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View Full Version : Unearned revenue


ashley568
Jun 12, 2008, 04:50 PM
What typoes of indutries use unearned revenue acoount. I know mostly service industies but I cannot think of any specific examples.

danielnoahsmommy
Jun 12, 2008, 04:51 PM
Retail gift cards

morgaine300
Jun 12, 2008, 06:34 PM
Any company could use unearned revenues. Since unearned revenues are just when a company has been paid up front for something they haven't provided yet, quite literally ANY company could do this at some point. Of course, some companies are more likely to use them than others. (And since I haven't worked for every type of industry in existence, I don't even know how many I could actually think of.)

Lots of companies use gift cards, so I don't know that I'd name that as an "industry." But what kinds of companies might use gift cards a lot? You're standing in line at the grocery store and they have lots of junk there they want you to buy, as long as you're standing there bored and have nothing better to do than look at it all. What do you see? :-)

Start thinking of places you have paid up front, before you got something out of them. There's an obvious one staring you right in the face.

Another direction to think is contracts. Who do you have contracts with that you had to pay up front? There's at least one obvious one there.

Also, think about this from the other direction. Unearned revenue to one company is a prepaid from another company. For instance, a company has unearned rent. Well, someone paid that rent ahead of time, didn't they? And whoever paid it has prepaid rent. So now think about the prepaid accounts you've dealt with -- who were they paid to?

There's some clues. Give it some thought.

ashley568
Jun 12, 2008, 09:19 PM
what typoes of indutries use unearned revenue acoount. I know mostly service industies but i cannot think of any specific examples.
Thanks morgaine300you got my wheels spinnig.