[IMP] Accounting: new version of the Deferred Revenues doc

This new version of the documentation about Deferred Revenues explains
the basics of this concept and all the features related to it in Odoo
Accounting.

accounting/receivables/customer_invoices/deferred_revenues.rst

@@ -1,116 +1,193 @@
-========================================
-Deferred revenues: how to automate them?
-========================================
+=================
+Deferred Revenues
+=================
+**Deferred revenues**, or **unearned revenue**, are payments made in advance
+by  customers for products yet to deliver or services yet to render.
 
-Deferred/unearned revenue is an advance payment recorded on the
-recipient's balance sheet as a liability account until either the
-services have been rendered or the products have been delivered.
-Deferred revenue is a liability account because it refers to revenue
-that has not yet been earned, but represents products or services that
-are owed to the customer. As the products or services are delivered over
-time, the revenue is recognized and posted on the income statement.
+Such payments are a **liability** for the company that receives 
+them since it still owes its customers these products or services.
+The company cannot report them on the current **Profit and Loss statement**, 
+or *Income Statement*, since the payments will be effectively 
+earned in the future.
 
-For example: let's say you sell a 2 year support contract for $24,000
-that begins next month for a period of 24 months. Once you validate the
-customer invoice, the $24.000 should be posted into a deferred revenues
-account. This is because the $24,000 you received has not yet been
-earned.
+These future revenues must be deferred on the company's balance sheet
+until the moment in time they can be **recognized**, at once or over a
+defined period, on the Profit and Loss statement. 
 
-Over the next 24 months, you will be reducing the deferred revenues
-account by $1,000 ($24,000/24) on a monthly basis and recognizing that
-amount as revenue.
+For example, let's say we sell a five-year extended warranty for $ 350.
+We already receive the money now but haven't earned it yet. Therefore, 
+we post this new income in a deferred revenue account and decide to
+recognize it on a yearly basis. Each year, for the next 5 years, $ 70 
+will be recognized as revenue.
 
-Configuration
+Odoo Accounting handles deferred revenues by spreading them in multiple
+entries that are automatically created periodically.
+
+
+Prerequisites
 =============
+Such transactions must be posted on a **Deferred Revenue Account** rather than
+on the default income account.
 
-Module installation
--------------------
+Configure a Deferred Revenue Account
+------------------------------------
+To configure your account in the **Chart of Accounts**,
+go to :menuselection:`Accounting --> Configuration --> Chart of Accounts`,
+click on *Create*, and fill out the form.
 
-In order to automate deferred revenues, go to the settings menu under the application
-:menuselection:`Accounting --> Configuration` and activate the
-**Assets management & revenue recognition** option. This will install the
-**Revenue Recognition Management** module.
+.. image:: media/deferred_revenues01.png
+   :align: center
+   :alt: Configuration of a Deferred Revenue Account in Odoo Accounting
 
 .. note::
+   This account's type must be either *Current Liabilities* or *Non-current
+   Liabilities*
    
-	In some version of Odoo 9, besides checking this option, you need to install
-	the "Revenue Recognition Management" module. If you are using Odoo 9, you
-	might check if the module is correctly installed.
+Post an income to the right account
+-----------------------------------
+Select the account on a draft invoice
+~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
+On a draft invoice, select the right account for all the products of which the 
+incomes must be deferred.
 
-Define deferred revenue types
------------------------------
-
-Once the module is installed, you need to create deferred revenue types.
-From the Accounting application, go to the menu :menuselection:`Configuration --> Deferred
-Revenues Types`.
-
-.. figure:: ./media/deffered01.png
-  :figclass: figure
+.. image:: media/deferred_revenues02.png
    :align: center
+   :alt: Selection of a Deferred Revenue Account on a draft invoice in Odoo Accounting
 
-  Example: 12 months maintenance contract
+Choose a different Income Account for specific products
+~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
+Start editing the product, go to the *Accounting* tab, select the right
+**Income Account**, and save. 
 
-Some example of deferred revenues types:
+.. image:: media/deferred_revenues03.png
+   :align: center
+   :alt: Change of the Income Account for a product in Odoo 
 
--  1 year service contract
--  3 years service contracts
+.. tip::
+   It is possible to automate the creation of revenue entries for these products
+   (see: `Automate the Deferred Revenues`_).
 
-Set deferred revenues on products
----------------------------------
+Change the account of a posted journal item
+~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
+To do so, open your Sales Journal by going to 
+:menuselection:`Accounting --> Accounting --> Sales`, select the journal item you
+want to modify, click on the account, and select the right one. 
 
-Once deferred revenues types are defined, you can set them on the
-related products. On the product form, in the Accounting tab, you can
-set a deferred revenue type.
+.. image:: media/deferred_revenues04.png
+   :align: center
+   :alt: Modification of a posted journal item's account in Odoo Accounting 
 
-Here are some examples of products and their related deferred revenue
-types:
 
-+---------------------------------+-----------------------------+
-| Product                         | Deferred Revenue Type       |
-+=================================+=============================+
-| Support Contract: 3 years       | 3 years service contracts   |
-+---------------------------------+-----------------------------+
-| Netflix subscription: 3 years   | 3 years service contracts   |
-+---------------------------------+-----------------------------+
-| Flowers every month             | 1 year product contract     |
-+---------------------------------+-----------------------------+
-
-Sell and invoice products
+Deferred Revenues entries
 =========================
+Create a new entry
+------------------
+A **Deferred Revenues entry** automatically generates journal entries at 
+the right time until the full amount of the income is recognized.
 
