Table of Contents
Overview
Revenue integration enables users to import data from revenue platforms (such as CRMs and payment processors) into Finmark for historical periods (actuals). This can automate the time consuming task of ensuring accurate historical data for revenue and customers across streams and products. Deals are imported from CRMs; invoices (other than those in draft status) are imported from payment processors.
Revenue Authentication
Authenticating external revenue platforms is easy and works similarly to authenticating other platforms such as accounting and payroll. Our API is a secure connection that doesn't share password data and can be revoked at any time via your revenue platform.
Currently, Stripe is the only available revenue integration. Learn how to activate the Stripe revenue integration. If you are interested in connecting to a platform that is not listed in the revenue section, please contact support.
Revenue Mapping - Introduction
Revenue mapping is the process by which raw data from external revenue platforms is placed into revenue streams and product plans, if applicable. You can find the Revenue mapping screen from the Revenue page in the tab called Revenue Mapping.
Some fields are required, while others can be toggled between displayed and hidden. To find customizable columns, click the Options icon. Columns selected to be shown display checkmarks. The checkmarks can be toggled on and off to suit your preferences.
A legend indicates which columns can be edited and which are uneditable, using similar designations to the rest of the application: black is editable and gray is non-editable. In addition, it explains the three types of data that can be shown on this screen: User Created, Externally Created and System Created:
In order to complete revenue mapping, you need to create at least one revenue stream and, if required, at least one pricing plan. You can create revenue streams and pricing plans by using the Add button at the top of Revenue section screens.
Note: Unlike other revenue streams, the Revenue Only stream does not require a pricing plan, which is represented by “--” in the Pricing Plan column.
Common fields that are imported from the revenue platform:
Unique ID: a non-duplicative number that represents the deal/transaction
Custom ID: a one-to-one matching of a specific number and each unique customer
Description: information about the deal/transaction
Date: deal/transaction date
Customer Name: client name
Amount: total amount of the deal/transaction. (For example, if a quarterly transaction was for 3 months at $30 per month, the amount would be $90.)
Note: Common fields may be entered manually or edited by a user. in some cases
Application specific fields:
Revenue Stream: user created
Pricing Plan: user created and associated with a specific revenue stream. (Pro tip: ensure that your pricing plan has the right frequency. For example, if the amount is being collected quarterly, then the pricing plan needs to have a frequency of quarterly.)
Revenue Metric: applies to subscription revenue streams. Automatically calculated by the application, but users can override these values. Examples include: New MRR, Churn MRR, and No Change
Customer Metric: applies to customers who purchase subscriptions. Valid entries depend on revenue stream type. Examples include: New custom, Churn customer, No Change, and -- (i.e., not applicable)
Revenue stream and pricing plan can be set by rules, manually entered, or edited. Revenue metric and customer metric are automatically calculated and can be edited.
If a required field (for example, amount, date, unique ID, etc.) is missing in the revenue platform, the record will be rejected in the application. In other words, if all of the required information is missing for a deal or transaction in the external platform, it will not be visible in Finmark. Users can correct this by updating the record in the external platform or adding a new entry in the application. Be sure to verify all records you expect to be imported were successfully added.
See the Missing Data section for more information.
Note: Some cells need to be double clicked to be activated/edited. Additionally, you may need to click out of some cells to save any changes.
Rules Engine
Rules are automated ways of assigning deals/transactions to revenue streams and pricing plans. Rules can be accessed by clicking the Manage button above the column headers.
To create a rule, click the Add icon (only shown when there are no existing rules) or the Add new rule button.
Steps to Setup Rules
Enter a unique name for the rule in the Name of Rule field.
Enter the revenue stream and pricing plan that matching entries will be mapped into in the respective fields. (For new rules, they will be labeled Revenue Stream and Pricing Plan prior to selections being made.)
Note: Revenue stream and pricing plan must be set up prior to adding/editing the revenue mapping rule. Revenue Only streams do not require pricing plans.
In the Column Name field, enter the matching criteria to search for, specifically the column in which the data is being evaluated in the left hand textbox under criteria.
In the Operator field, enter the type of search you would like to conduct. Match the operator to the type of field being searched. (String operators should be used with text values and are towards the top. Number operators should be used with numerical values and are towards the bottom.)
In the Enter Criteria field, enter the search/evaluation term.
If you want to setup multiple criteria (i.e., multiple conditions that all need to be true in order to map the entry to the specified revenue stream and pricing plan), click the Add criteria link and fill in the new criteria.
Note: There is a maximum of three criteria that can be added for any single rule. As long as there are at least two criteria, individual criterion can be removed by clicking on the red trash icon to the right of the criteria.
Rules can be reordered by dragging them up or down from the Manage Data Mapping screen.
To edit a rule, click the Edit/Pencil icon. To delete a rule, click the Delete/Trash icon.
Keep in mind that if you establish multiple rules, the first rule that generates a true condition for the search (from top to bottom) will activate and no further rules will be evaluated for that specific entry. The rules will then start to evaluate the next entry (assuming the entry just evaluated wasn’t the last), starting with the first rule.
Manual Editing
In addition to the option of mapping revenue via rules, users can map data manually for most fields. For fields with dropdown menus, users can double click the cell and select a value from the menu. For fields without dropdown boxes, users can enter values. Similar to the rest of the application, warnings will be provided if there are invalid entries.
Certain fields are uneditable, such as Customer ID and Unique ID. Customer Name is uneditable in the grid since name changes that come from the revenue platform should be made in the revenue platform itself. (These changes would flow through to the application.)
Records initially created with the application via Add new Entry can manually create their Company Name and can edit the name using the Edit Entry option from the Options icon to the right of the record.
Keep in mind that changing the Revenue Stream selection can affect other application fields, such as customer metric, revenue metric and pricing plan.
Tip: Filtering, sorting, and pasting can all help save time when editing.
Adding Deals / Transactions (Within the Application)
If you would like to add a deal or transaction within the application in addition to the data that exists in the external revenue platform, click the Add New Entry linkand enter the required and optional, if desired, information.
Users can edit manually entered rows by the method described above or by utilizing the Edit Entry option in the meatball icon (located towards the right).
Missing Data
If there is any required data missing from a row, the application will not be able to map that entry into actuals. This means that revenue actuals (i.e., historical data in the application) are not included in these entries.
For example, there were four transactions in a month: $10, $20, $30 and $40. Suppose three rows had complete information, but the entry with an amount of $30 was missing information (e.g., revenue stream), actuals for that month would be $70 instead of $100. To help remind users of this fact, a message displays towards the top of the screen when there is required information missing from at least one entry:
Payment Processors - Churn/Contraction
There is a fundamental difference between what happens when a subscription deal in a Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system is ongoing and what happens in a payment processor when a subscription is ongoing. For example, if a subscription deal is entered into a CRM for a customer that is spending $50/month, there is typically no additional data entered into the CRM to indicate no change (assuming an evergreen subscription).
With a payment processor, invoices are typically sent every period. In this case, that would mean one invoice for $50 every month. Therefore, no new data from a CRM usually means no change to the status quo. No data from a payment processor usually means that the subscription has terminated. In addition, when a subscription is terminated in a CRM, typically a new deal is created with the same customer with an amount equal to negative one times the original deal value.
In this case, the application shows the revenue metric and custom metric correctly. Revenue actuals will be updated appropriately. With a payment processor, however, there is no entry/row to display because there is no data being sent from the payment process. Therefore, the revenue mapping screen will not show the revenue metric and customer metric when a subscription terminates; however, the revenue actuals will be updated appropriately.