> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.getlago.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Recognized Revenue

> The revenue you earned in a period, regardless of billing or payment timing.

The Recognized Revenue report answers one question: **how much revenue did we earn this period?** Not what you billed, not what you collected. What you earned by delivering service.

## When to use it

* Closing the month and reporting revenue to finance or investors.
* Reconciling earned revenue against your general ledger.
* Seeing which days or revenue types drove the period.

## Who uses it

Finance, RevOps, and founders reporting period revenue.

## Main fields

| Field                    | What it means                                                         | How to use it                                               |
| ------------------------ | --------------------------------------------------------------------- | ----------------------------------------------------------- |
| Reporting period         | The window the figures cover, usually a calendar month.               | Pick the period you're closing.                             |
| Recognized revenue       | Pre-tax revenue earned in the period.                                 | The headline number for your income statement.              |
| Daily recognized revenue | Revenue earned per day.                                               | Spot heavy usage days or check daily allocation.            |
| Revenue type             | Subscription, usage, true-up, and so on.                              | Break the total down by what produced it.                   |
| Contra-revenue           | Reductions from credit notes, voids, coupons, disputes, free credits. | Shown as negative amounts. Explains why net is below gross. |

## How the numbers are calculated

For time-based charges, Lago spreads the amount daily across the service period and sums the days in your reporting period. For usage, it recognizes each day's consumption. Point-in-time events (true-ups, credit notes, disputes) land on the day they occur. Everything is pre-tax. The methodology is covered in [How it works: Methodology](/guide/revenue-recognition/how-it-works/methodology).

## How to read positive and negative values

* **Positive** amounts are revenue earned: subscriptions recognized daily, usage consumed, true-ups.
* **Negative** amounts are contra-revenue: credit notes, voids, coupons, lost disputes, consumed free credits. They reduce the period's revenue in the period they occur, and never restate earlier closed periods.

## Example

A customer with a \$50 monthly subscription billed in advance, plus \$50 of usage, with a \$30 credit note issued mid-month.

| Revenue type                    | Amount in January |
| ------------------------------- | ----------------- |
| Subscription (recognized daily) | \$50.00           |
| Usage (recognized as consumed)  | \$50.00           |
| Credit note (contra-revenue)    | −\$30.00          |
| **Recognized revenue, January** | **\$70.00**       |

## Relationship to other reports

* The flip side is the [Deferred Revenue report](/guide/revenue-recognition/reports/deferred-revenue): what you've invoiced but not yet earned.
* The [Revenue Waterfall](/guide/revenue-recognition/reports/revenue-waterfall) shows how invoices release into this report across months.
* The [Journal Entry Details](/guide/revenue-recognition/reports/journal-entry-details) itemizes every line behind the total.

## Limitations to keep in mind

* Recognized revenue is pre-tax. Reconcile against pre-tax invoice amounts.
* Usage-based figures finalize when invoices are issued.
* Periods before the feature was enabled aren't reconstructed.