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Saas

SaaS accounting, revenue recognition, and metrics

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10 min read

Zscaler FY2026 Q4: $898M Revenue, $3.8B ARR, and a 23% Free-Cash-Flow Margin

Zscaler's fiscal Q4 2026 (ended July 31, 2026) posted $898 million of revenue (+25%), ending ARR of $3.77 billion, and a full-year 23% free-cash-flow margin against a $63 million GAAP net loss. Deferred revenue of $2.93 billion and RPO of roughly $7.4 billion carry the growth signal before the income statement recognizes it — modeled FY2022–FY2026 in a public Beancount ledger alongside CrowdStrike and Palo Alto Networks.

Mike Thrift

zscaleropen-ledgerfinancial-analysis
8 min read

Your $495 "Lifetime Deal" Now Renews at $295 a Year: How to Budget ThriveCart Pro+ Like a Real Subscription

ThriveCart's $495 lifetime license is now paired with a $295-per-year Pro+ subscription covering affiliate management, sales-tax calculation, dunning, and custom domains — roughly $1,575 over three years with Learn+. A four-question framework shows when Pro+ pays for itself, when to let it lapse, and how to book lifetime deals, renewals, and gross Stripe payouts correctly.

Mike Thrift

budgetingexpense-managementsaas
11 min read

AWS Marketplace Seller Bookkeeping: Reconcile Gross Revenue, Listing Fees, Taxes, Refunds, and Delayed Disbursements by Offer

How AWS Marketplace sellers can keep deposits from masquerading as revenue — book gross billings at the transaction level, record listing fees separately, classify the three tax-share scenarios, reverse refunds against the original offer, and reconcile net disbursements to the bank using clearing accounts, offer IDs, and bank trace IDs.

Mike Thrift

bookkeepingreconciliationsaas
11 min read

When a Multi-Year SaaS Discount Hides a Financing Component Under ASC 606

A multi-year SaaS prepayment discount can contain a significant financing component under ASC 606-10-32-15 through 32-20, changing the transaction price, interest presentation, and disclosures. This guide walks through a five-step contract review — service-transfer mapping, the narrower-than-it-sounds one-year practical expedient, cash selling price evidence, and locking the discount rate at inception — plus bookkeeping controls that keep cash, deferred revenue, and financing effects separate.

Mike Thrift

revenue-recognitionsaasaccounting
11 min read

Outcome-Based Pricing for Agentic AI SaaS: How to Recognize Revenue When Customers Pay Per Successful Result

Under ASC 606, an agentic AI contract that pays per successful result is accounted for by its promise, not its meter — stand-ready access is recognized over time, a specified quantity of outcomes by output, and hybrids split the two. Includes a decision tree, a worked example with journal entries, and the reconciliation data needed to close the books.

Mike Thrift

revenue-recognitionsaasai
20 min read

Microsoft 365's July 2026 Price Increase: A Small Business Budgeting and Right-Sizing Guide

Microsoft's first commercial price increase since 2022 takes effect July 1, 2026 — Business Basic rises to $7, Business Standard to $14, and E3 to $39 per user per month, with Frontline F1 up 33%. This guide covers when you actually pay the new rate, how to audit and right-size seats before renewal, and how to record the change on accrual and cash-basis books.

Mike Thrift

small-businesssaasbudgeting
13 min read

Maryland's New 3% Tech Tax on IT and Software Services: What Every SaaS Company and Freelance Developer Needs to Know

Maryland's new 3% sales tax on IT, data processing, software publishing, and computer systems design services (NAICS 518, 519, 5132, 5415) took effect July 1, 2025 with no revenue threshold, so SaaS founders, freelance developers, and IT consultants with even one Maryland customer may owe it — this guide covers what's taxable, how sourcing and MPU certificates work, and how to book the liability separately from your 6% sales tax.

Mike Thrift

sales-taxtax-compliancesaas
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