-Once the products are configured, you can create a customer invoice
-using this product. Once the customer invoice is validated, Odoo will
-automatically create a deferred revenue for you, and the related journal
-entry.
+To create a new entry, go to :menuselection:`Accounting --> Accounting --> Deferred
+Revenues`, click on *Create*, and fill out the form.
 
-+----------------------------+----------+----------+
-| **Account**                | **Dr**   | **Cr**   |
-+============================+==========+==========+
-| Accounts receivable        | 24000    |          |
-+----------------------------+----------+----------+
-| Deferred revenue account   |          | 24000    |
-+----------------------------+----------+----------+
+Click on **select related purchases** to link an existing journal item to
+this new entry. Some fields are then automatically filled out, and the 
+journal item is now listed under the **Related Sales** tab.
 
-Then, every month, Odoo will post a journal entry for the revenue
-recognition.
-
-+----------------------------+----------+----------+
-| **Account**                | **Dr**   | **Cr**   |
-+============================+==========+==========+
-| Deferred revenue account   | 1000     |          |
-+----------------------------+----------+----------+
-| Service revenue account    |          | 1000     |
-+----------------------------+----------+----------+
-
-Reporting
-=========
-
-To analyze all your current contracts having a deferred revenue, you can
-use the menu Reporting > Deferred Revenue Analysis.
-
-.. image:: ./media/deffered02.png
+.. image:: media/deferred_revenues05.png
    :align: center
+   :alt: Deferred Revenue entry in Odoo Accounting
+	
+Once done, you can click on *Compute Revenue* (next to the *Confirm*
+button) to generate all the values of the **Revenue Board**. This board
+shows you all the entries that Odoo will post to recognize your
+revenue, and at which date.
+
+.. image:: media/deferred_revenues06.png
+   :align: center
+   :alt: Revenue Board in Odoo Accounting   
+   
+What does "Prorata Temporis" mean?
+~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
+The **Prorata Temporis** feature is useful to recognize your revenue
+the most accurately possible. 
+
+With this feature, the first entry on the Revenue Board is computed based 
+on the time left between the *Prorata Date* and the *First Recognition Date* 
+rather than the default amount of time between recognitions.
+
+For example, the Revenue Board above has its first revenue with an amount of 
+$ 4.22 rather than $ 70.00. Consequently, the last entry is also lower and
+has an amount of $ 65.78.
+
+
+Deferred Entry from the Sales Journal
+-------------------------------------
+You can create a deferred entry from a specific journal item in your **Sales Journal**. 
+
+To do so, open your Sales Journal by going to 
+:menuselection:`Accounting --> Accounting --> Sales`, and select the journal item you
+want to defer. Make sure that it is posted in the right account (see: `Change the
+account of a posted journal item`_).  
+
+Then, click on *Action*, select **Create Deferred Entry**, and fill out the form the
+same way you would do to `create a new entry`_.
+
+.. image:: media/deferred_revenues07.png
+   :align: center
+   :alt: Create Deferred Entry from a journal item in Odoo Accounting
+   
+
+Deferred Revenue Models
+=======================
+You can create **Deferred Revenue Models** to create your Deferred Revenue
+entries faster.
+
+To create a model, go to :menuselection:`Accounting --> Configuration --> Deferred
+Revenue Models`, click on *Create*, and fill out the form the same way you would
+do to create a new entry.
+
+.. tip::
+   You can also convert a *confirmed Deferred Revenue entry* into a model by
+   opening it from :menuselection:`Accounting --> Accounting --> Deferred
+   Revenues` and then, by clicking on the button **Save Model**.
+   
+Apply a Deferred Revenue Model to a new entry
+---------------------------------------------
+When you create a new Deferred Revenue entry,  fill out the **Deferred Revenue
+Account** with the right recognition account.
+
+New buttons with all the models linked to that account appear at the top of the form.
+Clicking on a model button fills out the form according to that model.
+
+.. image:: media/deferred_revenues08.png
+   :align: center
+   :alt: Deferred Revenue model button in Odoo Accounting
+
+Automate the Deferred Revenues
+==============================
+When you create or edit an account of which the type is either *Current Liabilities*
+or *Non-current Liabilities*, you can configure it to defer the revenues that
+are credited on it automatically.
+
+You have three choices for the **Automate Deferred Revenue** field:
+
+#. **No:** this is the default value. Nothing happens.
+#. **Create in draft:** whenever a transaction is posted on the account, a draft
+   *Deferred Revenues entry* is created, but not validated. You must first
+   fill out the form in :menuselection:`Accounting --> Accounting --> Deferred Revenues`.
+#. **Create and validate:** you must also select a Deferred Revenue Model
+   (see: `Deferred Revenue Models`_). Whenever a transaction is posted on
+   the account, a *Deferred Revenues entry* is created and immediately
+   validated.
+
+.. image:: media/deferred_revenues09.png
+   :align: center
+   :alt: Automate Deferred Revenue on an account in Odoo Accounting
+
+.. tip::
+   You can, for example, select this account as the default **Income Account** 
+   of a product to fully automate its sale completely. (see: `Choose a different
+   Income Account for specific products`_).
 
 .. seealso::
-
-	* :doc:`overview`
+   * :doc:`../../others/configuration/account_type`
+   * `Odoo Academy: Deferred Revenues (Recognition) <https://www.odoo.com/r/EWO>`_