverses. AR restores to reflect the outstanding balance; cash reduces by the refund amount.
Refund / write-off (step 1)	Revenue	Deferred Revenue	Previously recognized revenue reverses back to deferred status in preparation for the AR credit.
Refund / write-off (step 2)	Deferred Revenue	Accounts Receivable (AR)	Deferred revenue applies to clear the AR balance, closing the full cycle of invoice creation, recognition, and refund.

Detailed journal entry explanations

Cash receipt — payment received

Trigger: A payment is successfully applied to an invoice and the invoice status changes to "Paid" in RSM.

Debit: Cash (amount equal to payment received)
Credit: Accounts Receivable — AR (same amount)

Effect on AR: Reduces the open AR balance by the payment amount.
Effect on Cash: Increases the Cash account balance by the payment amount.

When a payment is confirmed, RevRec recognizes the incoming cash and reduces the outstanding AR balance accordingly. This entry closes the receivable for the amount paid and records the cash inflow. For a partial payment, only the paid portion clears from AR — the remainder stays open as a receivable.

Refund — payment returned

Trigger: A refund is issued in RSM against a previously paid invoice.

Debit: Accounts Receivable — AR (amount equal to refund issued)
Credit: Cash (same amount)

Effect on AR: Restores the AR balance — the receivable reopens.
Effect on Cash: Reduces the Cash account balance by the refund amount.

When a refund is issued, RevRec reverses the original cash receipt entry. The AR balance restores to reflect the outstanding amount, and cash reduces. This entry always mirrors the original payment entry for the refunded amount.