Deferred Income, Non-Current

What is Deferred Income, Non-Current?

Deferred Income, Non-Current represents revenue received in advance of a settlement of an obligation by a company through the delivery of goods and services. What the revenue is for is  not immediately reported as revenue or sales on an income statement.

This is commonly reported for service-oriented firms where customers pay a lump sum to receive services for a specific period of time. Deferred income should be contrasted with other liabilities, such as accrued expenses and payables, because unlike those liabilities, which are incurred in the past and involves future cash outflow, deferred income represents cash already received or a past cash inflow.