Order forms that post subscription revenue

How an accepted order form becomes a draft invoice whose lines post subscription revenue and implementation fees to their own accounts in the ledger.

By Achekam · 11 October 2026 · 4 min read · For Software (SaaS) businesses in South Africa, Nigeria, Kenya

Launching soon. The Industry CRM add-on described in this article is launching soon. This article describes it as it will work at launch.

Ask an investor what they want to see in a software company's accounts and the answer is nearly always the same: how much of the revenue comes back every month, and how much was a one-off. A company whose income is mostly set-up fees looks very different from one whose income is mostly subscriptions, even if the totals match.

That split is easy to lose. If every invoice line lands in one sales account, someone has to pull the two apart by hand at every month end, and the answer changes depending on who did it. The SaaS pack in Achekam's Industry CRM keeps them apart from the moment the customer accepts the order form.

Subscription revenue and implementation fees on separate accounts

When a business switches on the SaaS pack, two revenue accounts are added to its chart of accounts:

If your chart already uses one of those codes for a different type of account, the activation is refused and the clashing account is named, so you can sort out the conflict first rather than end up with revenue posted to an expense code.

The same switch adds the pack's starter items to your catalogue: per-seat subscriptions, onboarding and set-up, training, and premium support.

Pricing your own unpriced starter items

None of the starter items comes with a price. Every industry pack works this way: the business sets its own prices.

Before the first order form goes out, go through the catalogue and decide:

• the price per seat, and whether you offer different prices for monthly and annual terms;
• whether onboarding and set-up is a fixed fee or depends on the size of the customer;
• how a training session is priced;
• what premium support costs on top of the standard subscription.

Look at the revenue account on each item as you price it. Per-seat subscriptions belong with Subscription revenue and onboarding, set-up and training with Implementation and training fees. If you are unsure where premium support should sit for your reporting, ask your accountant before the first invoice rather than after.

Acceptance drafts the invoice

In the SaaS pack a quote is called an order form, and a customer is an account. The account's decision-maker opens the order form from a link and accepts it by typing their name and ticking a box. Achekam keeps the customer's IP address and browser with the acceptance. Once sent, the order form is frozen; if the terms change, you send a revision rather than editing what the customer already saw.

The acceptance drafts the invoice in receivables. It does not issue it. A person checks the draft and issues it, which takes the next invoice number and posts it to the ledger. A business that wants accepted order forms to issue their invoices at once can allow that, but only with an administrator's recorded authority.

For most young software companies, leaving the invoice as a draft is the safer start. It gives finance one look at the lines, the dates and the VAT before anything reaches the customer or the ledger.

Invoice lines that name the account and product

Each line on the drafted invoice names the revenue account and the product it sells. When the invoice is issued, revenue is posted per account, and cost of sales is posted in the same journal.

In words, a typical first invoice might carry three lines: the seats for the first period, the onboarding and set-up fee, and a training session. When it is issued, the seats are credited to Subscription revenue, and the onboarding and the training to Implementation and training fees. The customer owes the total, plus VAT where it applies.

Because the line carries the account, nobody has to choose the account again at month end, and nobody can quietly move income from one to the other.

Reading revenue by account in the ledger

The payoff comes when you read the books. The general ledger lists every posted line, and the trial balance shows each account for all time, for a period or at a date, and says whether debits equal credits.

So at the end of a quarter you can read Subscription revenue and Implementation and training fees side by side, straight from the ledger. A quarter where implementation fees are high and subscription revenue is flat tells you sales are landing customers who have not yet started paying the recurring fee. A quarter where subscription revenue grows while implementation stays level tells you the base is expanding. Andreessen Horowitz's guide to the startup metrics investors look at defines recurring revenue and explains the difference between bookings and revenue.

Before your first accepted order form

• Switch on the pack and check that both revenue accounts were added.
• Price every starter item you intend to sell, and note the ones you will not use.
• Decide whether invoices stay as drafts after acceptance; start with drafts.
• Agree with your accountant where premium support and any discounts are posted.
• After the first month, read both accounts in the trial balance and check the split looks right.

Other industry packs use the same mechanics with their own accounts. If you work across sectors, compare how commission reaches the ledger for estate agents, advice fees in financial services, and legal fee estimates.

Start by pricing the catalogue. Until each item has a price you are happy with, no order form should leave the building.

General guidance only, not advice on your own circumstances. Tax and payroll rules change: check the current position with the authority or your adviser.